I am self-taught at typing and only do the double space after discussing it with other teachers. Single spaces at the end of a sentence are simply sloppy. That is what i feel, that is how i write my manuscript. Still, I’ll own the obnoxious pr**k part. To set the automatic indent: Right click on the Normal Style in the Styles area of the Home Ribbon. See http://www.heracliteanriver.com/?p=324 for a review of what the actual typesetting standards really are and were. Thanks. The computer wouldn’t recognize it as a new sentence. Oh, the terrible amount of effort it takes to hit the space bar twice! The newer ones are self-published, but the older ones were published by McGraw-Hill and other publishing houses, big and small. That quote was in reference to someone talking about what he observed in American books from that time period. Evidently nothing looks worse than a word ending with a w or m followed by an exclamation mark. Simply not true. See http://www.heracliteanriver.com/?p=324, an article written by someone who actually looked at historical typesetting guides to verify whether typewriters changed the rules. In typography there is always a consideration of both aesthetics and functionality. Can you identify an error in it? Language is such an important tool and we should use it with joy. http://www.heracliteanriver.com/?p=324. Yes, standards change, hence the constant debate over the Oxford comma, but most changes such as these take place fairly naturally over time. It’s a shame you came to that conclusion because it’s not true. Call me old fashioned, but it is, from what I have been taught, the correct way to type. I can “snark” too! Nobody will notice your double spaces because in these comments, as in most other places on the web, they’re automatically changed to one space . When you say that each chapter should begin on its own page, do you mean a completely new sheet of paper? So, then they become 2-space Nazis, trying to bully their opinion on everyone else in the world. The Boomer generation was taught to place two spaces after the period ending a sentence. It is the way your inner feelings are received by the observer. A PhD student who needed a dissertation came up with this dumbass idea and convinced a few people to go along trying for a seat at the cool kids table. Space is needed to reflect and make sense of the world. I can tell you’re an artist. 2!” Enough said…. If there is a flaw in this article, it’s that it fails to point that out. The move to single space was driven mostly by publishers who wanted cheaper publications. I still find the Thai script to be unusual though, as other Asian languages do seem to use spaces despite having icons which are the same height. To use what actually aids in comprehension. Whatever (now there’s a current accepted usage that you should vent your Usage and Style rage on). You had to press the keys HARD. Be sure your manuscript doesn’t contain any of these common pitfalls: These days, agents and publishers will request manuscripts to be submitted electronically. (Don’t even consider indenting a paragraph with 5 spaces.) This has made the grammar output of the younger generations pitiful in comparison to the older. (See what I did there?) Also, I noticed in the example there is extra space between the chapter heading and the beginning of the chapter. I’ve only just finished formatting the first three chapters of my novel in preparation to start querying, but I did it all with indents! In most cases, the changes required will be minor tweaks. We are simply trying to make language more accessible. However, I still use 2 spaces after a period because good ole stupid Word does not space out between characters or after a period. one space or two does not create any real problem. Or am I missing something? i am having trouble on how to set the header with the names and the continous number. Your article is really a great help to me. When I was in college in the 70’s and high school in the 60’s there was no space after punctuation. In other words, i have no idea how to format so many different forms of communication and i need help. In reality though the reason why in most cases you should refrain from two spaces is when the line breaks and could cause a new line to start with a space. Where would a wanna-be writer find all the rules in one spot? Proportion less so than preference, I would think. In other words, even if typesetters thought in terms of “one space” or “two spaces” (which they didn’t), they would increase or decrease each space to get the overall alignment they were after. It slows me down greatly and makes it much more difficult to comprehend the text well. I was probably out of college a decade before that happened. The software is specifically set to insert a period if you quickly do 2 spaces at the end of a word! In that era, you actually needed the extra space to really tell when the sentence was finally over. “As for the “ugly” white space, the holes after the sentence were said to make it easier to parse sentences. So much so, in fact, that I named my younger daughter Jennifer. Thus the grotesque (sans serif) was created. I JUST found this out today while practicing on a typing program I want my 13 year old to learn on. So double spacing at the end of a sentence tells people that I am over 40 – so what? The contemporary German professional typographers, publishers, and printers of their time is who. however when communicating in a game online, every sentence is ended by pressing enter to send the message. RAMONA!!!! Personally, I’d prefer what you state, using the byline name in the page header, but of course, I’d always go with the market’s request if it differs. However, I already know I’m not going to keep up with the technology in that area. We enter the Renaissance, which is a period of rational thinking and so you will see a lot of standardization in this period. You wrote: Line Spacing: Double-spaced. However, if either the handwriting/note or the drawing is nondescript– which hardly ever happens– the problem rises. I think 2 spaces is more fancy and proper-ish if you’re going to apply to a college. Good luck with your issues. That folks just shows that whoever wrote this article is flowing with the changes of times! I’ve actually seen that a lot. They would have a question and it would amaze them/freak them out that I could continue to type at a rapid pace while I looked at them and carried on a conversation with them at the same time. The fact that 99% of contemporary books are set with a single space is evidence of that. That’s debatable and it’s not the only consideration. It is sometimes disconcerting to be called by my spouse’s name when I am the one calling. The primary reason to go with two spaces is because of the use of initializations and abbreviations ending with periods. Perhaps it’s a matter of what you’re used to, but the double space is taking things too far. So do we underline or italicize all italicized words? One space was the norm in typesetting for most fonts, exactly because of the issues addressed in the article. However, her article does align with what the typographic community thinks, which is that double spaces after periods are not recommended. //