On Sat, 17 Dec 2005, John O'Gorman wrote:
Which you guys think is better, ragged right or justified right? It's a book of short stories.
I think that justified right creates the appearance of professionalism. Studies have shown that it is a little easier to read ragged right. It is a book of short stories intended for what audience? I was thinking about of friend of mine who has been a computer technician for over 15 years. He is very successful because he has a high mechanical aptitude and a computer is a machine. He can also fix a furnace or a washing machine. Critical thinking is also an excellent tool and serves well in other aspects of life. But, I agree with and respect the observation of the 30th President, Calvin Coolidge, and so if you are ever looking for a good quote for a book, I suggest "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."
Which justification of the above 3 pagragraphs do you alike?
They all appear ragged right on my mail client (Ximian Evolution)!
In pine they're all ragged right. The question does come down to artistic license. Most non-fiction, technical books are typeset with full justification ... and hyphenation. Many novels are set ragged right justification. I suspect the latter is considered less formal and better suited to the fiction market. Assuming Steve's short stories are fiction, keeping the lines uneven would work well. One thing that I've noticed since I started typesetting my writing with LyX/LaTeX is how many books are printed from processed word submittals. The variation in word and sentence spacing jumps right off the page at me. I don't see this in a book that has been typeset with the paragraph as the calculation unit (rather than the line that word processors use). Perhaps it's just me, but I see the unevenness and it's distracting. Rich -- Richard B. Shepard, Ph.D. | Author of "Quantifying Environmental Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc. (TM) | Impact Assessments Using Fuzzy Logic" <http://www.appl-ecosys.com> Voice: 503-667-4517 Fax: 503-667-8863
