[UPDATE: Huh. I thought that I had put this up this morning.]
The researchers then clamped each student’s head into place, and used an Eyelink 1000 to record where they looked as they silently read 20 paragraphs. The paragraphs were written in various styles: one-spaced, two-spaced, and strange combinations like two spaces after commas, but only one after periods. And vice versa, too.
And the verdict was: two spaces after the period is better. It makes reading slightly easier.
Not that it matters: book and story format submissions use fonts that reward two-space use. So there was nothing stopping me from changing my style, anyway. Still: VINDICATION.
When I saw this, I thought of you. I still say that Two-Spaces is such a waste.
“What shall we use to fill the empty spaces?”
Clarity is never a waste.
.
I’m old enough to have strong opinions on Elite vs. Pica. Two spaces are necessary for clean copy. Walls of text do not make for easy reading.
I’ve seen the claims that proportionate fonts automate this, but they don’t. Not really. Not only do they short the full two spaces, but they also neglect that the period was itself a half-space character.
.
A sentence is a complete thought. White space serves to distinguish it from nearby, related thoughts.
Right there with you on Team Two Space.