Hi, Dorothy. It's usually one of two things: AutoFormatting has taken over
your machine, or you pasted in information from another source that uses a
style in which the paragraph has a double-line formatting.
I _always_ go into Tools>>Options>>Edit and uncheck "Tabs set left indent",
and then Tools>>AutoCorrect, and visit each tab unchecking *every* "Replace"
and "AutoFormat" option (except hyperlinks). Some of these you may want to
keep. (Note: I'm using Word 2000 - actual menu location may vary depending
on your version.)
More than likely, though, you've picked up a "rogue" style. With the
Formatting toolbar showing, click in normal-spaced text and see what Style
name is shown in the left-hand text box. Then click in the large-spaced
text and see if there's a different Style named. You can use the
Find/Replace (CTRL+H) to replace the one style with the other, or you can
use the Format Painter (the Paintbrush button on the top toolbar) to copy
the formatting you like and clone it onto the misbehaving paragraphs.
Be aware that either of these options will copy _everything_ of the chose
Style or format, including things you may not want. So there's another
option: directly format the offending paragraphs. Select the entire
paragraph (click three times in it) and then select Format>>Paragraph. Look
at the lower options for Space Before, Space After, and Line Spacing -
"standard" (if there really is such a thing!) is 0, 0, and Single.
To help you in the future, start by reading the below article, and then
explore further:
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/concepts/styles/index.html
HTH
Ed