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The Creative Penn

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Writing Tips: How Writers Can Use Punctuation To Great Effect

posted on March 23, 2018

Commas are my personal nemesis. Those tiny little marks on a page can completely change the sense of a sentence, as per the fantastic book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss. 

But how do we make the most of punctuation?  Rachel Stout from New York Book Editors explains in today's article.

When it comes to grammar and the correct way to do things, I worry more about punctuation than anything else when writing.

Other rules — splitting infinitives, knowing the difference between further and farther or when to use the active voice versus passive — don’t weigh as heavily on my mind. I can just look those up quickly and move on, comfortable with what I’ve written.

But punctuation is not as easily referenced. In a grammar book or online, how do I describe my various clauses and intended meaning so that punctuation can correctly be assessed?

Most of my time is spent evaluating or editing manuscripts, so I can tell you that punctuation rules are some of the most commonly ignored rules in writing.

Either writers admit to me up front that they have no idea whether or not they’ve used way too many commas (answer: yes), improperly used quotation marks (answer: maybe, let me see) or used too few semicolons (answer: almost certainly no).

Understanding how and when to use common punctuation marks (meaning I’m not really interested in discussing interrobangs at the moment, or ever) will not only make you a more sophisticated and practiced writer, but it will give you the ultimate tool: knowing how and when to break those rules and use punctuation to imply feeling and tone in a way that mere word choice cannot.

Breaking punctuation rules is only effective if you’re breaking the rule on purpose.

The words, the flow, the insinuation of pause and of inflection becomes apparent in this case, and instead of mumbo jumbo, the result is something more like Molly Bloom’s “yes I said yes I will Yes,” which closes out an entire punctuation-less chapter that is full of feeling, emotion, swirling thoughts and contradictions, ending on this note of pure bliss at the close of James Joyce’s Ulysses.

“yes I said yes I will Yes” is famous not because the words chosen are anything special, but because no matter whether you’re familiar with the rest of the story, that final paragraph stirs something inside of you when you read it.

The rush of feeling, of teetering on the edge of choice and love and passion and self-doubt is so familiar, so utterly human that it’s palpable without explanation. The careful non-use of punctuation causes the reader to go ever faster, flying through the words, which again themselves aren’t of utmost importance here.

It’s the flying, the racing, the rush of getting everything in because there are no periods or commas to indicate a stop or a pause, nothing to slow the reader down or to shift course. The words themselves are chosen purposefully to accompany the punctuation (or lack thereof), making its use the most important thing in the passage.

How to get there, though? We know that punctuation can change the literal meaning of a sentence. Too many serial comma debates have ended with someone laying down the trump card stating the irrefutable difference between “I love my parents, Beyoncé, and Benedict Cumberbatch” and “I love my parents, Beyoncé and Benedict Cumberbatch” to deny that.

Cormac McCarthy, for example, has been quoted as saying, “I believe in periods, capitals, in the occasional comma, and that’s it,” and anyone who's read anything of McCarthy’s knows how much effect the starkness of the words and sparseness of punctuation adds to the depth and breadth of his work.

Where in Joyce’s chapter, the lack of punctuation results in a huge rush of intense emotion, McCarthy’s novels are quieter, though still deep in feeling. Neither author could have achieved that if they were writing without knowledge of the rules of punctuation. They were successful because they wrote in spite of them.

The first thing to note when using punctuation creatively is that there are still limitations . Not all punctuation marks can be played around with. You’ll have the best results with commas, periods, quotation marks and dashes.

Semicolons, however, don’t have the same elasticity. Colons and parentheses can be hugely effective when used intentionally, but my advice is to use them sparingly. They cause such an interruption in reading that the pause or aside should be worth it. The aside an em-dash indicates is usually not as drastic as it fits better within the flow of the sentence.

Let’s get the basics of each mark down so we can figure out how to manipulate them. When I say basics, I truly mean basics because of course pages can be written about each, but for our purposes, the basic rules will suffice.

First up, the one with the most rules, even at the basic level: the comma.

Comma Rules and Uses

Separating items in a series.

Commas are used to separate items in a series of three or more nouns or two or more coordinate adjectives. Whether or not you decide to use the serial, or Oxford, comma before the final “and” or “or” in the list is up to you.

