A question about spacing... - Writers Forum

Gary B. Phillips · 11-16-2006, 08:14 AM

(I hope this is the right forum to ask this question, please let me know if it's not.)

I was reading about manuscript format yesterday and it said that there should be two spaces after each sentence. Now that's a practice that I used to be religious about - and even after many others told me that nobody does it anymore - I still did it. I finally succumbed to laziness and started using only one space after sentences (the Web didn't help much in this regard).

So what's the right way - or at least, the writer's right way? Is it only for manuscripts or should I just get into the habit of it again? Of course, not every guide I read about manuscript format mentioned it which only added to the confusion.

GradysGhost · 11-16-2006, 08:43 AM

I always have and always will (unless something really drastic happens) put two spaces after each sentence. I think people have stopped doing this primarily, as you said, because of the way web browsers interpret white space. If you're trying to do a web representation of two spaces, you have to go out of your way and type this:

&nbsp&nbsp

Concerning manuscripts, I think it far more likely that two-spacing is the way to go. The whole point of manuscript format with its wide margins and double-spacing and monospace fonts without serifs is readability. Any screenwriter will tell you that white space on paper makes EVERYTHING easier to read. So my suggestion, though I'm not an expert, is to use two spaces for a printed, shipped, waiting-to-be-read-by-an-editor manuscript.

Changeling · 11-16-2006, 09:53 AM

I'd agree, two spaces makes work a lot easier to read and you should keep up the habit. If you sent work to be published without double spaces it would look amateurish to an editor.

mammamaia · 11-16-2006, 10:33 AM

a hearty DITTO to both replies above!... especially gradys' explanation of why...

Mike C · 11-16-2006, 11:36 AM

I don't, never have, never will. It's an outdated practice, and you won't get rejected for not doing it, or get brownie points for doing it. Do whatever habit dictates.

Siglark · 11-16-2006, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike C

I don't, never have, never will. It's an outdated practice, and you won't get rejected for not doing it, or get brownie points for doing it. Do whatever habit dictates.

Thank God you said that, Mike. I was imagining going back through every sentence of my novel and adding an extra space to every single one. *shivers*

FrankBlissett · 11-16-2006, 07:50 PM

Quote:

I was imagining going back through every sentence of my novel and adding an extra space to every single one.

If you do decide to do this, it should be fairly quick and easy to change most (if not all) using "find and replace" on your word-processor. Simply use it to change ". " with ". " - or vica versa if changing from double to single space.

Also, if you want to keep things consistant you should be able to set up your word-processor to auto-correct, turning ". " into ". ".

-Frank

aspiring · 11-17-2006, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Changeling

I'd agree, two spaces makes work a lot easier to read and you should keep up the habit. If you sent work to be published without double spaces it would look amateurish to an editor.

Oh, rubbish. I have had books published with four different publishers and not one has ever told me to double space after a sentence.

As Mike says, it's an outdated practice back from the days when everyone used typewriters. Now that everything is done on computer, the publisher never uses a double space after a full stop. If you put in double spaces, and the editor receives the ms as a computer document (which mine have sometimes requested after acceptance) then they'd simply have to take out all the double spaces themselves before converting it into a PDF.

I belong to the Society of Authors in the UK and have never heard any editor or writer say that they want mss to be formatted in this way.

Gary B. Phillips · 11-17-2006, 09:33 AM

Lots of different answers but I'm going to have to side with everyone that says it's outdated. I'll just keep working the way I'm working unless I'm told to do it a different way by an editor (or it's in the submission guidelines).

Fantasy of You · 11-17-2006, 03:34 PM

Double space doesn't make anything easier to read. One space is sized as it is for that specific reason, so that's bull.

mammamaia · 11-18-2006, 11:04 AM

no need to be so rude about it, foy!

and, if you had to read hundreds of mss a week for years, that were typed in all sorts of fonts, by all levels of writers [the vast majority of 'em bad-to-awful], you might even decide otherwise...

HarryG · 11-19-2006, 02:32 PM

Does it matter? In the case of an electronic submission, the recipient can, with a few clicks, read the submitted material in any number of ways, and, in future, that will even be improved upon. I’m not saying I’m in favour, it will lead to laziness, on all our parts.

I still use double spacing after a sentence, it’s logical, it reads right, and I’m sometimes frightened of the future.