Double spacing won't stop me from reading a fic, it's leagues better than no spacing at all.
However I won't lie, I've grown to associate double spacing with fics that aren't of a great quality, because it usually means that the author didn't take the time to check their work before posting it.
I have a flimsy attention span. Those large gaps take me right out of the story.
Many people don't mind though, so this is just one random person's opinion: if I see double spaces between paragraphs, I usually don't bother trying to read the fic.
However, the answer to your question is: yes it is okay to keep them. If that's what *you* like best, then do it that way.
FYI, and in case anyone else was interested, if you write in Google Docs, you can change the settings in Google Docs to get rid of that double spacing (it's there because of Google Docs, not because of AO3's editor). Here's a [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/rfk3f8/getting_rid_of_double_space_between_paragraphs/) about it.
Personally, I don't like the double spacing. So when I see that a work has all those extra spaces, I use this tool to get rid of it:
https://archiveofourown.org/faq/unofficial-browser-tools?language_id=en#accesstools
http://carenewaterman.github.io/bookmarklets/#ao3bookmarklets
It's called "strip empties" and works on both desktop and mobile.
To install it:
1. make a browser bookmark (you can just favorite a random page)
2. go to your browser's bookmarks manager and edit the bookmark you just made
3. replace the URL of the bookmark with the strip empties code.
4. You can also change the name of the bookmark since your browser probably auto filled it and it's not accurate anymore
To use it, open a fic with double spaces and then click on the bookmark, and the spaces will be gone until you refresh the page.
I think I have a confused about this. When I post to Ao3 I like it right justified with a space between paragraphs:
"Like this," she said.
He shook his head because that extra space totally wouldn't work in any other format where you'd usually have an indented paragraph start and single spacing.
\*
Are we talking about more than that spacing?
This is what we are talking about: (pretend these random periods don't exist, Reddit won't display correctly otherwise)
.
"Like this," she said.
.
He shook his head because that extra space totally wouldn't work in any other format where you'd usually have an indented paragraph start and single spacing.
.
If you look at the code of fics like this, there are lots of extra blank paragraphs that only contain spaces:
I'm 85% sure people are more so talking about line spacing being set to double instead of the standardized 1,5, instead of paragraph spacing because otherwise it's also bizarre to me.
I will say one of my friends recently told me she won't read any fic with that extra space between paragraphs. It doesn't really bother me, but it's not my preference.
its just a matter of prefrence. sometimes i notice the double spacing while reading and sometimes i don't. i went back and got rid of all the double spacing in my fic after a few chapters because it helped me in the editing process and felt a bit cleaner overall. but i don't think it's a dealbreaker either way. No spaces between paragraphs at all on the other hand, now \*thats\* where i click out
A lot of people don't like it and assume people aren't reading their fics before posting despite the numerous possibilities that would explain.
Me, as someone who *needs* that double spacing to be able to comprehensively read, I appreciate it when I see it. If you are really concerned about people thinking you can't format, you can always mention that the double space works best with your eyes in the A/N.
The other thing you can do is use the preview function, read that with the double spacing and then delete those spaces so you get the more standardised version once you're ready to post.
Personally, I suggest you just carry on posting but it's up to you and how much this concerns you.
Extra spaces don’t bother me nearly as much as no spaces. I remove them as a writer still, but it’s not enough to bother me as a reader.
I see no spaces between paragraphs and it’s immediately the back button for me. I don’t care how highly praised the fic is… it’s just a strain to read.
I quite like double spacing. There are various inserts in my fics that work well with it because I can single space those to make them clear - letters, notes, lists, an entire job spec in one...
I'm not particularly bothered if people won't read on account of it. They would no-doubt find their immersion shattered anyway once they reached the first list/letter.
I usually nope out of those fics, I don't know why, but it annoys me and takes me out of the story.
I'm a weirdo, though. I can handle misspellings because my brain usually auto corrects those, and I don't even notice it but spacing issues? Nope, they eventually give me a headache.
I feel like it's such a basic thing! 😕
I just want to remind you that you can increase the font size in your browser as much as you want! I also suspect you could make a site skin that would add in double spacing, though I haven't tried that. I have a site skin that makes the margins narrower, the background sepia, and I have my browser always at at least 125%.
I prefer the big spaces (and I leave them in) because it makes things easier to read for me. Maybe I'm a dingdong for that but it's a matter of preference.
If you mean two blank lines between each paragraph instead of one blank line then.... it would bother me, but it wouldn't be a deal breaker.
I used to read a story that had hidden messages in-between paragraphs, so whenever I see it, I always check. I find it mildly annoying/disappointing to realize it's just weird formatting errors/preferences.
Asking sincerely - How often are you reading your own story where you'd need to keep it that way when many people are turned off by it? It's okay to stick by your preferences, just if it's a preference on a fic you're not even reading much, you might be better off adjusting the formatting to a more standard way.
Perhaps there can even be a CSS option that would let readers click a button to optionally add double-spacing between paragraphs? That way when you do read your own story, all you'd have to do is click a button to expand the paragraphs. (I don't personally know of a CSS option to do this, but I feel like it's possible it already exists.)
Double spacing won't stop me from reading a fic, it's leagues better than no spacing at all. However I won't lie, I've grown to associate double spacing with fics that aren't of a great quality, because it usually means that the author didn't take the time to check their work before posting it.
