atw: Re: Extra spacing after full stop

  • From: "Deborah Cross" <Deborah.Cross@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2008 08:56:33 +1100

Is the documentation produced by the company mainly in print or online?
Extra spaces are automatically removed from web pages (unless you force
it with a non-breaking space) which is great for this type of situation.
The double spacers can keep doing it and the single spacers are happy.
 
I must confess I am a double spacer, although trying very hard not to
be. It drives my boss nuts, but it is just how I learned to type. I have
just gone back through this email and removed all the double spaces and
have also set Word to do it for me. I still prefer the look of a double
space but figure there isn't any point as most of my output is online.
It is a very hard habit to break. I've been trying for 6 months now!
 
Deborah

  _____  

From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of O'Connor,
Deirdre [Beacon Technology]
Sent: Friday, 18 January 2008 4:01 PM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: Extra spacing after full stop



Can anyone provide a yes/no answer to the question of whether extra
spacing between sentences should/shouldn't be used in
Manual/Guideline/Standard type documentation? I find many professionals
use two spaces after each full stop and as a Technical Writer this
bothers me. After researching it (Chicago Manual of Style and various
Google pages) I have found that it is not correct practice.

Chicago Manual of Style: 
"2.12 Line spacing and word spacing 
For the hard copy, the entire text and, if possible, all extracts,
notes, bibliography, index, and other material should be vertically
double-spaced. A single character space, not two spaces, should be left
after periods at the ends of sentences (both in manuscript and in final,
published form) and after colons."

I am writing up a Formatting Guide for my company and I would like to
state that extra spacing should not be used as common practice but I
would just like any other opinions/facts on this please.

Thanks. 

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