Remember the good ole days sitting in Typing class? I’d practically force myself into an anxiety attack trying to beat my previous WPM (Words Per Minute) rate. I still get butterflies when I think about it. Good times...NOT. Check this out:

Formatting Quiz: Which choice is correct, A or B?

A. You are my sunshine. My only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.

B. You are my sunshine. My only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.

The first (choice A) is correct because there is only one space after each endpoint. Here’s why.

We girls/guys of later age—and even the younger ones—have had it beaten into our heads to put two spaces after an endpoint. So, it’s only natural for us to type like choice B. However, since the invention of the word processor, today’s fonts have a little built-in mechanism called “proportional spacing.” Basically that means the computer knows where to put extra spaces and where not to. Hence, choice A.

Adding the extra space after an endpoint now-a-days will:

• make your paragraph appear choppy
• slow the flow for the reader
• give your journaling a “behind the times” look
• be wrong--sorry, it’s true

Learn More
Read about more journaling faux pas from this long-ago blogpost: Avoidable Design Disasters Series—Journaling.

Whew! Glad I got that off my chest. Now I can move on to bigger and better things. . . like cupcakes! Have a great week, friend.