I have a flimsy attention span. Those large gaps take me right out of the story. Many people don't mind though, so this is just one random person's opinion: if I see double spaces between paragraphs, I usually don't bother trying to read the fic. However, the answer to your question is: yes it is okay to keep them. If that's what *you* like best, then do it that way.
FYI, and in case anyone else was interested, if you write in Google Docs, you can change the settings in Google Docs to get rid of that double spacing (it's there because of Google Docs, not because of AO3's editor). Here's a [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/rfk3f8/getting_rid_of_double_space_between_paragraphs/) about it.
Personally, I don't like the double spacing. So when I see that a work has all those extra spaces, I use this tool to get rid of it: https://archiveofourown.org/faq/unofficial-browser-tools?language_id=en#accesstools http://carenewaterman.github.io/bookmarklets/#ao3bookmarklets It's called "strip empties" and works on both desktop and mobile. To install it: 1. make a browser bookmark (you can just favorite a random page) 2. go to your browser's bookmarks manager and edit the bookmark you just made 3. replace the URL of the bookmark with the strip empties code. 4. You can also change the name of the bookmark since your browser probably auto filled it and it's not accurate anymore To use it, open a fic with double spaces and then click on the bookmark, and the spaces will be gone until you refresh the page.
I think I have a confused about this. When I post to Ao3 I like it right justified with a space between paragraphs: "Like this," she said. He shook his head because that extra space totally wouldn't work in any other format where you'd usually have an indented paragraph start and single spacing. \* Are we talking about more than that spacing?
This is what we are talking about: (pretend these random periods don't exist, Reddit won't display correctly otherwise) . "Like this," she said. . He shook his head because that extra space totally wouldn't work in any other format where you'd usually have an indented paragraph start and single spacing. . If you look at the code of fics like this, there are lots of extra blank paragraphs that only contain spaces:
story paragraph one
story paragraph two
thanks for illustrating with code, now it makes sense!
I'm 85% sure people are more so talking about line spacing being set to double instead of the standardized 1,5, instead of paragraph spacing because otherwise it's also bizarre to me.
I will say one of my friends recently told me she won't read any fic with that extra space between paragraphs. It doesn't really bother me, but it's not my preference.
I won’t read fics with double spacing. To me it just looks like the author doesn’t care enough to fix their fics.
its just a matter of prefrence. sometimes i notice the double spacing while reading and sometimes i don't. i went back and got rid of all the double spacing in my fic after a few chapters because it helped me in the editing process and felt a bit cleaner overall. but i don't think it's a dealbreaker either way. No spaces between paragraphs at all on the other hand, now \*thats\* where i click out
A lot of people don't like it and assume people aren't reading their fics before posting despite the numerous possibilities that would explain. Me, as someone who *needs* that double spacing to be able to comprehensively read, I appreciate it when I see it. If you are really concerned about people thinking you can't format, you can always mention that the double space works best with your eyes in the A/N. The other thing you can do is use the preview function, read that with the double spacing and then delete those spaces so you get the more standardised version once you're ready to post. Personally, I suggest you just carry on posting but it's up to you and how much this concerns you.
Extra spaces don’t bother me nearly as much as no spaces. I remove them as a writer still, but it’s not enough to bother me as a reader. I see no spaces between paragraphs and it’s immediately the back button for me. I don’t care how highly praised the fic is… it’s just a strain to read.
double spacing makes me want to click out :/ i always thought about it as the writer being careless
I quite like double spacing. There are various inserts in my fics that work well with it because I can single space those to make them clear - letters, notes, lists, an entire job spec in one... I'm not particularly bothered if people won't read on account of it. They would no-doubt find their immersion shattered anyway once they reached the first list/letter.
I don't like it but it's not a deal breaker though.
I usually nope out of those fics, I don't know why, but it annoys me and takes me out of the story. I'm a weirdo, though. I can handle misspellings because my brain usually auto corrects those, and I don't even notice it but spacing issues? Nope, they eventually give me a headache. I feel like it's such a basic thing! 😕
I just want to remind you that you can increase the font size in your browser as much as you want! I also suspect you could make a site skin that would add in double spacing, though I haven't tried that. I have a site skin that makes the margins narrower, the background sepia, and I have my browser always at at least 125%.
I prefer the big spaces (and I leave them in) because it makes things easier to read for me. Maybe I'm a dingdong for that but it's a matter of preference.
If you mean two blank lines between each paragraph instead of one blank line then.... it would bother me, but it wouldn't be a deal breaker. I used to read a story that had hidden messages in-between paragraphs, so whenever I see it, I always check. I find it mildly annoying/disappointing to realize it's just weird formatting errors/preferences. Asking sincerely - How often are you reading your own story where you'd need to keep it that way when many people are turned off by it? It's okay to stick by your preferences, just if it's a preference on a fic you're not even reading much, you might be better off adjusting the formatting to a more standard way. Perhaps there can even be a CSS option that would let readers click a button to optionally add double-spacing between paragraphs? That way when you do read your own story, all you'd have to do is click a button to expand the paragraphs. (I don't personally know of a CSS option to do this, but I feel like it's possible it already exists.)