• Example (Nouns): I went to the store and bought apples, bananas, bread and milk.
• Example (Coordinate adjectives): The bright, shining sun was warm that day.

(Note: Adjectives are coordinate if you can change their order and the meaning remains the same. If you cannot, they are not coordinate and should not be separated by commas)

Surrounding nonessential appositives

An appositive is the word or phrase that describes or adds additional information about a noun in the sentence. Only nonessential appositives are surrounded by commas. An essential appositive is a word or phrase that if removed, changes the meaning of the sentence. Essential appositives are not offset with commas. If the appositive only adds to the sentence, but does not affect its meaning, then commas are used.

• Example (Essential): Fleetwood Mac’s song Landslide has been covered by many other artists.

Here, “Landslide” is the appositive, but without it, the sentence would not have the same meaning, so we don’t use commas.

• Example (Nonessential): The house where I grew up, a blue bungalow with red shutters, has been repainted.

Here, “a blue bungalow with red shutters” is the appositive and without it, the sentence would retain its meaning: “The house where I grew up has been repainted.” This is why the appositive is offset with commas.

Before a coordinating conjunction

There are many sub-rules here, but at the most basic level, when you are connecting two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction, you should use a comma. An independent clause is a portion of a sentence that could stand on its own and a coordinating conjunction is one of the following: and, nor, for, but, so, or, yet.

• Example: I hate eating apples, but I love eating apple pie.

After an introductory phrase

Usually, an adverbial phrase, the part of the sentence that sets up or introduces its subject and verb is the introductory phrase. (Hint: I started the previous sentence with an introductory phrase offset by a comma!) Sometimes a comma is not used, especially if the introductory phrase is made up of three words or less. (Hint: I did not offset the introductory word in that sentence, and it is grammatically okay).

• Example: After seeing the movie, we all went out for ice cream.

Breaking the Rules

So we know James Joyce doesn’t always love commas, and Cormac McCarthy certainly isn’t a fan. Gertrude Stein didn’t use them much, either, and she did okay for herself.

The most effective thing a comma does in a sentence is to create a pause. It’s a visual breathing mark or break in a sentence that can either go unnoticed or stand out.

Adding a comma where one might not necessarily be required should be an intentional choice—a moment where you are asking the reader to stop, sit up and notice. Maybe you want to call attention to the first part of a sentence or you want to make them pause awkwardly to show awkwardness in a scene.

Maybe you want to not use commas at all in dialogue to indicate a lilted accent or rushed way or speaking, or a child who doesn’t yet have a grasp on his or her own cadence, but you’ll have correct comma usage throughout all narrative portions of the text.

The best hint here? Read your work aloud as it is written, and then read it aloud as you intend it to sound. Are they different? If so, add or subtract the commas—the pauses, the emphases—where desired.

Period Rules and Uses

Ending a declarative sentence: This one doesn’t need too much explaining (I hope!). A period goes at the end of a sentence to indicate, well, its end, unless the sentence is a question or exclamation.

That’s pretty much the only hard and fast rule to using a period, which makes it a much simpler mark than the comma we just barreled through, but there is sometimes confusion as to where a period should be placed in conjunction with other punctuation marks, so here’s a quick overview:

With quotation marks: In American English, the period always goes inside the closing quotation marks. In British English, the period goes outside. After an abbreviation: If you’ve ended a sentence with an abbreviation, like “etc.,” there is no need to add a second period. With parentheses: If the parenthetical statement is its own independent clause placed in between two other full sentences, then the full sentence, including its period, goes inside the parentheses. If the statement is included in the middle of or at the end of another independent clause, the period goes at the end of the non-parenthetical statement and thus, outside of the parentheses.

• Example: I’m good at grammar. (At least I think I am.) A more accurate statement might be: I’m getting the hang of it.
• Example: I’m a grammar pro (and I don’t give myself enough credit).

Because the period is universally simple, it’s difficult to misuse! However, I like to think about the British term for a period when thinking about how best to use it to enhance my writing: the full stop.

Where a comma is a pause, a period is a full stop. Short, fragmented writing, where each phrase, independent clause or not, is separated by a period can indicate so many things. Depression, stilted thinking, disbelief, the inability to comprehend, shock—the list goes on.

