Pssst….for the readers out there who are around my age and older, this post is for you. We are part of the “two spaces after a period” generation. You know who you are…those of us who took typing classes back in the 1980’s and earlier? You do realize we’re in the 21st century now, right?
First of all, I must confess…I loved my typing class in high school. I learned how to type to the beat of music, and when I graduated in 1987, I think I was typing close to 100 wpm – on an IBM Selectric typewriter, no less. Yes, a typewriter.
Before I ever started typing on a computer keyboard, my fingers knew exactly where they should be to make letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs come to life. Well, in between adding fresh sheets of paper (one at a time!). To this day, I blame my loud typing on learning how to type on a typewriter. Because I am seriously unable to type quietly, even with the feather-touch keys of my laptop. But I digress…
However, the one major thing that all of our typing teachers completely drilled into our heads – which seemed more important than breathing at the time – has ended up being one of the worst mistakes for writers in the 21st century. I’m talking about using two spaces after a period. Or any punctuation, for that matter.
In this day of digital publishing, two spaces after punctuation is a really big “no-no.”
And yes, I was completely guilty of making that mistake as a new blogger and social media manager a few years ago. Oh, the humanity.
Luckily, one of my wonderful online mentors at the time pointed out how my erroneous (yet completely ingrained) use of two spaces after a period was driving her to distraction.
My initial reaction was shock. How could my beloved high school teacher have been so wrong??? No way!
Well, it turns out my typing teacher (or the thousands of others just like her) did not teach us the wrong way to type. Rather, the evolution of online publishing has necessitated a change for all of us who do our writing online; and it therefore makes using two spaces after a period obsolete.
Making the change from two spaces to one was not so difficult, it turns out. After using Microsoft Word’s “Find and Replace” feature a few dozen times, I finally adapted to the “using two spaces after a period” rule.
And now it’s me who is driven to distraction when I see others who haven’t yet caught on.
So I want to return the favor bestowed upon me a few years ago. There are many folks out there who write really well. Changing this one thing could make a big difference by boosting their chances for more exposure, either for their business or their personal brand.
Here are three reasons why you should stop using two spaces after a period (for digital writing). Now.
1. Reputable style manuals for digital writers, such as The Chicago Manual of Style Online and the MLA (Modern Language Association), have established thorough guidelines which all online writers should follow. And, although neither acknowledge the use of two spaces after a period is “wrong,” they both highly recommend the single space.
2. Back in the original days of typesetting, two spaces really were necessary in order to show the space between the end of one sentence and the beginning of a new one since spaces were much smaller.
Then, when typewriters came along, they only had one font for every character. As a result, each letter and punctuation mark took the same amount of space on paper. Continuing the practice of using two spaces after a period was just easier for people.
Now, because of the hundreds of font and size possibilities available on our PCs, Macs, mobile devices, and so on, using two spaces is no longer necessary for marking the line between old and new sentences.
3. And finally…using one space after punctuation simply looks better. There, I said it. It helps your online text flow easily and improves its readability. What’s not to like about that?
What have your experiences been like in regards to using one space as opposed to two spaces after a period? Was it a struggle for you – or do you still refuse to try doing it? I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions! Please feel free to leave a comment below.
Related Resource
Writer’s Digest How Many Spaces After a Period?
I am so trying to stop the two spaces after the period, but it is so ingrained and part of my fingers, I think. I just did it after typing that last period and had to backspace just to erase the one space. I think my backspace key will be getting worn out before any of the other ones.
I completely empathize, @goalgettingpodcast:disqus – it’s really difficult to erase all those years of using two spaces. Keep practicing (and replacing that backspace key if necessary!). You can do it! 🙂
Thank you for this article. It is a mistake you can see in all of our articles posted / blogs posted on BuildWPCheap.com. Even now, we all are having a hard time training our thumbs not to double space bar between sentence. We second Goal Getting Podcast’s post below where there have been several times when simply writing this small post where we’ve had to hit the backspace key several times when transitioning between sentences. Needless to say, with the world ever moving forward it is important to
continue to evolve with it. Thank you for bringing this to our
attention. We look forward to reading more of your posts and seeing you in our timeline.
I appreciate your honesty and compliment, Build WP Cheap! I cannot even go back and look at my early posts, knowing they’re full of double spaces. I like your point about evolving with our ever-changing digital world…adapting may not be easy, but is often valuable for ourselves – and our clients – in the long run. Cheers!
Wow! Thanks for the amazing article. I know that I am more than guilty of this practice. I graduated a couple of years before you and I, too, am guilty of using two spaces after the dreaded period. So, here goes at trying to re-train myself into a new habit. Now to get all those I design and develop sites for to get with it.
