Comments on: Fixing double-spaces after periods

By: Mutt

Mutt — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 09:31:28 +0000

I just had to strip out double spaces while typesetting a thing for printing. I did indeed use my word processor's find-and-replace, which worked reasonably well (though it wasn't so hot at replacing straight quotes with curly ones; next time I will learn not to do my first draft in a text editor).

Don't forget also to check for double spaces after a sentence in quotation marks. (e.g. "Oh, just wonderful." He threw the newspaper down again.)

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 22:06:50 +0000

HELP! Is this in word it won’t work. i can’t find “Find” Can someone help? I am doing it in Word if that makes a difference. Thanks!

By: Adrian McCarthy » Blog Archive » One Tap Or Two?

Adrian McCarthy » Blog Archive » One Tap Or Two? — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 13:18:42 +0000

[...] Apparently I’m not the only one who stumbles without longer spaces between sentences. This comment on screenwriter John August’s blog points out that actors reading aloud stumble less when there’s extra space between sentences. This isn’t a totally fair comparison, because he’s talking about a typewritten (monospaced) script. Nevertheless, it supports the idea that the spacing between sentences should be distinct from the spacing between words to help the reader. [...]

By: John

John — Sun, 12 Jun 2005 04:25:44 +0000

Blaine:

An oversight on my part. Absolutely. Exclamation points and question marks need two spaces in Courier.

By: Blaine Thurier

Blaine Thurier — Sun, 12 Jun 2005 03:44:34 +0000

And, if I may presume, don't forget to Search and Replace "!" followed by two spaces and "?" followed by two spaces.

I always put two spaces after every sentence ending punctuation mark until I followed some bad advice and switched over to one. After reading John's entry, I went and switched back on my current draft. It looks better. It reads better. It's just better.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 20:06:08 +0000

And strike the redundant except from that rule I just wrote. Double-space after everything but commas.

sigh

I really should proofread before hitting submit.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 19:56:58 +0000

I've always double-spaced after any punctuation but commas (except for starting a quote which gets one space after the comma but before the parenthese). Then again, I started writing 20 years ago on a typewriter and my mother was no slouch in teaching me how to type properly.

Do they actually teach to only space once now?

By: Clint Hayes

Clint Hayes — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 14:17:18 +0000

Find and Replace is indeed a powerful tool, especially in Word where you can search with wildcards and on format as well.

In Movie Magic Screenwriter, though, itâ€™s much easier than all that. Take a trip to File > Program Options > Spelling and find near the bottom â€œAuto-Space Sentences to [select #] Spaces.â€? Change that to â€œ2â€? and itâ€™ll always be done for you from the start.

Everyone using MMS should take a long, slow stroll through its options. If the folks at SSI havenâ€™t thought of everything, Iâ€™m not sure what theyâ€™ve missed.

By: Craig Mazin

Craig Mazin — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 10:01:46 +0000

Itâ€™s not WordPress thatâ€™s swallowing your spaces; itâ€™s XHTML, which by default ignores multiple spaces.

Hmmph. Hmmph, I say.

By: Americo

Americo — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 07:12:43 +0000

The first thing I ever wrote (EVER) was about 16 years ago, in 8th grade, when I wrote a story about how the teachers were killing the students. My teacher, Bill Sanders, was looking over my shoulder while I was typing. He was enjoying the story, cause I heard him laughing over my shoulder. He then said to me, "You should put two spaces after a period, it looks better." Since then, I have done so. And little did I know at the time that that was the way to go.

Thanks Bill.

By: John August

John August — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 06:34:36 +0000

Geeky side-note, Mr. Mazin:

It's not WordPress that's swallowing your spaces; it's XHTML, which by default ignores multiple spaces. This is a Good Thing, because it lets you format your code in a human-readable way, while not confusing the poor browser trying to interpret it.