Think about any moment in life where you’ve been so overcome by emotion or new information that it’s near impossible to form a complete thought. Using periods to end a sentence fragment, to bring it to a “full stop,” can indicate that numbness or that inability to process.

Of course, the opposite usage is the run-on sentence. Run-on sentences are tricky because so often they are written without intent, but used intentionally, they can indicate a different side of emotional overwhelm .

Instead of being at a loss for words, or indicating a full stop, run-on sentences indicate a racing mind, a fast-paced scene, or a glut of activity and conversation.

Here, our friend the comma comes back into play. Using a comma splice, which is to say using a comma instead of a period, should be done sparingly. If used intentionally and in the right tone, a comma splice can carry the tone of a passage.

See how clearly the image and voice of Holden Caufield becomes through this run-on sentence full of comma splices from J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye:

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.

You can just see the teenager pretending to be apathetic about lame (and probably phony) things like caring about personal history and family.

Quotation Mark Rules and Uses

To show dialogue: The placement of punctuation inside and outside of quotation marks and whether or not to use single or double quotes vacillates between British and American English as well as between scholars in each school, so I’m not going to get into the nitty-gritty here. What you do need to know, is that the most common use of quotation marks in fiction is to indicate dialogue, or someone speaking.

They are not used to indicate a thought, even when a narrator is recalling the idea of what someone said. They are used when recalling the exact words that someone said.

• Example (recalling an idea): John remembered that Susie had told him to put his pants on when he left the house.
• Example (recalling exact words): John remembered Susie’s words so clearly. “If you forget to put your pants on, the neighbors will be angry!” He’d better put them on, he thought to himself.

Note: I threw in a bonus non-quoted thought in that last one!

To show a new person speaking: The rulebooks will tell you that when a new speaker speaks, whether in a conversation between two people or with a narrative paragraph being broken into by a speaker, a new paragraph is necessary. With each new paragraph and each line of dialogue, you must indent.

The most forgiven rules in creative fiction and memoir are those that accompany dialogue, and thus, quotation marks. However, and I’ll keep repeating myself here, it must be done with intention .

It’s very clear when an author is not aware of the rules of where to place punctuation within or outside of quotation marks (though remember, it varies between British and American), or if they are not clear on how to indicate dialogue at all. Usually, these writers are inconsistent with how they indicate or punctuate dialogue.

Consistency is what matters with quotation marks and dialogue. Do you want everything in one line, no quotation marks at all, ala Frank McCourt in Angela’s Ashes? Take a look at how colloquial, familiar, and conversational this feels:

Dad is out looking for a job again and sometimes he comes home with the smell of whiskey, singing all the songs he can about suffering Ireland. Ma gets angry and says Ireland can kiss her arse. He says that’s nice language to be using in front of the children and she says never mind the language, food on the table is what she wants, not suffering Ireland.

On top of the conversational tone and the speed with which you begin to race through the sentence, the perspective here is limited, a little rough around the edges. That’s because at this moment, the narrator is a small child and thus, takes in everything about the world in a particular way.

Using or not using quotes, indenting, breaking paragraphs and all the other rules surrounding dialogue affect style as much as tone.

How do you want the words to look on the page? Many paragraph breaks can achieve the same stilted or at-a-loss feeling as fragmented sentences separated by periods can. The same read aloud test can be used here.

Em-Dashes, Colons, and Parentheses Rules

I’m lumping all of these together because they all achieve a similar goal in creative writing: to indicate an aside, amplify a portion of a sentence or thought, or to offer an alternative point of view.

If you don’t know which to use, my rule of thumb is to always go em-dash, though as I said at the start of this post, you’ve got to be careful not to go overboard.

Using a colon: Unless you’re formatting a list, the only time to use a colon is after an already complete thought. What comes after the colon usually amplifies or expands upon the first portion, but doesn’t indicate much of a pause.

• Example: Sarah has two favorite foods: pizza and ice cream.

Using parentheses: Em-dashes have eclipsed parentheses when used to separate explanatory or qualifying remarks from the rest of the sentence. Using either is correct, but only parentheses can be used to offset a complete sentence or thought, usually as an aside.

Using em-dashes: Aside from replacing parentheses when used within a complete sentence, the em-dash can also set off appositives like commas, indicate a switch in focus, or bring focus to a list connected to a clause.

