First Word

This morning's adventure in the sublime and humorous -- a form in which they insisted I TYPE in the answers. Type? Huh? What? Does anyone actually own a typewriter anymore? Last I checked my IBM Selectric was sold in a yard sale about 20 years ago. I had a Royale too -- you know for term papers. I can't imagine typing anything nor can I even think of white-out smudges. The only thing retained from the days of yore (typewriters) is knowledge of the keyboard. I am a fast typist. I can type probably 100 words per minute or better. It's a brain-to-fingertips gift. Do you even remember when rewriting required white-out and what was it? That eraser "thingy" (my friend uses the word "thingy" all of the time). I just remember how important it was to get erasable typing paper; but you better get your thoughts down right the first time. No revising for you! Revising required re-typing. Good lord and no way. My now-computer-trained brain grimaces at the thought. ...

Today's question from an author is a common mistake and misnomer. If you want the new rules of style in terms of word processing and digital printing, invest in the book The Mac is Not a Typewriter . Today's question: do you still put the double space after the period?  Old rules of business writing and even academic writing suggested we use the double space. Today the computer does it for us, and there is no need. Word processors put the right spacing in for the user. Older writers unfamiliar with the change in the rules still add the double space, which is unnecessary and removed during editing. The double space was used in typesetting methods where typesetters physically put the "plates" together with the words and used the spacing to distinguish between the end of the sentence and the start of the new one. Since the computer can now automatically do it, and the new digital printing methods don't require plates, it's gone away. Underlining titles now ...