What Ever Happened to the Hanging Indent?
Do you remember your early days in grade school when your were learning how to write? I do.
Now, I may be dating myself here, but I clearly recall typing class. You remember typewriters don’t you? I think most of those are now lining the bottom of some obscure island off the South Pacific forming an man-made artificial reef.
Anyway, one of the first things that you were taught was that you indented five spaces on the first line of each paragraph with the spacebar of your typewriter. While this turned your page into a series of sawtoothed paragraphs, nonetheless the early impression that was formed in your young brain was that this was supposed to be THE writing standard. Each and every time you typed a paragraph you were supposed to apply a hanging indent.
Then came your first job and your introduction to business communications. Funny thing, but somehow that first line indent magically disappeared! So what happened in the transition? How come paragraphs in business communicators are all left flush and no longer use a first line indent in business?
I think there are two reasons. Laziness and Perception.
While the default setting in programs like Microsoft Word can be easily setup to accommodate hanging indents, or for that matter any bizarre paragraph format, most people don’t bother learning these features. They boot up the software and begin typing with the original settings intact. Frankly, with that approach one could just as easily be using Microsoft Notepad to type business correspondence rather than MS-Word, but that’s another issue.
The second and more important reason is perception. Let’s face it, hanging indents remind business people of THEIR grade school years, just as they do for me. It is a sign of writing immaturity that is not commonly associated with business communications.
If a colleague were to submit a strategic white paper using hanging indents, they would be perceived in the same light as someone attending a business meeting wearing a bell-bottom suit, wide lapels, long shirt collar, and a paisley tie. All that would be missing would be a rendition of “Staying Alive” blasting out of the ceiling speakers in the conference room. Translation: You wouldn’t be making quota that month.
So with regard to the question: What ever happened to the Hanging Indent?
Answer: It’s lying at the bottom of that coral reef still attached to the platen of the typewriter, where it should be.
Sign up for my free newsletter, "Short Attention Marketing Tips" and receive monthly advice on tips, tricks, and techniques that will grab reader attention in your white papers.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Although, I’ve been 3 years graduated from college, I am still used all the writing rules I got from my lectures. It’s become a habbit to me. I guess now I must consider it as a grace.
April 10th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Hi Vivi,
That’s because you’re only out for three years. Let’s have the same conversation after 30 and see how many of those you still retain.
Thanks for your comment.
Jonathan
April 10th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I never liked indenting — it seemed to blocky and sloppy. It was used primarily to denote the beginning of a new paragraph, so I guess it had it’s place.
Today, we just use a space to break up the paragraphs. Easier on the eyes, and no more needs for indents!
~Graham
December 30th, 2008 at 8:47 am
The paragraph indent, like the short sentence or paragraph, is a time-tested way of introducing white space and a mental “breathing space” in writing. I believe it improves readability and understanding.
Sadly, the indent is routinely dropped in e-mail correspondence and online news reports. And now I see some newspapers are dropping it from the first paragraph of printed news items. Will books be next?
As an editor with years of experience, I don’t recall any debate or discussion on this backward step in communication.
December 30th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Hi James,
Thanks for your comment. It’s great to hear from individuals such as yourself with years of experience that can contribute a different perspective from today’s “Internet generation”.
What do you attribute to the disappearance of the hanging indent?
Ignorance?
Misunderstanding of its proper use?
Lack of professionalism?
Business Influence?
A perception that left flush paragraphs throughout an article or document is better?
Perhaps all of the above?
Thanks,
Jonathan
December 30th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Hi, Jonathan:
Sorry about the duplication. I thought the first effort had been wiped out.
Interestingly, your software appears to have wiped out the indents in my
comment, making it harder to read without a full line of white space between
paras!
Whoever sets the style standards for new word-processing software should
probably take the primary blame or credit for text-style changes like this
(which may seem awfully trivial to people outside the words game). Perhaps
the software folks were ignorant of some of typography’s subtleties, or just
decided to adopt business-letter style — which is where I first saw indents
vanish.
I’m only guessing. But so are those who make arbitrary changes and hope that
readability isn’t damaged.
As I suggested earlier, the trend toward long sentences and paragraphs is
another growing problem needing close attention. At least, it is for those
of us who edit and try to help writers communicate better.
Thanks.
- Jim Dalziel, Toronto
December 30th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Thanks Jim!
Yes, I can see that. As someone who’s been around the computer and software industry for some time, I remember those early versions of word processing software like WordStar on the CPM operating system (now I’m really dating myself!).
Those early versions were lucky to have basic features like text wrap around working correctly, let alone user-designated hanging indents. I guess the left-flush capability simply carried itself over after all these years.
Thanks again and have a Happy New Year!
Jonathan
October 17th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
The reason I hit on this site is that I was sitting at my desk, typing out a correspondence to a fellow lawyer and found myself wondering why I wasn’t indenting my paragraphs. If I dabble at fiction, I instinctively indent. Why was I doing what I was doing – or more accurately – not doing what I wasn’t doing? What was the correct thing to do? I realized that all my professional correspondence are left justified at new paragraphs and I wasn’t traind that way back in typing class in the early 80s.
There is no answer. No submission here at WPP is indented.
In past centuries, people wrote with ink and they didn’t think to “double space” between paragraphs. I can guess that paper was a luxury and one didn’t waste space. Indenting was an essential signal of transition and more economical than double spacing. We no longer require that signal, as double spacing costs nothing. The practice of indentation continues for the same reason we don’t put our elbows on the table. Hundreds of years ago, disturbing the table with anything, including elbows, caused the table to move and possibly tobble. Our tables are quite grounded now, yet the elbow rule remains. We continue to shake hands, though the purpose of shaking hands was to assure the person you were meeting didn’t have a weapon.
Indenting is probably antiquated, but I don’t want to see it lost while I’m alive and reading books.
October 19th, 2009 at 9:27 am
An indented paragraph may be appropriate for creative writing, but not with either white papers or enterprise business correspondence. If you want to write a book..fine, use an indent if you wish. But I can tell you from experience that if you create a formal B2B document that has indented paragraphs, you will lose creditability with your audience. Such formatting will be viewed as unprofessional and will result in a corresponding impact with your solution message.
Today, perception is everything. Use indentations for corporate correspondence at your own risk.
Just my two cents worth,
Jonathan