• Example (replacing parentheses): Mary always said she was an expert in fencing—she’s really not.
• Example (setting off appositives): All three of my dogs—Fluffy, Bumper and Duke—have different personalities.
• Example (switch in focus): And now I will tell you my greatest secret—actually, no, I’ve changed my mind.
• Example (bring focus to a list): Sunscreen, towel, book—everything is packed for the beach!

Here’s where you can have the most fun, in my opinion.

As long as you don’t overuse them, it’s very difficult to misuse a colon, parentheses or em-dash.

Do you want your narrator interjecting his or her own thoughts all the time in a distinctive voice or take on life? Em-dash, em-dash, em-dash!

Do you want to formally and distinctively expand upon a thought, or make that expansion seem like an awaited reveal or an extremely important detail? Use a colon!

Are we getting a whispered aside, an alternative viewpoint, or something special that only the reader gets to know and not others in the story? Do you want to tell a story within a story? Parentheses can achieve that for you!

I often see these three punctuation marks as the playful ones, the marks that can really bring a liveliness to your writing and showcase the voice of a particular character or narrator. Use them sparingly, yes, but play around and see how adding a few em-dashes into your narrative might bring out a new side to your story that even you were unaware was there.

Thanks for going on this whirlwind Punctuation 101 with me. I know it can be exhausting to get down, but once you’ve got the basics firm in your toolbox, you can begin to play with them, alter them to your whim and intentionally manipulate punctuation to change the tone or impact your writing has.

Do you have a favorite punctuation mark? Do you have a favorite author who flagrantly bucks the rules? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.

New York Book Editors are a team of professional editors who have worked with some of the biggest names in the industry as well as offering services to indie authors. They provide in-depth manuscript reviews, manuscript critique, comprehensive edit, proposal edit, copyediting and ghostwriting.

Reader Interactions

March 23, 2018 at 3:13 am

I like breaking the rules when it comes to grammar from time to time. Of course, I keep my writing flow simple and to the point.

I’m talking about writing for a blog here. If we’re talking about writing a book or something it’s a different story.

I don’t think most blog readers really care about how good your grammar is as long as it is okay and they can understand the information you are trying to get across.

But, it is always a good idea to learn the proper grammar and use of a comma. I love commas, they do change the way you deliver information.

Thank you for sharing all of these tips and useful information! 🙂

Have a wonderful weekend! 😀

March 23, 2018 at 3:30 pm

Breaking the rules is the best part about having rules!

March 23, 2018 at 8:23 am

Now *that* is a guide! It covers almost everything people will need, each point is clear, but laid out so it’s genuinely fun. This goes straight into my Perennial Recommendations list– thank you, Rachel!

One rule of thumb I’d like to add, for one extra-common mistake I keep seeing:

If you write the characters endquote-period-lowercase, always change it to endquote-comma-lowercase. Also, if the word after an endquote is a name or other capitalized proper noun, imagine it as a simple pronoun to decide whether it would be lowercase, and if it would be, use the comma as above. Some lines with their corrections, and some that don’t need changing, are:

“Here’s one example.” he said. –> “Here’s one example,” he said. “Another example.” John said. –> “Another example,” John said. “There’s no change needed here.” John had little else to say. “And no change needed needed when it ends without a tag.”

March 23, 2018 at 3:23 pm

Rachel here! Thanks for your note and even MORE for you addition. I thought about adding in a note about that, but then realized I’d be taking up almost the whole thing with commas, so I’m glad you commented!

March 23, 2018 at 3:24 pm

Hah, KEN! I read John in your examples and ran with it. – Rachel

March 24, 2018 at 11:07 am

“John” does a lot of my examples. As for myself, I’v e been called worse things. 🙂

March 24, 2018 at 11:58 pm

I’m obsessed with punctuation, with commas in particular, and sloppy use of the latter can turn me off even a very good book. Thanks for featuring this useful article!

March 30, 2018 at 4:02 pm

I think I overdo commas. That’s what I’m trying to improve.

April 18, 2018 at 7:42 am

Rachel, thank you for this excellent exposition. It’s remarkable to me how many writers I’ve encountered who believe that some punctuation marks should simply never be used. This is a view I’ve never shared. It’s not enough to say, for example, that em-dashes are pointless because commas or parentheses can fulfill the same function (an actual argument one of my writing colleagues once made). False. Em-dashes can be used in ways to achieve emotional effects that commas can’t (as your examples show). And I totally agree with your overriding principle: understanding the how and the when of punctuation, so that you know how to deviate with intention.

