Single or Double Spacing?

Double space. Once in a great while I might do 1 1/2 spaces on a short. I never do single.

I do single because I prefer to see more words on the page -- I can see more of what I've written. Then I bump it up to double to print and revise and send out.

I have Word set for 25 lines per page - I like having the room to scribble all of my notes on it as I'm editing. As it is, there are lines and arrows and asterisks all over the place, so I need all of the room I can get.

Single - but I'm discovering as I get older that 1.5 is easier to read.

I did single right up until I formatted my first manuscript for submission, and now everything is double space. Everything else looks crowded somehow.

I write in complete ms format because it's the only thing I do in that format.

As a secretary, I do a lot of business letter and memo writing, which is always in TNR and single spaced. This isn't a mix-up I want to make when I'm being personally creative.

The change of spacing and font really helps "get me in the mood" to write.

I mix it up. If I feel myself getting stuck and needing a new perspective, I'll switch from single-space to double-space, or vice versa, or I'll switch fonts or font sizes. I think my current WIP has been in practically every font on my computer (except, you know, Wingdings).

Sometimes if I'm feeling like I need to be really crazy and indulgent, I'll print a single-spaced manuscript to an Adobe PDF. It looks really attractive and more "like a book" that way. I can't do that too often or it'll get to my ego.

I always write single-spaced. I can so easily alter the overall font, spacing, etc later that I don't think it matters.

I do single space when creating then send out double or whatever the pub/ed requires.

I type directly into my submission template, so it's exactly as it will be when I print it out to send, so it's double-spaced, with all the correct margins, so it comes out to about 25 lines per page.

you know... I wasn't sure, so I just checked to see what my word processor was set at and it says I've been single spacing it. When I'm doing a first draft I never bother with formating at all, I save that for edit time.

When I write, it's always single spacing. Just out of habit, I think. Double spacing makes my brain hurt when I'm writing.

When I'm editing, though...I edit the document into double spacing. So that I can focus line by line better.

I write double-spaced but when I print it out for editing, I print it in single with really small margins. That way I can use the least amount of paper possible. But it makes it really hard to make notes on!

I use yWriter for first drafts, it doesn't have a spacing feature. But, to help with aging eyesight I set the overall font to Verdana 14. That makes it easier to read (I also use a laptop with a separate keyboard...that puts the screen farther away than normal).

When I export from yWriter to either Word or RoughDraft I change the entire document to 1.5 line spacing and edit from there, both on-screen and when printed.

I used to single-space, which is fine when you've got a mostly empty page hanging below your cursor. It seemed a lot less inoffensive when I went back for editing and revision and was confronted by a monolithic text block, daring me to risk eyestrain by perusing it.

Recently, I've adapted the way I format forum posts for my drafting needs. I single-space paragraphs but leave an empty line in between them. The extra white space helps break up the page and make reading easier, while the paragraphs themselves remain cohesive.

Of course, I tend to write rather short to middling paragraphs. If I were Conrad reincarnated, this approach probably wouldn't work.

I tend to use single, times new roman, size ten so it looks a little like this. I have an affinity for seeing large blocks of writing on the page and know that if I have written a couple of pages like this then I have accomplished something, around 2500-3000 words. Though, I almost always turn it into size twelve times new roman and double space it before I do anything else (including edits etc).


That is just me though.

I double or 1.5 space everything. Single space makes me dizzy (and I'm only eighteen )