I thought Robin Williams (the writer, not the comedian) fixed this a long time ago?

[deckeda]

10 pts. awarded if you know what I'm referring to. 20pts. awarded if you bought the first edition eons ago.

Still seeing submissions of content with double spacing between sentences.

W
T
F

[RAMd®d]

I had a couple of Ms. Williams books years ago.

But not that one.

I didn't know it was still in print.

[N-OS X-tasy!]

deckeda wrote:
Still seeing submissions of content with double spacing between sentences

I still see that all the time, even from people I consider to be intelligent and informed. I guess not everyone has read Ms. Williams' books.

BTW, don't bother trying to educate people on the matter - it is a waste of breath.

[Article Accelerator]

N-OS X-tasy! wrote:
[quote=deckeda]
Still seeing submissions of content with double spacing between sentences

I still see that all the time, even from people I consider to be intelligent and informed. I guess not everyone has read Ms. Williams' books.

BTW, don't bother trying to educate people on the matter - it is a waste of breath.
Agreed. Stupid, ingrained habits…

[Paul F.]

I once put together a scrupulously detailed list of sources that confirm that we do NOT double space after a period for the teachers here - to no avail.
The older teachers will, by God and Odin, teach "Two Spaces", and the younger ones are so illiterate (typing wise) that they don't care.

[Sam3]

Typing rules and habits that were pounded into us (we who learned typing on either manual or electric typewriters) are awfully hard to change. We have been ingrained that doing double spaces after periods or double-returns is a good habit. Now we are told that they are bad habits. Changing behavior is difficult and takes time. It's almost the same as trying to lose weight or quit smoking.

[N-OS X-tasy!]

Sam3 wrote:
Typing rules and habits that were pounded into us (we who learned typing on either manual or electric typewriters) are awfully hard to change. We have been ingrained that doing double spaces after periods or double-returns is a good habit.

I learned to type on a manual typewriter and I had no problem making this adjustment. It really is a simple thing, once one learns the reasoning for why we once used double spaces after periods and why doing so is no longer necessary.

EDIT: I will say that I am not normal when it comes to this sort of thing. I should have become an editor - errors almost literally leap off any page I am reading. I once spotted a spelling error on a colleague's monitor... as I entered his office... from across the room. He said it was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever seen.

[deckeda]

Sam3 wrote:
... Now we are told that they are bad habits ...

I disagree with what I think is your supposition here.

It's not merely about changing something on a whim and expecting people to suck it up. Typewriters traditionally had only Courier font--a fixed font, right? So the reader would go crazy reading something without an extra space highlighting where a new sentence began.

Personal computers gave us easy access to formatting and proportional fonts, where the natural spacing between letters (and kerning) is closer. So now, when you hit a single space, that's by itself enough of an indicator. Am I wrong here?

[N-OS X-tasy!]

deckeda wrote:
Typewriters traditionally had only Courier font--a fixed font, right?

Actually, most typewriters used either Pica or Elite (some had both).

The rest of your post is spot-on, though.

[cbelt3]

Many of us learned to punctuate and type with tutelage from those much senior to us. The double space was a religion to folk of that era. There are far more horrid errors taking place than that little fillip.

For example, Peachpit's fracturing of the title of the book. How military !

For example:
ZZ-C-001597A, FEDERAL SPECIFICATION: CONDOMS, RUBBER, CONTRACEPTIVE (19 SEP 1977)