May 12, 2018 at 7:58 am

You say, “With quotation marks: In American English, the period always goes inside the closing quotation marks. In British English, the period goes outside.”

My understanding is the in British English, where you put the quotation marks depends on how much of the sentence that the period ends is inside the quotation marks. So, if the whole sentence is a quote, you punctuate the same as in American English. But if only the last two words, or an short phrase within the sentence is at the end, then the quote goes inside the period because the end quote doesn’t cover the entire thing that the period covers. And the reason that Americans don’t want to do it the British way, is that you have to think about where the quote begins to know how to punctuate the end of the sentence.

I think a sentence where the last word is in quotes and you put the end quote outside the period doesn’t really make sense and the British rules make more sense. If they always put the quote inside the period, even when the beginning quote started at the beginning of the sentence, then their rules would also not make sense, I think. The quote really should end after the quoted material with whatever punctuation comes within the quoted material inside the end quote, don’t you think.

There might be a reader who is more of an expert on British English that can tell you if my understanding is really correct.

Thank you for this article. I found it fascinating!

May 13, 2018 at 1:21 am

I think it’s important to recognize that there is never an exactly right answer to many of these questions, as style and usage changes over time and place. There are many variations.

September 12, 2019 at 4:27 pm

It would *surpris!ing* if writers didn’t sometimes utilize! the graphic potential of the medium

September 2, 2020 at 3:11 pm

Which is the correct use of comma with quotation marks – in American English?

1. Tolle calls this emotional part of the Ego the “pain body,” the aspect of the Ego…

2. Tolle calls this emotional part of the Ego the “pain body”, the aspect of the Ego…

December 31, 2020 at 12:19 pm

What about colons instead of commas before a quote? example: The man stood up, said: “Why are you so short?” I’ve read a few stories that use this form of punctuation, which is what I used in my novel. However, I’ve heard some who say that it ruins the flow, like a speed bump. I think it sounds fine–but I wrote it :0)

March 14, 2024 at 3:53 pm

When using three periods to indicatexa pause, often in dialogue, isit … or. . . With spaces? Thanks!

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Last updated on Jul 24, 2023

6 Unbreakable Dialogue Punctuation Rules All Writers Must Know

About the author.

Reedsy's editorial team is a diverse group of industry experts devoted to helping authors write and publish beautiful books.

About Martin Cavannagh

Head of Content at Reedsy, Martin has spent over eight years helping writers turn their ambitions into reality. As a voice in the indie publishing space, he has written for a number of outlets and spoken at conferences, including the 2024 Writers Summit at the London Book Fair.

Dialogue punctuation is a critical part of written speech that allows readers to understand when characters start and stop speaking. By following the proper punctuation rules — for example, that punctuation marks almost always fall within the quotation marks — a writer can ensure that their characters’ voices flow off the page with minimal distraction.

This post’ll show you how to format your dialogue to publishing standards.

6 essential dialogue punctuation rules:

1. Always put commas and periods inside the quote

2. use double quote marks for dialogue (if you’re in america), 3. start a new paragraph every time the speaker changes , 4. use dashes and ellipses to cut sentences off, 5. deploy single quote marks used for quotes within dialogue, 6. don’t use end quotes between paragraphs of speech .

The misplacement of periods and commas is the most common mistake writers make when punctuating dialogue. But it’s pretty simple, once you get the hang of it. You should always have the period inside the quote when completing a spoken sentence.

Example: “It’s time to pay the piper.”

As you’ll know, the most common way to indicate speech is to write dialogue in quotation marks and attribute it to a speaker with dialogue tags, such as he said , she said, or Margaret replied, or chirped Hiroko . This is what we call “attribution” when you're punctuating dialogue.

Insert a comma inside the quotation marks when the speaker is attributed after the dialogue.

Example: “Come closer so I can see you,” said the old man.

If the speaker is attributed before the dialogue, there is a comma outside the quotation marks.

Example: Aleela whimpered, “I don’t want to. I’m scared.”

