Hi Kalani

My answer to your question depends on several variables which include, but are not limited to:

Type size (pica, elite or other).
Type style (Roman, Italic, cursive, vertical cursive or other).
Typewriter design (fine tooth or coarse tooth line advance ratchet).
Whether you're typing for business or pleasure.
Eyesight of recipient if typing letters.
Your preference for how the typed page looks.

When it comes to paper size for personal letters, there are no set parameters. If typing business correspondence, letter (8½" x 9") or A4 are pretty well the industry standards. Sometimes when I'm in a goofy mood and use a typewriter with a 12" platen, I'll wind a sheet of 11" x 17" into the machine and type on that just for the fun of it. As for paper weight, the choice again is entirely yours. Is postal cost a factor for how many pages you put in an envelope?

When typing 6 cpi on an 11" x 17" page, triple spacing and 1½" margins looks proportionally correct. Generally though, when I'm choosing line spacing for a typed letter, here's what I usually use:

12 cpi standard typeface, single.
12 cpi italic or cursive, 1½ space.
11 cpi standard typeface, single.
10 cpi standard or Double Gothic typeface, 1½ space.
10 cpi cursive typeface, double space.

Many of my older typewriters have the coarse toothed line advance ratchet, and ½ line spaces are not an option, so it's single, double or triple. Single space on my 1936 Imperial Good Companion with 10 cpi does look a little crowded, but double space makes the page look too open and half empty to me. I recently received a letter typed 17 cpi and single spaced, the type was proportionally the same as 12 cpi typed 1½ line space. Hope this gives you a few ideas with which to work, and just use your imagination. All the best,

Sky

fountainpensplus wrote:

Hello Kalani, 

Interesting survey question. When I made the post you referenced it was interesting to learn more about line spacing. Personally I always use a 1½ line spacing for writing letters or anything I’m writing for myself. All my typewriters are either Olympias or Hermes except for an IBM Wheelwriter 10. They all have the the one and a half setting. To me single spacing looks condensed and not as pleasant to read. More space also gives me room to edit and make corrections if I’m re-typing it. I did have a S-C Coronet Electric for a while that only had 1-2-3 so I used 2. If I’m filling out a form that is asking for a lot of information in very little space I use Elite and single space.

For paper size I use Letter, A4, A5, B5 and some handmade papers. I make no distinction between whether the typeface is 10, 11, or 12 CPI unless the recipient were to mention it being hard to read. So far no one has commented other than to say how easy a typed page is to read. I used to write all my letters in cursive using a fountain pen but arthritic hands made that difficult. Now I write everything with my typewriters (except a birthday card I just sent my granddaughter.) I use the largest typeface I have for addressing envelopes and still use the 1½ linespacing. 

George

Aloha George,
Thanks for the response and sharing tips.
My former Palmer Business Script with Fountain Pens is becoming more illegible over time, also due to arthritis and issues in my hands with age. So.. I've been using my vintage typewriters more and more.

I read somewhere that for personal letters, it was single space for a paragraph, then either 1-1/2 or 2 spaces between paragraphs. But, that was very old, from before computers and word processors. I don't know if that applies now for personal letters.

What do you think?

Mahalo
k

When I was writing letters by hand my nibs of choice were at least a medium and mostly broad along with some cursive italics. I expected my pens to put some ink on the paper. I also wrote using an 8mm line template under the page. If it was lined paper I’d skip a line. It drove me crazy then and now to have the descenders interfering with the words in the next line. It took a while but I learned that if I slowed down and spaced the letters just a bit it was way more readable. All of my penpals are still writing by hand and with fountain pens. (I have some type-pals but that’s in just the last year.) Some of their handwriting I really have to work to read. When I began typing my letters it just seemed most natural adding some spacing. I doubt that there are any hard, fast rules in formatting a letter and less so for a personal letter. With so much electronic communication getting a personal letter in the mail, whether handwritten or typed, is a special event. I and all my correspondents use indented paragraphs. 

I’ll add that when I was handwriting and doing it slow enough to be fully legible there was no way I could keep up with my thoughts. Let’s just say that caused some strange sentences at times. I’m not a fast typer but it’s much faster than handwriting and my hand doesn’t ache at the end of a paragraph, let alone the page. 

I think it’s a personal letter so you’re allowed to make it personal.

George

Kalani wrote:

Do you have more thoughts and tips?
k
 

Hello Kalani,

I think as you've noted the variety of writing tools is one aspect I too find attractive. Here in Eugene there are no pen/stationery nor typewriter shops. With only online shopping as an option I spent more money that I care to think about finding fountain pens that I could always want to write with. The last couple of years I chose pens made only out of 'natural' materials rather than 'exotic resin.' The cost of a shaped piece of plastic tipped with even a steel nib can be more than most of my typewriters. Yet when I first began shopping for a typewriter that would be a machine I loved to write with they seemed high priced. Folks were, and still are, trying to sell something that they found for crazy prices. Now there is a premium added to buying a typewriter with other than standard typeface. Sadly for those of us aficionados of typewriters we can't go to a typewriter shop and order a factory fresh, custom machine. Someday I hope to find a script machine that speaks to me at a price I want to pay. My current grail machine is to find a Hermes Ambassador that doesn't need to be shipped and I can try before I buy.

George