atw: Re: Extra spacing after full stop
- From: "Rhonda Bracey" <rhonda.bracey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:13:46 +0900
I just did a Google search for "one space or two" and got some 11,000
hits... so there's plenty out there to support whichever way you go.
As you noted, Chicago says one, and the Australian Style Manual (6th
edition, p117) also recommends a single space after punctuation such as
commas and full stops--they insist on it after colons and semicolons.
If your organisation is using Word, you can get the 'double space' users
to set Word so that it converts two spaces after punctuation in to one
(in Word 2003 go to Tools > Options > Spelling & Grammar tab, then click
Settings in the Grammar section and change the settings in the "Require"
group; you can also force a serial comma this way too).
This question goes around almost all tech writing lists every few years
and invariably results in list wars, so be warned...
Rhonda
Rhonda Bracey
rhonda.bracey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.cybertext.com.au <http://www.cybertext.com.au/>
AuthorIT Certified Consultant
________________________________
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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