To not put a double space before a sentence?

[beeefcake]

Having a debate with a colleague who insists the correct way to type is with a double space before the start of each sentence within a paragraph.

To me this looks strange and is unnecessary with modern word formatting which naturally creates a slightly bigger space after a full stop.

AIBU???????

@minniemummy0 - It’s a pipe dream that I get published so I guess it’s a silly thing to even care about!

Not silly at all.

But it is hard work and a very competitive field, so you will need to do research on all your publishing options. As well as obviously write your book!!

I learned touch typing at Sixth Form, back in the early 80s, and back then, we were taught to put a double space after a full stop, and I still do it automatically.

I actually didn't know that there is a longer space after full stops in modern formatting, so I have learned something new. Even so, I just had to make myself stop after one space - putting two in is so ingrained.

It isn't about it being a single or double space, it's the visual gap. That visual gap on an old typewriter was fixed, but with modern computers the space between words can change depending on context.
In fact the space between letters varies not just a specific value per letter, but between pairs of letters too.
Basically you shouldn't be doing double spacing because unless it is forcibly removed, you are actually slightly undoing formatting systems.

What does it matter?

The only appropriate place for two adjacent spaces is the men's urinal!

Now that I have lots of publishing / editor folk in one place, can I ask a question about professional reports?

I work for a large public sector employer, and our style guide is Arial 11 font. For some reports it is arial narrow. As far as a I know there is no further style guide in terms of line spacing, space before or after paragraphs etc. I tend to use 1.5 line spacing, and add a space after paragraph, but I have no idea if this is correct, or pleasing to a critical eye. What do you think?

Sounds fine to me. But I'd use paragraph styles to put in spacing rather than a hard return.

I work for a large public sector employer, and our style guide is Arial 11 font. For some reports it is arial narrow. As far as a I know there is no further style guide in terms of line spacing, space before or after paragraphs etc. I tend to use 1.5 line spacing, and add a space after paragraph, but I have no idea if this is correct, or pleasing to a critical eye. What do you think?

Unindented paragraphs and a line space between paragraphs are generally good for non-fiction and academic stuff as it helps with readability. Indented paragraphs and no line space between paras for novels, etc. 1.5 line spacing is fine – 2 would be a bit too much just for normal reading. I use double spaced when doing close editing work but the material I create for my own purposes is 1.5 line spacing.

It would probably be worth it for your work to create a Word template for reports so that every one follows the same layout and is consistent. It also means people won't have to reinvent the wheel every time they write a report. Some people aren't very comfortable with word processing software so can get themselves in a tizz, but a template that they can just type into and not have to spend time setting up styles, etc. would be of benefit to them.