Hi thomsk

Gregg ruled is 3 spaces per inch, so you get a full third of an inch for your outlines — narrow and college ruled mean you have to make quite small outlines that may be (a) more difficult to read and (b) more difficult to write — at least for me, although I've arrived at a meeting to discover my new steno pad is college ruled, and had to write really small.

Centre line is to divide the page into two columns — write down one side, then start on the other.

If I'm writing and I know I'll need a lot of margin notes — workshops, courses — I just write on the left side, and leave the right side blank for margin notes or more detailed explanations.

Allegedly, the short left to right spacing means you can write faster. That's how I've always written, so I couldn't tell you whether it's faster.

When studying, it's a good idea to write on one side from the text, and on the other side from the first side. It forces you to read your own notes.

Court reporters often use pads with even more columns. They start in a different column for each speaker — one less shape to write.

When I write on college-ruled (7mm), I often keep to the Gregg-ruled size (B is just a tad longer than the rules) and skip lines.

On your first pass, copy from the text to the left column.

On your second pass, close the text, and copy from the left column to the right column. It helps "keep you honest" when reading what you wrote the first time.

Later, take your first pass from dictation in the left column. Then copy from the left to the right. It will show you where your outlines degrade at speed, and where you hesitate.

For either of these, though, you have to check against the text, so you don't reinforce something you did wrong in the first copy. Usually, my problem is not knowing an outline or not being ready to write it quickly, rather than using the wrong one.