PSA: You have too many spaces

(Note: Technical problems destroyed the originally posted version of this entry.)

Just a brief interlude for those of you laboring under misconceptions: “Typing two spaces after a period is totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong.”

If you’re not typing in monotype (like Courier or on an actual, physical typewriter), there’s literally no point in a second space after periods. It’s a small but cumulative waste of space, and more significantly inserts big gaping holes into the middle of paragraphs that stop the reader in his or her tracks rather than encouraging sentences to flow together.

This flaw is sadly common among public relations specialist, who bombard reporters with double-spaced press releases, thus adding a few seconds of extra work to delete the superfluous spacing when extracting quotes, and a few ticks of ire against the benighted flack who’s trying to prevail upon the reporter’s good graces.

Plus it just looks terrible, as these this segment from Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Sign of the Four” indicates.

Properly spaced:

“My mind,” he said, “rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world.”

Improperly spaced:

“My mind,” he said, “rebels at stagnation.  Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere.  I can dispense then with artificial stimulants.  But I abhor the dull routine of existence.  I crave for mental exaltation.  That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world.”</blockquote>

But don’t just take my word for it.

Every modern typographer agrees on the one-space rule … Every major style guide—including the Modern Language Association Style Manual and the Chicago Manual of Style [and the AP Stylebook -DM] — prescribes a single space after a period.

Double-spacers, take note: you’re wrong, and you’re being judged.*

*Side note: This post is a fine demonstration of my belief that as long as you keep a sense of humor about yourself, it’s the little things that are most worth getting passionate about.