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Old 11-19-2009, 09:05 AM   #1
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How many spaces after a colon?
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Old 11-19-2009, 09:10 AM   #2
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one.


unless you mean a real colon, then it'll be the length of the rec... (oh, is it bad that I say the word?)
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Old 11-19-2009, 09:27 AM   #3
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/me tiptoes out of the thread after seeing the colonoscopic direction that the thread immediately took...
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Old 11-19-2009, 11:28 AM   #4
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Back in the typewriter day, when fading ink ribbons could result in commas being mistaken for periods and vice versa, typists were taught to insert 2 spaces after the period to differentiate between the two. Ditto with colons and semicolons, 2 spaces after a colon, 1 space after a semicolon.

These days, with word processors and laser printers and whatnot, I dunno if it makes a difference. So the answer is probably, use one space or two, doesn't matter, as long as you keep it consistent.

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Old 11-19-2009, 12:52 PM   #5
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dpaterso already explained where the whole idea of 2 spaces came from. Gee, I feel old. I had a typewriter when I was younger. Anyway, don't make things more complicated then they need to be. Now that we have computers you only need one space no matter what the punctuation mark is.
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Old 11-19-2009, 01:28 PM   #6
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Domo.
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Old 11-19-2009, 02:32 PM   #7
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I put one space after everything. That allows me to do a find and replace on two spaces for one, keeping everything consistent. If someone's house style is different, they can change it themselves.
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Old 11-19-2009, 02:32 PM   #8
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Old 11-19-2009, 02:36 PM   #9
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One.

I had never, ever heard of this 'two spaces' thing before joining AW and I learned to type on a typewriter.

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Old 11-19-2009, 02:59 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by scarletpeaches View Post
I had never, ever heard of this 'two spaces' thing before joining AW and I learned to type on a typewriter.
You'll appreciate that international typing standards were defined long, long before you tapped out your first swear word. Pitman courses trained typists to use 2 spaces after period and colon.

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Old 11-19-2009, 03:19 PM   #11
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Quite.

But even after mixing with other writers in real life (not for me, hence my appearance online) I never heard any of them mention this formatting 'rule'.

And I'm speaking as someone who knows Pitman's.
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Old 11-19-2009, 03:27 PM   #12
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My idiot, living-in-the-Dark-Ages high school keyboarding teacher taught us all that crap, and now I can't stop myself from putting two spaces after periods, question marks, and exclamation marks. I have to use Find and Replace to fix it. Grrr...
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Old 11-19-2009, 04:48 PM   #13
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When I first learned to type I used two, but I've since managed to retrain the brain (and fingers) to use only one. Some software applications will allow only one space after any punctuation. I loves those applications.
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Old 11-19-2009, 06:19 PM   #14
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I learned to type on a typewriter (yes, I'm 65 years old!!!!) and I only learned to put two spaces after a period, not semicolon or colon -- there was only one space.
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Old 11-19-2009, 06:23 PM   #15
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I learned to type on a computer and I learned two spaces instead of one. It often depends on the manuscript style as well. AP is actually one after a period, whereas uh...that other one I used to use in school I can't remember the name of was two. Annoying. I do two after periods because that's how I was taught and it looks weird to me otherwise.

Oddly, my thinking was more that the answer had to do with what came after the colon than anything else. Namely, if it was a complete sentence it would be two spaces and if not it would be one. I clearly had no idea what I was talking about. However, this has cleared up the answer quite well--either one is fine!
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Old 11-19-2009, 06:49 PM   #16
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I only put one space after any punctuation. I've been using typewriters (and then computers) since I was ten years old (1960).
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Old 11-19-2009, 07:55 PM   #17
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It's a single space after a colon, period, question mark, or exclamation point.

It's only important in that it helps you look like a professional.

That said, if a publisher or editor asks you to use three spaces, and Comic Sans 19 point in flamingo pink, then by golly, you do it with a smile and be ready to grab the check.
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Old 11-19-2009, 08:22 PM   #18
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Agree with Lisa. If the writing between and around the punctuation marks is interesting and publishable, I doubt an agent or editor will give a rat's arse about being colonic over spacing.
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Old 11-19-2009, 08:34 PM   #19
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I can't believe we can find this many people to comment on a space. Imagine what would happen if we had something of substance to discuss.
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Old 11-19-2009, 10:04 PM   #20
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The problem is when the writer is inconsistent. A space here and two spaces there. It makes the typesetter's job very difficult to conform to house style. The "search and replace" function doesn't always work so well.
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Old 11-20-2009, 02:29 AM   #21
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I agree with the other punctuation, but single space after a period doesn't make a writer look one bit more professional. Less so, to many of us.
Actually, that's a good point--let's say it adds a small extra step.

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Old 11-20-2009, 02:55 AM   #22
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It doesn't bother any typesetter I know. Spacing is the one area where nothing in the manuscript matters in the least to the typesetter. If you quadruple space between sentences, paragraphs, or anywhere else, his job is to simply follow house style in these areas.
Yes, but he has to FIND all that stuff to change it. If he doesn't know there's a quadruple space somewhere, he won't be able to change it and then the galley comes back and someone says, "Why the heck does it look so far apart?" That's why I say "consistent." If there are always four spaces after a colon, the typesetter can simply search and replace.
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Old 11-20-2009, 02:56 AM   #23
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I agree with the other punctuation, but single space after a period doesn't make a writer look one bit more professional. Less so, to many of us.
Less so? That's a little harsh. A lot of writers use single space and that does not in any way make them less professional. Different from how people were taught in the typewriter days, sure, but less professional, especially since a lot of house styles call for single space?

(BTW, most online publishing uses single space because that's actually what HTML does. To insert double space you actually have to insert two &bsnp's into the document. By default, all white spaces turn into single space after being rendered by the browser. Read every single post on AW and you will find only single space after period, no matter what you do).
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Old 11-20-2009, 03:07 AM   #24
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Yup. A number of publishers specify one space only.

Guess they're not professionals then.
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Old 11-20-2009, 03:25 AM   #25
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I've trained myself both ways. I had a desk editor at the paper that would always bitch at me and another guy who'd learned to double-space after periods. It was just the way we were used to, but AP or perhaps it was a house thing required single spaces. So I did that at the paper, but continue to this day to use double spaces in my fiction. It hasn't affected my acceptances yet (that I know of) and I've never seen a preference listed on submission guidelines. But if I did see it I'd adhere to it like anyone else who hopes to have a chance at publishing. It all seems a little silly to me.

I use single spaces on the forum also for some reason. Hmm. Maybe I just have a different brain for fiction.

But then there's the fact I use single spaces after colons and doubles after other hard punctuation. I'm consistent but that's how I've always done it. If it's either one way or the other perhaps I should relearn the way I space. I just never thought of a colon as "hard" punctuation.

Or perhaps I'll just write the way I always have and deal with the trivial shit when it's time to deal with it.
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Originally Posted by Drachen Jager View Post
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