Justified or Left-Aligned

On a writing forum I sometimes post on, there’s often on-going talk of how left-aligned ebooks (with a ragged right edge) are sloppy, amateurish, and remind readers of high school essays. ��A professional uses justified text (with a straight right edge).

I’m not a fan of justified ebooks.

I often read on my iPhone and, given it’s small size, sometimes only a few words will fit on a line of text. ��If the text is justified and the line is a little short, it gets spaced out to spread across the line. ��In a printed book with a full-sized page, this spacing is often unnoticeable. ��On a tiny iPhone screen, it can sometimes be incredibly obvious and, in my mind, looks completely unprofessional.

When I get around to putting together a print book, it will have justified text. ��Like I said, it looks great on a printed page.

But as long as I know people will be reading my stories on small screens where justification can do wonky things, I’ll keep them left-aligned.

What about you? ��Do you have a preference (as a reader or a writer)? ��Does left-alignment remind you of high school essays?