Re: Spaces after periods 'n such

[Brian Bertrand <bertran -dot- de -dot- st -dot- jean -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Not to mention that in the most recent edition of most style manuals, single
space after the full stop is now the standard practice.
On Oct 29, 2010 2:46 AM, "David Neeley" <dbneeley -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
> Lauren,
>
> What you might do is one thing; I prefer to cultivate the sort of eye
> developed over centuries by type designers, layout artists, and those
> who appreciate fine typography. To such folks, double-spacing after
> periods in typset (printed) or online proportionally-spaced type is to
> ignore the type design.
>
> What you do in email is another matter entirely--that is a realm in
> which many people still use monospaced fonts. However, for the vast
> majority today that is not true either--and the double space still
> seems excessive.
>
> Double spacing--as with typewritten text--is often far too open to be
> easily followed by the eye at standard column widths. The concept of
> single, space-and-a-half, and double spacing are very rough
> approximations of the most visually effective and pleasing line
> leading--and, again, were introduced because of the limitations of the
> typewriter.
>
> Word processors, too, usually work on a formula for determining
> leading based mostly upon point size. As I mentioned before, though,
> that is at best another very rough approximation because of the
> different visual appearance of various fonts in what is ostensibly the
> same point size. It also breaks down quickly as the size is
> substantially changed either to be much smaller or much larger than
> average text. (As I also indicated, line leading is also a function of
> column width. The wider the column, the more leading should be
> increased as a general rule to make it easier for the eye to follow a
> given line as it is read; however, at some point it becomes too loose,
> and again the reading is constrained mostly because of a difficulty in
> shifting the eyes back to the beginning of the next line--too loose,
> and actually finding the next line becomes an issue).
>
> You are fortunate that you do not work for me; during my working
> lifetime, I was involved more than once in organizations in which part
> of my task was to help create a style guide for publications ranging
> from executive correspondence to sales collateral to technical pubs.
> Your seeming insistence upon such elements as double spacing after
> periods would have been an immediate violation of these corporate
> style guides. To many, this kind of thing also is a bit jarring
> visually, and often marks those of us with "more experience" (late
> middle age or beyond) as being somewhat antiquated.
>
> I also spent six years consulting with Xerox in California. They had
> developed an entire book about publication style--a large volume of
> 498 pages which is still available:
>
http://www.amazon.com/Xerox-Publishing-Standards-Manual-Design/dp/0823059642/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1288334295&sr=1-1
>
> In it, you will find this sort of thing covered at some length IIRC.
>
> I would be quite interested if you can find any style guide that would
> support your approach on these matters.
>
> If your organization has a layout artist--perhaps in an outside agency
> that may prepare sales collateral--it is simple enough to bring up the
> topic and find out what these factors may look like from a
> professional standpoint. I would be interested if you find *any* who
> may agree with your approach.
>
> As I said before, this is a matter of the "eye of the beholder." I
> find that most folks today who stick with the "double space after
> periods" and such are mostly those who learned originally on a
> typewriter and for whom that simply became "natural". At 61, I
> obviously learned keyboarding on a typewriter--a manual one at
> that--but have long since moved on as I learned more about the most
> effective uses of typography.
>
> David
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 09:00, <techwr-l-request -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
wrote:
>> From: Lauren <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>
>> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>> Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2010 08:31:09 -0700
>> Subject: Re: Spaces after periods 'n such
>> On 10/28/2010 12:17 AM, David Neeley wrote:
>>>
>>> It always astounds me that there are still questions among
>>> professional writers regarding spaces following periods and other
>>> stops.
>>
>> It is always amazing when this discussion comes around every couple of
years and the same arguments are raised and the same disagreements arise.
>>
>>> Today, with typewriters mostly confined to museums, most type is
>>> proportional. The width designed into the fonts used makes a double
>>> space after a period far too open.
>>
>> I still like that visual break between sentences.
>>
>>> The only place where you should consider using a double space after a
>>> period is in the rare instance in which you might be actually writing
>>> text in a monospaced font--for the same reason it was used in
>>> typewritten text for all those years.
>>
>> What about for people who receive text-only emails and do not care for
the variable width fonts when viewing text-only emails?
>>
>>> If you look at proportional text with double spaces at an angle, you
>>> can easily notice "rivers" of white space running through it from the
>>> extra spacing. When you do this, it becomes a bit jarring to the eye,
>>> in fact.
>>
>> Your eye, perhaps.  I am reading your email in a mono-spaced, text-only
font because the variable width fonts cause my eyes too much strain.
>>
>>> However, the single take-away here is a simple rule for the most
>>> effective appearance of your work: when using a proportional font,
>>> single space after periods.
>>
>> I use double-space.
>>
>>> (When editing someone else's work, one of my first activities is to do
>>> a search and replace for all double spaces after periods, replacing
>>> them with single spaces. It's surprising, too, how many people
>>> actually mix the two up in the same piece.)
>>
>> Funny.  I search and replace all of the single spaces with double, unless
there is a controlling style guide or format requirements that state
otherwise.  Let's work together! ;-)
>>
>>> As for "looking funny"--that is usually, if not universally, a problem
>>> with the eye of the beholder.
>>
>> Does this font make me look funny?
>>
>> Lauren
>>
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