Here’s more about the spaces after periods. (And we’re not talking menstruation.) Some of you asked.
Spaced Out
Published
Pictures of my life in a thousand words . . . more or less.
Pictures of my life in a thousand words . . . more or less.
Here’s more about the spaces after periods. (And we’re not talking menstruation.) Some of you asked.
Actual Unretouched Photo 
I will continue to lease two spaces because it would be too hard at this point not to.
It looks like you do as well.
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I was surprised when I first learned about this. And here’s another. You no longer indent with five spaces. You use the tab key.
Old habits are hard to break, but you can do it. In the meantime, here’s a very easy solution. When you’re done with your document, go to EDIT in MS word. Then hit FIND, then FIND AND REPLACE.
In the FIND box, hit the space key twice. In the REPLACE box, hit the space key once. Then hit APPLY ALL. Word will replace all your two spaces with one glorious space in nanoseconds. A box pops up and tells you just how many replacements it made. Your goal is to make that number go down each time.
I rarely hit the space key twice now.
And, by the way, if you are submitting for publication, absolutely do the find and replace thing. An editor knows! Those two spaces make you look like you’ve not done your homework on formatting.
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As a newspaper person, I agree with relevantgirl. It’s pretty annoying to have to go through a document and take out those extra spaces!
(And! If you’re sending in a picture, please PLEASE turn off the time and date stamp from your camera. For the love of all that is good and decent. It’ll just have to be cropped or Photoshopped out!)
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That is interesting! The typing I do is mostly letters and CPS reports, so nothing published. If I were ever going to type for a publication, this is good to know.
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Although your reference didn’t say it, I have been under the impression that the old two-space thing was good for the old, typewriter fonts where every character had equal width — a “w” was afforded the same space as an “i” for example. We now primarily use proportional fonts. Now, I’m not being dogmatic about this; maybe it’s just changing tastes. After all, who indents paragraphs anymore?
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Beyond that, Word will automatically correct the two spaces to one unless you tell it not to.
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It does make a mess of documents that aren’t left or right justified, but it’s a hard habit to break. I’m 50 for pete’s sake. Hasn’t anyone heard you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Woof.
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I’m just an old fashioned gal, I guess.
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Well, that’s news for me! I’m a two space gal–habit, and my mother being a typing teacher, I guess. I don’t think it is possible for my right thumb to strike the space bar only one time after a period. I’m trying even as I type this, and the ole thumb simply won’t cooperate.
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Well, I learned 2 spaces after a period, and that’s what I plan to continue doing. I also learned 2 spaces after a : but only 1 after a ;. No stopping me now!
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I’ve always put 2 spaces also. And I will continue to do it. I just can’t stop myself!!! LOL!!!! BTW, I LOVE reading your blog! You are a very talented writer. I’m a fledgling but working on it. 🙂
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Count me in the “2 space club”! I’ll never be able to stop that!! BTW, I thoroughly enjoy reading your blog. You are a very talented writer. I take inspiration from you. 🙂
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Well, I have been out of the loop for some time, apparently. Luckily, most of my typing is for personal use and not published. So I will continue to use the 2 spaces as it is habit.
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Yep, Mel, THERE’S the two compliments! Enjoy!! 🙂
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Another 2-spacer coming out from under my rock, thanks for posting this, Mel! Who knew? Apparently everyone else, lol, I’ve been two-spacing it for 20 years. I’ll see what I can do to retrain myself in the next 20 or so years.
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