text not staying on single line

I have text links rotated so they read vertically on the left/right of the page. However, they go on two lines when not given a set width. The text is generated by the title of the links (Wordpress) not hard-coded css [class*="navigation"] .nav-previous, [class*="navigation"] .nav-next { position:fixed; z-index: 999; top: 50%; bottom: 0; transform: translateY(-25%); text-align: center; } [class*="navigation"] .nav-previous { left: 0px; } [class*="navigation"] .nav-next { right: 0px;} [class*="navigation"] .nav-previous a, [class*="navigation"] .nav-next a { position: absolute; text-transform: uppercase; display: inline-block; background-color: #fff; padding: 22px 10px 0 10px; }