If the utterance (to use a fancy linguistics term for dialogue 🤓) ends in a question mark or exclamation point, they would also be placed inside the quotation marks.

Exception: When it’s not direct dialogue. 

You might see editors occasionally place a period outside the quotation marks. In those cases, the period is not used for spoken dialogue but for quoting sentence fragments, or perhaps when styling the title of a short story.

Mark’s favorite short story was “The Gift of the Magi”. 

My father forced us to go camping, insisting that it would “build character”.

Now that we’ve covered the #1 rule of dialogue punctuation, let’s dig into some of the more nuanced points.

In American English, direct speech is normally represented with double quotation marks. 

Example : “Hey, Billy! I’m driving to the drug store for a soda and Charleston Chew. Wanna come?” said Chad

In British and Commonwealth English, single quotation marks are the standard.

Example: ‘I say, old bean,’ the wicketkeeper said, ‘Thomas really hit us for six. Let’s pull up stumps and retire to the pavilion for tea.’

This is one of the most fundamental rules of organizing dialogue. To make it easier for readers to follow what’s happening, start a new paragraph every time the speaker changes, even if you use dialogue tags.

“What do you think you’re doing?” asked the policeman. “Oh, nothing, officer. Just looking for my hat,” I replied.

The new paragraph doesn’t always have to start with direct quotes. Whenever the focus moves from one speaker to the other, that’s when you start a new paragraph. Here’s an alternative to the example above:

“What do you think you’re doing?” asked the policeman. I scrambled for an answer. “Oh, nothing, officer. Just looking for my hat.”

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How to Write Believable Dialogue

Master the art of dialogue in 10 five-minute lessons.

So far, all of the examples we’ve shown you are of characters speaking in full, complete sentences. But as we all know, people don’t always get to the end of their thoughts before their either trail off or are interrupted by others. Here’s how you can show that on the page.

Em-dashes to interrupt

When a speaking character is cut off, either by another person or a sudden event, use an em-dash inside the quotation marks. These are the longest dashes and can be typed by hitting alt-shift-dash on your keyboard (or option-shift-dash for Mac users).

“Captain, we only have twenty seconds before—”     A deafening explosion ripped through the ship’s hull. It was already too late. 

“Ali, please tell me what’s going—”     “There’s no use talking!” he barked.

You can also overlap dialogue to show one character speaking over another.

Mathieu put his feet up as the lecturer continued. "Current estimates indicate that a human mission will land on Mars within the next decade—"      "Fat chance."      "—with colonization efforts following soon thereafter."

Sometime people won’t finish their sentences, and it’s not because they’ve been interrupted. If this is the case, you’ll want to… 

Trail off with ellipses 

You can indicate the speaker trailing off with ellipses (. . .) inside the quotation marks.

Velasquez patted each of her pockets. “I swear I had my keys . . .”

Ellipses can also suggest a small pause between two people speaking.

Dawei was in shock. “I can’t believe it . . .” “Yeah, me neither,” Lan Lan whispered.

💡Pro tip: The Chicago Manual of Style requires a space between each period of the ellipses. Most word processors will automatically detect the dot-dot-dot and re-style them for you — but if you want to be exact, manually enter the spaces in between the three periods.

In the course of natural speech, people will often directly quote what other people have said. If this is the case, use single quotation marks within the doubles and follow the usual rules of punctuating dialogue.

“What did Randy say to you?” Beattie asked. “He told me, ‘I got a surprise for you,’ and then he life. Strange, huh?”

But what if a character is quoting another person, who is also quoting another person? In complex cases like this (which thankfully aren’t that common), you will alternate double quotation marks with single quotes.

“I asked Gennadi if he thinks I’m getting the promotion and he said, ‘The boss pulled me aside and asked, “Is Sergei going planning to stay on next year?”’”

The punctuation at the end is a double quote mark, followed by a single quote mark, followed by another double quote. It closes off: 

• What the boss said, 
• What Gennadi said, and 
• What Sergei, the speaker, said.

Quoting quotes within quotes can get messy, so consider focusing on indirect speech. Simply relate the gist of what someone said:

“I pressed Gennadi on my promotion. He said the boss pulled him aside and asked him if I was leaving next year.”

