A reader writes to ask: I know it’s still acceptable to space twice after periods. However, if there’s a close quote after a period is there actually only one space remaining after the quotation mark before first letter of the...  read

A reader writes to ask: I have always used two spaces after the end of each sentence and someone recently said they believed that was no longer the correct method to use. Can you tell me if I should leave...  read

I wrote the original version of my manuscript formatting guide in 1993, modeling it after a much older two-page guide I received from Damon Knight in 1985. Back in those days, even for those who'd made the switch to composing...  read

A reader writes to ask: I've been writing in Microsoft Works, which I believe is similar but not identical to Word. When I type an ellipse by typing three periods in succession, the program automatically compresses them together, rendering the...  read

A reader writes to ask: I scoured your blog as well as the Internet, and am still having problems with underlining for italics. I am definitely using underlining but am fuzzy on the following:Do I use "underline words only" like...  read

A reader writes to ask: How should I differentiate the character's thoughts from the rest of the narrative? Some people have suggested I put them in quotation marks, but I find that when I read novels in which the character's...  read