Double or single?

Ever since I start typing my essays on computer, I have always written my drafts in double space, mainly because the essays were required to be double spaced when handed in. As someone who has marked many essays since then, I can attest to how much easier it is to read double spaced writing.

But I seem to be in the minority when it comes to drafting. Most of my friends write in single spaced. One of them loves that magic moment when you double space an essay and the page count doubles. They've also pointed out that you can see more of what you've already written, thus can keep your thoughts together.

The latter point is an especially apt one now that I'm on (that is, back on) to the dissertation, which contains longer paragraphs than I've ever written in my life. Tonight I picked up chapter three where I left off (many months ago... sigh) and made everything single spaced. The page count was not as pretty (or in the double digits) but it was nice to develop a paragraph while still being able to see the topic sentence. Also, I realize that the other reason I've always double spaced is because Times New Roman looks too crowded when single spaced. Now that I've set Garamond as my default typefact, I no longer have that problem.

Pages written tonight: 1 double spaced (baby steps)

Pages written so far: 18 db sp