TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
> I submit that the one-two space question is not
> a question at all, but an answer. The use of one or two (or three or
> more) spaces after a period can be a tool to indicate how closely the
> following sentence is related to the one before.
> Think about it:
> Here's one tiny way that a little subjective creativity can be snuck
> in without compromising clarity, but, in fact, enhancing it. (It'll
> also put an end to the one-two space debate!)
Why, this is a great idea! In fact, this could even be applied to the
number of spaces between individual words within a sentence.
Closely related words should have one space between them,
and words that have nothing to do with each other, such as words
in completely different languages, should have two or three or
maybe even ten spaces between them.
Actually, MS-Word even gives you the ability to control the spacing
of individual *letters within a word*. As is well known, English spelling
works on a "morpheme" system in which words are built out of little
roots that have a distinctive spelling that indicates meaning as well
as pronunciation. The letters in morphemes like "-tion" should be
closely spaced, clearly separating them from the remaining parts
of the word, like "masturba-".