Let’s attempt to not confuse readers with punctuation marks.
What’s it about punctuation marks that trigger so many dangerous sentence constructions?
You already know the sentences I’m speaking about. They’ve obtained random commas, lacking citation marks, and approach too many exclamation factors.
To make issues worse, some writers break the foundations and get away with it whereas others are chastised for doing (what seems to be) the identical factor.
E.E. Cummings ignored many of the guidelines and made up a number of of of his personal, and now his poetry is studied in universities. Cormac McCarthy didn’t use citation marks with the dialogue in his novel, and he received a Pulitzer Prize.
After which there’s the web. Now everybody’s a author with a weblog and a bunch of social media profiles. Dangerous grammar and badly positioned punctuation marks have turn out to be rampant.
Widespread Errors with Punctuation Marks
Typos are one factor. Not figuring out the proper strategy to write a sentence is one other factor. However blatantly misplacing or misusing punctuation marks is simply plain reckless.
Too many commas
I’m an enormous fan of the serial comma, however let’s not get carried away. Commas usually happen the place there’s a pure pause, however they shouldn’t be used to inform the reader the place to pause.
Right here’s an instance of telling readers the place to pause, utilizing commas:
A number of writers use commas, to inform readers the place to pause and take a breath, as if the readers can’t determine it out, on their very own.
All of us pause somewhere else and your writing will really feel pressured and unnatural should you use punctuation marks as if they’re musical notations.
Citation marks for emphasis
I’ve to confess, that is changing into one in every of my pet peeves: placing phrases and phrases in citation marks for emphasis. Listed below are some examples:
- You already know, they only “had” to go fishing final weekend.
- Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t imply to “rock your boat.”
- When you enroll, they’ll ship you a “free guide!”
Citation marks are for dialogue, quoted materials, and typically for titles or headlines. However for some motive, individuals have gone loopy with citation marks.
Writers who misuse citation marks on this method have to have slightly extra religion of their readers. Belief that they are going to know the place to put emphasis. When you actually want to inform the reader which phrase(s) get harassed, then use italics. However attempt to keep away from that, too.
This use in all probability stems from the (casual) follow of utilizing citation marks to point that one thing is “so-called.” Right here’s an instance:
That “author” over there doesn’t appear to have a dictionary.
On this case, citation marks are positioned round “author” to counsel that the individual is a so-called author, however truly isn’t a lot of a author in any respect. These are known as scare quotes, and their utilization is nearly all the time derogatory and sarcastic. Use scare quotes with warning; insulting different writers is just not going to do something optimistic in your status.
Too many punctuation marks!!!
Did you hear me??? I wrote a guide!!! Let me inform you all about it…..
Some persons are so passionate. It’s inspiring, actually, besides after I’m studying a novel or another piece of writing that needs to be skilled high quality. It’s one factor when my buddy sends a textual content to inform me that her child simply stated Mama!!! It’s one other factor completely when a personality in a novel is actually, very, extraordinarily excited!!!
If you use three query marks as a substitute of 1, does the query turn out to be deeper? Extra mysterious? Is an expression with three exclamation factors extra thrilling or extra crucial than an expression with only one exclamation level? And what’s up with utilizing greater than three dots in an ellipsis? Does a five-dot ellipsis imply it’s taking you longer to path off than a three-dot ellipsis?
Whereas this utilization is appropriate in informal settings (and actually, what utilization isn’t acceptable in informal settings?), it’s a bit a lot if you’re writing on the skilled degree. Too many punctuation marks distract the reader and make the textual content look sloppy. Additionally they render a pushy, in-your-face, or determined tone. However like I stated, in textual content messages, they’re kinda cute.
There’s this factor known as an ampersand
A number of weeks in the past, I began studying this novel (whose title shall be withheld), & earlier than I completed web page two, it occurred to me that one thing was unsuitable with the writing. I scanned the web page & realized that the writer was utilizing ampersands (&) instead of the phrase and.
& let me inform you, it was annoying.
Prose is just not signage. It’s not a tweet. The ampersand is just not a phrase; it’s a logo, and we’re not writing in hieroglyphics. We write in phrases and sentences. I don’t have something private towards the ampersand. It appears to be like good on signage and it turns out to be useful on Twitter and in textual content messages. It appears to be like cute on bushes the place two lovers have carved their names:
Jack & Kate <3
Aw. How candy.
But it surely actually makes the studying tough when it’s used to exchange the phrase and via a complete piece of writing.
Tough Writers
I do know. I’m a imply outdated grammar snob. I’m positive of us who use these constructions are on the sting of their seats proper now, scouring my weblog for some little mistake, some place the place I used an additional exclamation mark or an ampersand. I’m positive some are on the point of drop feedback letting me know that they “like” utilizing citation marks for emphasis, & that it’s their “fashion.” !!!
That’s superb. I’m simply stating what’s right utilization and what’s not. If writers need to break the foundations and take a number of artistic liberties, that’s their enterprise, and I hope it really works out. A few of my favourite writers have forgone the foundations (and I like them for it).
However hold this in thoughts: when your textual content is peppered with additional, pointless punctuation marks, it’s a distraction to readers. Like I stated, the guide with all of the ampersands had me considering extra about what was off in regards to the textual content than what was occurring within the story (and the story wasn’t very fascinating both, which can clarify why the writer resorted to gimmicks). For the document, I didn’t make it previous web page thirty of that guide, and I’ll by no means suggest it to anybody.
Taking Inventive Liberties
I’m all for breaking the foundations, however provided that there’s motive for it. Cormac McCarthy broke the foundations and obtained into Oprah’s guide membership. E.E. Cummings broke the foundations turned a celebrated American poet.
Why do some writers reap rewards after they break the foundations whereas others simply appear to be amateurs?
I personally suppose this has to do with the logic behind breaking the foundations. Cormac McCarthy’s guide was written in a minimalist style. The characters didn’t even have names. And E.E. Cummings wasn’t writing prose in any respect; he was writing poetry, which naturally permits for extra artistic liberties.
There’s a distinction between tinkering with the foundations as an experiment in artwork or as a result of the fashion of the narrative requires it and breaking the foundations as a strategy to differentiate your self as a novel author or just since you’re some type of literary insurgent.
Some writers imagine they’re branding themselves as an writer or making their work stand out as a result of they don’t capitalize the primary phrase of each sentence, however these are simply gimmicks that distract readers from the content material. You’re telling readers that your work doesn’t stand by itself and you’ll want to resort to crazy tips to make it appear fascinating — or (worse) — you couldn’t be bothered to discover ways to punctuate sentences appropriately.
What actually sucks is when good writers use these constructions. Greater than as soon as I’ve learn prose and poetry that was nice aside from all of the bizarre punctuation marks and dangerous grammar. What would have been an exquisite story or stunning poem will get misplaced within the mess. And that’s a disgrace.
The principles of grammar aren’t there to maintain you in line; they’re there that will help you write prose and verse that readers can navigate with ease. All the time hold that in thoughts, and if you do break the foundations or use uncommon punctuation marks and formatting, achieve this with good motive.
Have you ever seen writers break the foundations successfully? Have you ever seen writers break the foundations in a approach that interfered together with your potential to benefit from the studying expertise? What was the distinction? When is it okay the break the foundations?