In all the examples above, each character has said fewer than 10 or 20 words at a time. But if a character speaks more than a few sentences at a time, to deliver a speech for example, you can split their speech into multiple paragraphs. To do this:

• Start each subsequent paragraph with an opening quotation mark; and
• ONLY use a closing quotation mark on the final paragraph.

"Would you like to hear my plan?" the professor said, lighting his oak pipe with a match. "The first stage involves undermining the dean's credibility: a small student protesst here, a little harassment rumor there. It all starts to add up. "Stage two involves the board of trustees, with whom I've been ingratiating myself for the past two semesters."

Notice how the first paragraph doesn't end with an end quote? This indicates that the same person is speaking in the next paragraph. You can always break up any extended speech with action beats to avoid pages and pages of uninterrupted monologue.

Want to see a great example of action beats breaking up a monologue? Check out this example from Sherlock Holmes.

Hopefully, these guidelines have clarified a few things about punctuating dialogue. In the next parts of this guide, you’ll see these rules in action as we dive into dialogue tags and look at some more dialogue examples here .

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Novel writing ,

Punctuation for writers: tips & advice.

By Harry Bingham

Punctuation matters. Correct punctuation tells the reader how to read the words you have on the page: where to put the pauses, how to make sense of your sentences.

It’s not too much to say that bad punctuation will kill a book. It’ll get rejected by agents and readers alike. Trying to sell a badly punctuated manuscript is like going on a date wearing last week’s jogging pants.

The underlying problem is the same in both cases. The badly punctuated manuscript and the dirty jogging bottoms both say, “I don’t care.” I don’t care about you, my hot date. I don’t care about you, my precious reader.

Any sane date will just make their excuses and leave. A reader will do the same – and quite right too.

So here goes with a quick guide to the major punctuation marks. In each case, we’ll talk about:

• The basic rule
• The most common punctuation errors that writers make
• More advanced ways to use the tool

Most of you reading this will know the basic rules. Even so, it’s likely that you’ll be committing at least some of the errors some of the time (a few of them are very common indeed.) And pretty much everyone will get at least something from thinking about how to use punctuation marks in a more sophisticated, writerly way.

The Period, Or Full Stop (.)

OK, you know when to use this little beast. You use it at the end of sentences, so long as those sentences aren’t questions or exclamations (in which case you’d use the “?” or “!” instead.)

Easy, right?

The Most Common Error

One of the most prevalent errors in manuscripts written by first time writers is the so-called run-on sentence. It looks something like this:

She was a breath of fresh air in our little town, she came into school on her first day with a bunch of garden flowers for the teacher and home-made candy for us, her schoolmates, it should have looked cheesy, but we fell in love with her on the spot.

The error here is simple. The writer is using commas (“,”) where they should be using periods. The result is like someone just gabbling in your face, yadda-yadda-yadda, without giving you a chance to draw a breath or reflect.

The solution is simple. You chop the sentence up with periods, to produce this:

She was a breath of fresh air in our little town. She came into school on her first day with a bunch of garden flowers for the teacher and home-made candy for us, her schoolmates. It should have looked cheesy, but we fell in love with her on the spot.

Phew! That’s a mile better already. Notice that there’s still a comma dividing two of the sentences (“It should have looked cheesy” and “we fell in love with her.”)

The grammar-reason why that comma is OK is that you have “but” – a conjunction, a connector word – joining the two sentences. In a way, though, I’d prefer you to forget about the grammar and just listen to the rhythms. Say the first snippet out loud, then the second one. If it feels right, it is right. That’s pretty much all the grammar you are ever going to need.

More Advanced Ways To Use The Tool

Back at school, you were probably told to avoid sentence fragments – the name given to sentences that lack a main verb. (Like this one, for example.)

That’s rather old-fashioned advice in some ways, and it’s certainly unhelpful advice to offer when it comes to writing fiction or creative non-fiction.

Take my own work. My narrator is jerky, tough, awkward, abrupt. Her voice is all those things too, and the consequence is that her prose makes use of a lot of sentence fragments. For instance:

There’s a woman at the wheel. Forties, maybe. Blonde. Shoulder-length hair held back in a grip. Blue woollen coat worn over a dark jumper. I kick the door. Hard. I’m wearing boots and kick hard enough to dent the panel.

Pretty clearly here, the periods are dividing my language up into units of meaning, not into sentences. The words  Blonde  and  Hard  are just words, after all. They’re not even attempting to be complete sentences.

