Isn\u2019t it grand when you learn something new? I received a manuscript for evaluation recently. I told the author that I thought the manuscript was in pretty good shape, but that he really needed to remove the extra space between sentences. <\/p>\n
He told me that he was aware of the new one-space rule, but wasn\u2019t quite ready to buy into it. Even if he wanted to adhere to the rule, he wasn\u2019t about to go back and make all of the changes to his manuscript. He asked if there was a quick and easy way to remove the extra spaces in one fell swoop. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve wondered that, too. I told him my theory\u2014that probably you can use the find and replace feature in Word to remove the extra space between sentences. I had never tested it out, but he decided to. He reported back that \u201cit worked.\u201d <\/p>\n
I wanted to report this to you\u2014my faithful blog visitors\u2014but decided to test it out myself, first. So, this morning, I ran a test. Sure enough I discovered that, if you have a manuscript or a paragraph with two spaces between sentences (the old-fashioned way to type), and you want to remove one space, click on \u201cFind and Replace.\u201d Ask to Find \u201c. \u201d and Replace with \u201c. \u201d It works mighty slick.<\/p>\n
When I attempted this fete with the question mark, however, I was not so lucky. While you may be able to automatically remove the extra space after a period, you will probably have to go in and remove the extra spaces after other punctuation (question marks and colons, for example) by hand.<\/p>\n
Why is it now only one space between sentences when anyone over the age of 35 learned to type leaving two spaces at the end of any sentence? It\u2019s because we\u2019re in the age of technology. When we used typewriters, the letters we typed on a page each took up the same amount of space. So, in order to indicate the end of a sentence\u2014to the reader and to the typesetter\u2014we left two spaces at the end. Now, the letters we type on a page using a computer, each take up a different amount of space. Because of this, you can leave just one space between sentences and it is still obvious where the sentence ends. <\/p>\n
There are still a lot of people who are unaware of this rule thus; you will see published books with rivers of white running through them. Take a look at some books in your library\u2014those with \u201crivers\u201d are pretty amateurish, don\u2019t you think? <\/p>\n
Professionalize your writing. Start by adhering to the one-space rule. Some people will tell me, \u201cBut I\u2019ve been leaving two spaces for 40 years\u202620 years or whatever\u2026\u201d I say, \u201cTalk to the hand,\u201d because I\u2019m not going to give you permission to be a slacker. Put on your big girl\/boy pants, folks, and type the right way every time, all the time\u2014on your manuscripts, in your emails, on your website and blog, when you leave messages at forums or participate in your discussion groups. Practice, practice, practice and soon it will become a habit. You can do it. You really should do it.<\/p>\n