There are a bunch of us reformed double-spacers, @greg_hyatt:disqus. Thanks for the comments and compliments!
I have to admit, I was SO skeptical when I saw your tweet but decided to read the post, as it intrigued me. I’m much younger than the demographic you described and was always taught two spaces. Have to admit, I prefer that look over the single space. But as Build WP Cheap said, we must change with the times. So, I’ll make efforts to adapt to both dropping the space as well as embracing the look. The only time I’ve not used two spaces is in texting, and even then it irks me, if I’m honest. Just thought you’d like to know that it’s not entirely a generation gap issue. 🙂
You never change proper grammar and punctuation. I have to say that I’m appalled at this article, the notion that we change rules of punctuation because we have more font choices, and the fact that so many people are so quick to read a blog post from a hack author who suggests we do such a thing and nobody really even questions it.
Unbelievable.
Well, I have to disagree with you on that point. Languages change and evolve and they do so in small steps like this one. The only reason anything like this is ever “correct” is because it’s what we as humans have collectively decided is correct not because there are any cosmic or universal rules of grammar and punctuation in English. If, for no other reason, the savings in trees from using less spaces in our printed media makes evolving our language a good thing. It’s putting our additional learning to good use. It’s why words are changed in the dictionaries each year. You certainly don’t need to make those changes if you don’t want to. Person freedom still abounds. But it doesn’t make the evolution of language inherently wrong.
And, I noticed (at the time this was written) you used a single space between your two sentences.
Saving of trees. That simply makes me laugh. If you had actually given a compelling or simply plausible argument, I might have enjoyed a little banter between us, but, alas, you did not. Plain and simple, you are wrong on many levels. Since you were so quick, however, to point out my typographical error, I’ll simply point out that your “Person freedom” isn’t correct either; unless you were just trying to save a tree.
@lifereinspired:disqus has her opinion and you have yours, @GodOfThunder07:disqus
Good points, @lifereinspired:disqus
I appreciate your opinion, Ken. We can agree to disagree.
Ken, Ken, Ken. (I’m sorry – do you prefer GodOfThunder07? Whatever.)
“Because it is increasingly common for papers and manuscripts to be prepared with a single space after all punctuation marks, this spacing is shown in the examples in the MLA Handbook and the MLA Style Manual. ” (Source: http://www.mlahandbook.org/fragment/faq#How_many_spaces)
“Since there is no proof that an extra space actually improves readability—as your comment suggests, it’s probably just a matter of familiarity—CMOS follows the industry standard of one space after a period.” (Source: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/OneSpaceorTwo.html)
There’s also Slate (http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/01/space_invaders.html), but judging from the comments you’ve recently left at such bastions of academic integrity and rigor as “Chicks on the Right” and “Young Conservatives” (not sure why transgendered people unhinge you so, but then again, one tiny little empty space seems to have driven you into a full-on temper tantrum, so maybe that’s not so surprising), you probably would prefer something like Business Insider – http://www.businessinsider.com/why-you-should-never-add-two-spaces-after-a-period-2015-5 – oh, and the majority of all published style guides for languages using a Latin-based alphabet. (http://www.aect.org/events/review/PropResults.asp?submit=View+Full+Proposal.&propid=148).
tl;dr You get your own opinions. You don’t get your own facts. The truly funny part here is that you’re a wholly ineffective advocate for your positions, such as they may be. You could have chosen from among any number of persuasive tactics. Instead, you launch a weird vindictive little personal attack on the author and anyone who dares to agree with her, so I fully expect you’ll try launching that weak sauce on me next. Go to. I’m not nearly as polite as Jennifer.
Thanks, Rae – I appreciate your compliments and glad for the new knowledge about it not being a generational gap issue.
Well we are going to have to agree to differ on this. I still use two spaces for all the reasons stated but also because even with corrective spectacles I still struggle to read coherently at times. I find that one space just runs on in waffle in my head and I miss swathes of information. The double space registers with me. I find it easier to read. Personal choice
Thank you for sharing! Finally, some insight into why people do this. I’ll confess that when people use two spaces I’m actually irritated by it. It’s so small yet so noticeable!
This post itself doesn’t even make sense to me. HTML already converges multiple spaces into a single space, so as a writer how are your readers even aware and distracted by this?
I do catch myself sometimes automatically hitting two spaces after a sentence, but I do a visual review of anything I write to make certain I’ve removed any double space period endings. Its a very tough habit to break for those of us in the speed typing classes. It happens without even being aware of it. Just like any other habit though, it can be overcome! I just try not to lose any sleep over it when I see it done by others. After all, there are much bigger fish in the world to fry!