Punctuation

We all know that words and how we manipulate them are the backbone to writing a good story, but what helps the reader to understand everything we write is the punctuation we use with those words.

I could write a book just on punctuation, and in the future, this article will probably become a chapter in a book, but for now I want to share with you the essentials.

Let’s start with some short and sweet tips.

PERIOD (.)

A period indicates the end of a sentence or phrase.  That alone is enough said, but here’s an important thing to remember:  periods are placed inside quotation marks.

Marcus shook his head and said, “I never meant to hurt you.”

Periods are placed after taglines that end a sentence, too.

“I never meant to hurt you,” Marcus said, shaking his head.

COLON, SEMICOLON (: / ;)

Although there are editors who don’t have this as a hard-and-fast rule, it is best to avoid the use of colons and semicolons within dialogue.

Recently, I’ve seen in manuscripts the overuse of semicolons, especially in dialogue.  I know for a fact the writers know that a semicolon can be used to separate two independent clauses (complete sentences), like the period.  In exposition, that’s fine.  In dialogue, we care more about the words and what they convey than we do the “fancy” punctuation.  A simple period will always suffice.

APOSTROPHE (‘)

Apostrophes typically indicate two things:  possession and the omission of parts of words or numbers.

1-  Always use the apostrophe to show possession by placing the apostrophe before the s to show singular possession:  Suzy’s car – Darren’s motor home – Carla’s novel

If you want to talk about plural possession and words that end in s, leave a comment or ask a question, and I’ll be sure to reply.

2-  Always place the apostrophe where the letter(s) has been removed from a word.

We all know this, but it’s important to remember to use the apostrophe with contractions, such as can’t, don’t, and won’t because the apostrophe is substituting for the missing letters.

Also, with numbers, remember that apostrophes are used, just like with words, to replace missing numbers.  So, for example, we would write the ‘80s, not the ‘80’s, or the 80’s.

Extra nugget:  You do not use apostrophes to form the plurals for capital letters and numbers used as nouns.

Sarah talked with several M.D.s before accepting the diagnosis.

We know that children learn their ABCs, and in math, they can also learn their times tables for 3s and 10s, among other numbers.

Extra nugget:  It’s/Its – It’s is a contraction of it is or it has; therefore, it needs the apostrophe.  Its is a possessive pronoun that doesn’t need the apostrophe.

QUOTATION MARKS (“ “)

Quotation marks are used to illustrate dialogue.  Seems like a sarcastic statement, but you’d be surprised to know how many newbie writers don’t use them.

I have seen material like the following:

Stella looked over at Mark and with disgust said, If you didn’t love me, then you shouldn’t have brought your sorry behind home.

Obviously, If you didn’t love me, then you shouldn’t have brought your sorry behind home is dialogue; therefore, we need quotation marks around it.

But that’s not all; quotation marks are also used for titles of short or minor works, such as short stories; essays; short poems; titles of sections from longer works; songs; chapters in books; TV or radio episodes; articles in newspapers, magazines, or journals; and one-act plays.

Extra nugget:  underlining or italics are used for things like album or book titles, magazine names, TV show names, and a collection of short stories.

Extra nugget:  Whenever a new character speaks, that dialogue is placed in a new paragraph.

Extra nugget:  If one character’s dialogue goes on for more than one paragraph, quotation marks should be used to open the dialogue at the start of each new paragraph; however, the closing quotation mark is not used until the end of the final paragraph of dialogue.

EXCLAMATION MARK (!)

Exclamation marks are used to illustrate strong emotions and/or high volume.  Be honest with yourself and think about the current draft of a story you have.

How many exclamation marks do you have in that draft?  How many do you have on ONE page?  How many do you have at the end of ONE sentence?

My fiction mentor once told me that every author should only have about five exclamation marks to use...in his or her lifetime.  He was being a bit facetious, but I knew what he meant.

You need to be judicious in your use of the exclamation mark.  If there are words that can convey the emotion, the loudness of the moment, use them instead of the mark.  Your words are always your greatest tool.  Do not use exclamation marks as a crutch to avoid showing an emotion or to avoid explaining through exposition what occurred to bring about that emotion.

Oh, and please, please, pretty please, never use more than one exclamation mark at a time.  Even going from a pauper to a multi-millionaire lottery winner overnight is only cause for one exclamation mark!

COMMA (,)

The comma is used, for the most part, to separate things.  Before we get into that, here’s an important thing to remember:  commas are placed inside quotation marks.  For example…

“All you ever do is complain,” Mark said.  “Is it any wonder I’m ready to leave you?”

Another quickie – say NO to the “pause” rule.  We all know it.  When we talk, there are natural pauses, breaths that we take.  Many of us have been taught to place commas in these places; however, this “rule” does not always apply because a pause may not fall into a comma rule.

Having said that, here are a few comma rules that are important to know right off the bat.

1-  Use a comma to separate the elements in a series of three or more things.  Cara drove to the mall, bought a new suit and pair of Manolos, and raced home to change for her interview.  In journalistic writing, the final comma is often dropped, and you might opt to leave the comma out, too; however, make sure losing the comma will not cause confusion for your reader.

2-  Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) to connect two independent clauses (complete sentences).  Dexter was too angry to speak to her, so he turned and walked away before his hand landed across her face.  Sometimes, if the sentences are short, a writer may opt to leave the comma out.  He was pissed so he left.  Once again, check to make sure dropping the comma won’t cause confusion for your reader.

Extra nugget:  Do not place a comma after the conjunction, like in Frank spent the day thinking about what Jazz did and, try as he might, the hate he felt for her could not rise to the levels of his love for her.  There’s no need for the comma after and.  It would be before it, however, because the and separates two independent clauses.

3-  Use commas after introductory clauses, phrases, or words that come before the main clause.  After leaving work, Shayla drove to the local watering hole to drink away her day.

4-  Use a comma in dialogue when a character is speaking to someone.  For example, “Charlie, I don’t know what to tell you, but the calculations are wrong,” Steve said.  Or, “I hope you have a good day, sir,” Jackson said, opening the door.

5-  Use commas to separate two or more coordinate adjectives that describe the same noun.  All the ladies’ eyes fell on the tall, athletic, super fine frame of a man that waltzed into the bar.  When adding your commas, make sure not to add one between the final adjective and the noun itself.

6-  Make sure you watch comma placement when adding action or information to a dialogue tag.

You would use a comma when writing something like the following:  “I always say one can never have too much of a good thing,” Tawana said, running her hand down her waist and over ample hip.

However, you wouldn’t need the comma here – “I always say one can never have too much of a good thing,” Tawana said as she ran her hand down her waist and over ample hip.

Like I mentioned at the beginning, there is so much more I could add, so if you have questions, please ask them.  If you have suggestions, please share them.