magazine layout initial view — how do I force line breaks

The magazine layout removes all line breaks and my posts look ridiculous in the initial view. I have to put periods on lists so that everything doesn’t run together. Any way to add code that forces line breaks in the initial view ((users don’t always click the title to see entire post))?
Once the user clicks the post the view loads entire post and all looks great.
I like the shortened version of my post but would rather have an except or be able to force line breaks in initial view.

thanks for any info.