Don't Use Two Spaces After A Period

When I was learning to blind type, I would always use two spaces after a period. I don’t know where I learned this from, because I don’t remember my typing instructor ever requiring me to use two spaces.

When I wrote a book my editor jumped down my throat for using two spaces. I remember thinking how hard it was going to be to retrain myself to type one space instead of two after a sentence. It actually only took me about 3 days before I had retrained my muscle memory.

I’ve even brought up the spacing ssue with friends and colleagues. I didn’t realize how contested the two space vs. one space topic was. Very rarely does someone argue on the side of one space.

Origins of Double Spacing

The two spaces after a period does not originate from typewriters. Let’s clear that issue right now. Feel free to read a long diatribe as to why that is not true.

In, The Complete Manual of Typography, the origin of double spacing comes from people believing “a single space… was not wide enough to create a sufficient space between sentences.”

Early typesetters used an em space after periods. The em space is about the same width as two non-em spaces. This was a very common practice among typesetters. Even the United States Declaration of Independence uses em spaces after periods.

I should note that the practice of using em spaces however was not universal. Some typesetters used one, two, three, or even four non-em spaces after periods.

If you’re using a typewriter, or the courier font, you should absolutely be using two spaces after a period. Due to monospacing, one space after a period isn’t enough to visually queue you to know when the end of a sentence has occurred.

So for the same reason that double-spacing typewritten lines is the norm, using two word spaces after periods is, too. It’s a question of balancing the white space bound up in each character with the spaces around them. In addition, a single word space simply lacks the visual impact to cue the reader that a sentence has ended. The punctuation mark alone, in short, isn’t enough to punctuate the texture of the type flow.

It’s Distracting

Since I was required to use one space it is uncomfortable reading anything with two spaces. My eye and mind are distracted from reading the content being presented and I find myself getting mad at the author for not using single spacing.

This is actually a common thought many readers have. James Felici, says, double spacing, although not wrong, looks like a mistake.

The problem with [using double spacing] these days is that it looks like a mistake. We’re not used to seeing these white holes peppering the page, so the wider spaces look inappropriately large.

Ignorance

Many people prefer double sentence spacing for informal use because that was how they were taught to type.

Why is typing a double space after the end of a sentence such a common practice? And why do so many writers still deliver copy this way? The answer: typing class! This is how most of us were taught to type (and still are, in many cases). The two-space habit is based on the limitations of typewriters; specifically, of typewriter fonts.

If you ever use the excuse, “It’s what I was taught,” you clearly can’t think for yourself. Humans wouldn’t be the powerful creatures we have become if we were comfortable with status quo. The ability to change, adapt, and build typewriters is what makes us the smartest animal in the kingdom.

Use One Space

Modern machines use proportional typefaces, so you shouldn’t use two spaces after a period. People will think you are using two spaces out of ignorance and it will be perceived as a mistake.

In, The Effect of Text Spacing After the Period on Time for On-Screen Reading Tasks, researchers wanted to determine if spacing between sentences affected the time taken to complete reading text.

Although the mean of the reading time indicated that the ‘double space’ group took longer time to finish reading the passages as compared to the ‘single space’ group, the time difference were not statistically significant.

Although the results aren’t statistically significant, it may be increase your personal reading time.