There should only be ONE space after closing punctuation.
Despite what you may have been taught in typing class all those years ago (and yes, I took a typing class on an electric typewriter 30+ years ago), you only need one space after closing punctuation.
The Chicago Manual of Style §6.7: “In typeset matter, one space, not two, should be used between two sentences–whether the first ends in a period, a question mark, an exclamation point, or a closing quotation mark or parenthesis. . . .”
Did you notice that I used a single space after the colon? That’s right, only one space there as well. (The Chicago Manual of Style §§6.7 and 6.62)
Did you learn the two-space “rule” when you were younger? Do you still put two spaces between two sentences?
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