Double-spaces were used with typewriters because they used non-proportional fonts. The double-space is used to make sure you could tell the end of the sentence.
Proportional fonts, used by most non-mainframe based computer programs, make the double-space unnecessary.
You could just do everything in Courier New and then use the double-space :)
As I recall, the convention of a two spaces after a period has something to do with the mechanics of the printing press. I don't remember what it is anymore, but now that we use another technology, the need for two spaces after a period is eliminated. If you put two spaces after a period, you are quaintly traditional; if you don't, you are modern and progressive. **shrug**
The short answer is, it's a style thing and not a rule thing. More and more I'm training myself to do one space after a period (mostly because the program I use most often at work only lets one put one space in). But two still looks fine to me.
I tend to use two spaces for something I print in-house and one space for copy destined for our printers; for some reason, the double-space is glaring when they've done it on any sort of quality or glossy paper. I've received brochures back that had the double-space, and saw nothing but huge holes in the middle of paragraphs.
I thought there was some rule about whether or not the text would be in print or on-screen. On-screen is one, and in print is two. At least that was the myth I heard once upon a time.
During the early days of computer typesetting, it didn't make any difference. If you were a trained touch-typist (as I was), you had been trained to put a double space at the end of every sentence. When you typed your input into TeX or LaTeX, it would typeset the spaces between sentences in whatever way the stylesheet told it to, regardless of what you typed. It recognized sentence ends, and treated them appropriately
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Yeah; it always amazes me how every iteration of Word becomes at once fancier, more "helpful," and less useful. Its clear inability to understand common terms turned into proper nouns by simple capitalization when doing grammar checks drives me absolutely insane.
common terms turned into proper nouns by simple capitalization when doing grammar checks drives me absolutely insane.
That drives me insane. I've written several stories using the character name 'Will'. Sometimes Word reads it as an incorrect spelling because of the capitalization, sometimes not.
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Proportional fonts, used by most non-mainframe based computer programs, make the double-space unnecessary.
You could just do everything in Courier New and then use the double-space :)
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That drives me insane. I've written several stories using the character name 'Will'. Sometimes Word reads it as an incorrect spelling because of the capitalization, sometimes not.
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