Punctuation Spacing

A popular subject, this and here is my stock answer:

Before joining AW, I had never heard of this 'pressing the spacebar twice' idea.

You can set MS Word to switch two spaces to one, or switch one to two, I think. But I press the spacebar once and have never done anything else.

I believe that need to space twice came from the days of the typewriter. Not sure. Also, Word always tells me the single space is wrong. ("No it's not! Go away, Word!") I can tell you one thing: editors and agents aren't crazy about the double space, and it should be no space after abbreviations. For instance, Mr. Smith should be Mr.Smith. Keep practicing or post a note to your computer screen.

In the case of "Mr. Smith" I would press space between the full-stop and 'Smith', simply because it's a full stop. Doesn't matter that it's an abbreviation. It's a punctuation mark, therefore it deserves a space.

Yeah, but I've been told by my ex-agent and editors that no space is preferable for abbreviations. He even emailed me saying "Aggh!" Guess he wasn't having a good morning.

Probably one of those age-old UK/US style differences. Or maybe your agent was just weird.

scarletpeaches said:

Or maybe your agent was just weird.

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LOL--you said it, I didn't.

I learned to type on a typewriter and like I said, had never heard of this two-spaces rule before joining AW.

(n.b. I'm 32 now and learned to type when I was around 5).

I had to take a typing class in middle school-- we used typewriters even though the other hall had a computer lab. I learned to type hitting the space bar twice. This was in the early 1990s. Well, technically, I was typing before that, but my punctuation and spacing were... um, kind of random, really.

I don't think I'd be able to break the habit. It's just natural for me. Oh well. I'm not worried about it thus far. If an editor needs me to change it, I will. Same as those em dashes, smart quotes and other things I have to clean up before submission. (While I turn them off on my computer, they're still fully functional on other people's computers where I sometimes type.)

jeffo said:

Am I the only person who has major problems NOT pressing the space bar twice after a sentence? I notice that most publications today require me to only have one space after a punctuation mark, but I can't stop my thumb!

Yes, I know I can actually write the whole document with two spaces and then go back and replace all the double-spaces, but I'm trying to re-teach my fingers to type one space. It is SO not working! Gah!

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I had a hard time adjusting and still have to run a find and replace to make sure that my spacing is consistent.

It took me approximately one week to adjust, once I commited to using the single space everywhere, including my own journals. I switched because clients for corporate writing may specify page length rather than word counts, and those extra spaces can add up.

stormie said:

I believe that need to space twice came from the days of the typewriter. Not sure. Also, Word always tells me the single space is wrong. ("No it's not! Go away, Word!") I can tell you one thing: editors and agents aren't crazy about the double space, and it should be no space after abbreviations. For instance, Mr. Smith should be Mr.Smith. Keep practicing or post a note to your computer screen.

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Weird! Word doesn't tell me it's wrong. I just did it...nada.
I was used to the double thing before, too (it's the typewriter's fault). I had to relearn it.

Thrillride said:

Weird! Word doesn't tell me it's wrong. I just did it...nada.
I was used to the double thing before, too (it's the typewriter's fault). I had to relearn it.

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I'm not using Word anymore, but if I recall correctly, it's an adjustable setting in their grammar checker.

You can change Word to check for one or two spaces after a period. (It's in the Spelling and Grammar options-- find Writing Style and there's a button for 'settings' Click and you're transported to a magical land of checkboxes.) Mine's set for two just so I'm consistent. It also notices when I have three (or four or five) spaces. This I find helpful.

Clair--I don't have it checked at all. Yet Word still insists I'm wrong. ARGGHH! I.hate.Word 2007.

Have always used two spaces and don't intend to change.

I don't get the no space between Mr. and Smith. That's like saying it should be MisterSmith. Um, no. Very strange.

My double-space-after-peroid habit came not from a typewriter (which my dad had, and it was the very first thing I typed on) but from a typing class when I was in 6th grade -- where we learned on green-font-on-black-screen things that reminded me of tanks (mid-80's). I double-spaced after every sentence for a good fifteen years, at least. Probably more.

But I re-trained myself a few years ago and haven't had a problem with it since. Single-spacing after sentences is now as ingrained in me as double-spacing used to be. I never even give it a second thought, and I haven't been single-spacing all that long. It is possible!

ETA: I also don't get the no space between Mr. and Smith. I can understand no period, like Mr Smith, but no space in between is something I've never heard before.

(Re: no space between abbreviation period as in "Mr.Smith"): As SP said, maybe my agent had a weird quirk about that before he sent it on its way to editors. But now I do that anyway. Don't think that particular thing matters much.

I checked AP and Chicago and still can't find any reference to dropping the space after an abbreviated title. Maybe they were thinking of 'no spaces in multiple abbreviations' , like 'T.S. Eliot', to keep multiples from being separated during typesetting. But if anyone - editor, agent, or otherwise - told me to write 'Mr.Smith', I'd think they were nuts.

I had to oblige with that request. He was my agent (he's with one of the top agencies in NYC).

Mel said:

Have always used two spaces and don't intend to change.

I don't get the no space between Mr. and Smith. That's like saying it should be MisterSmith. Um, no. Very strange.

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It's wrong, UK or US, it's wrong.

Pick up a published professionally typeset book or magazine, and check.

I'm trying to switch, too. For years I rebelled against the idea that two-spacing is unnecessary with word processors. To my eye, most word processors are awful at typesetting, especially in that they set sentences too close together. So I continued adding my two spaces, which most WPs render wider than a single space.

I wish most WPs were as smart about typesetting as are TeX and LaTeX. Hrmph.

Dale

I learned on ancient green-on-black computers as well, and was taught to double-space. I re-trained myself about a year ago, and haven't looked back since.