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Usually, when you type a paper, you'll be told to double-space it. This means that there should be an extra blank line between each line of text, effectively spreading the lines apart:

This is single-spaced text. Qui sequitur mutationem consuetudium lectorum, gothica quam nunc putamus parum claram anteposuerit litterarum formas humanitatis per! Decima et quinta decima Eodem modo typi qui nunc nobis videntur.

This is double-spaced text. Qui sequitur mutationem consuetudium lectorum, gothica quam nunc putamus parum claram anteposuerit litterarum formas humanitatis per! Decima et quinta decima Eodem modo typi qui nunc nobis videntur.

Double-spacing with a word processor is easy as pie, once you find the right switch.

So why should I double-space, anyway?

I'm glad you asked! Most people assume (at least I always did...) that teachers make you double-space papers so there's more room for them to scrawl awful red marks in. And, truth be told, it is nice to have the extra space for making circles and arrows and writing things like Clarify! and S/V agreement! and...well, I think you know what I mean.

Actually, though, there's an even more practical reason. It's a basic principle of typography that as lines of text on a page get longer, the space between them ought to increase. Why? Because it makes it easier for eyeballs tracking their way back from the right side of the page to grab the next line down. Double-spacing 10–12 point type on an 8 ½-inch wide piece of paper makes it easier to read.

So to double-space, then, I just type my paper and then go back to the beginning and hit 'Return' at the end of every line, right?

Noooooooo! That's the worst thing you can do to double-space with a word processor. Not only is punching 'Return' at the end of every line kludgy, awkward, time-consuming, and inelegant, it will also mess up the spacing of your words and lines if you have to go back and change something later.

We want the computer to set the spacing for us. There's a quick way to do this, and you'll find it in the same place in many word processing programs. Here's how to do it in Microsoft Word:

First, select the text you want to double-space.

Next, find the 'Format' menu on the toolbar, and choose 'Paragraph', as pictured here:

A dialogue box will appear, labelled 'Paragraph'. Find the Spacing options near the bottom. In the 'Line spacing' drop down menu, choose 'Double':

That's it! The text you selected should move apart, if you did everything correctly. Simple, eh? A couple of notes before we go:

The best thing to do, of course, is to set this option before you start typing anything. Just open a new document, change the line spacing to double, and off you go: everything you type after that will be double-spaced.

If you or someone you love has messed with the Word toolbar, you might have buttons for adjusting the line spacing right there. They'll look like this:

Also, if you like shortcuts, you can use keystrokes: selecting text and hitting Control+2 will double-space it, Control+5 will switch to 1.5 line spacing, and Control+1 will bring you back around to single-spacing.