Equally clearly, my narrator’s language forces that kind of punctuation on the manuscript. If you wanted to follow the “period = end of sentence” rule, you’d have to rewrite the text so it looked something like this:

There’s a woman at the wheel. She is in her forties, maybe. Her blonde, shoulder-length hair is held back in a grip. She wears a blue woollen coat worn over a dark jumper. [and so on]

That’s not just differently punctuated. It has a different tone, a different mood. It’s perfectly fine writing … but it’s not what I wanted. The “correct” punctuation ends up destroying the voice I worked hard to create.

As a rough, rough guide, literary fiction will tend to have relatively few sentence fragments, while crime thrillers and the like will have many more.

But fiction is much more supple than that general rule suggests. So yes, my character is tough. Yes, she uses lots of sentences fragments in approved noir style. But she also reflects on philosophy, quotes poetry, introspects extensive, and so on. In the end, you build from the character to the voice to the punctuation. It makes no sense to try building the other way.

The Exclamation Mark (!)

An exclamation mark (or point) marks an exclamation, denotes shouting, or otherwise gives emphasis to a sentence. It’s like a shouty form of a period.

But watch out! You think you know how to use the exclamation mark, but …

The most common error is to use the exclamation mark!

It’s fine in emails. It’s OK-ish in blog posts. But in novels? Avoid it. As Scott Fitzgerald remarked, “An exclamation mark is like laughing at your own jokes.” It’s like you’re trying to make your punctuation compensate for a failure of your actual writing.

If you want a rough rule of thumb, you can use one or maximum two exclamation marks per 100,000 words of prose. If you have zero, that’s just fine. And never, ever have a double or treble exclamation mark in your text. What’s fine on Twitter, looks just awful on the printed page.

More Advanced Ways To (Not) Use The Tool

So if I (like most pro authors) hate the exclamation mark, what do you do instead? After all, there may be occasions where you feel your work actually needs the emphasis.

But consider these alternatives:

#1 “Go get it.” #2 “Go get it!” #3 “Go get it,” he ordered her, sharply.

Those options are ranked in approximate order of shoutiness. The first option doesn’t feel especially emphatic. The addition of the exclamation mark adds a little force. The third option adds even more, via a highly coloured verb and adverb combo.

But neither of the last two options is great. And the issue here is simply this: t he actual bit of underlying dialogue is fairly colourless , and that’s not going to change, no matter how many toppings you put on. In other words, if you started out with option #1 and found yourself thinking, “Hmm, this feels a little bland, so let’s get out the heavy-duty punctuation,” that should be a signal that you need to rewrite things.

So a better option than either #1, #2 or #3 above would be:

#4 “Go get it. Get it now. Give it to me. Never take it again.”

You’re not using anything more than a common old period there, and you’re not resorting to  ordering sharply, yelling loudly, yodelling wildly  or  exclaiming defiantly . But because your dialogue is now unmistakeably emphatic, it’s fine on its own.

If the burger tastes great, you don’t need the relish.

The Ellipsis (…)

An ellipsis is a bit of a slippery brute.

What it does is mark the fact that some words are missing. So, in dialogue, for example, people will often trail off, rather than actually complete a sentence.

That much is easy – but how do you actually write it? Three dots is pretty much universal, but do you have spaces between them? Do you have a space before and after the ellipsis? And if you have the ellipsis at the start of a sentence, do you have a period (to denote the end of the previous sentence), then a space, then the ellipsis? That option sounds technically correct, but also rather fussy.

The good news for you is that none of this really matters. Different style authorities advise different things, with some variation between British and American usage.

And in the end, who really cares? Your editor won’t. Your agent won’t. Your reader won’t. It’s just not a big deal. I’d suggest, in general, that you use three dots  without  spacing in between, but  with  a space before and after. Like so:

“Oh, Jen, if you really think that, then we should … I mean, maybe this was never meant to be.”

As with exclamation marks, the primary error is to overuse these little beasts. What works fine in an email, quickly looks annoying on the printed page.

But whereas I’d advise you to hunt the exclamation mark almost to extinction, you can let the ellipsis breathe, just a little. One ellipsis per chapter is probably too many, but you’d have to be quite a fussy ready to object to half a dozen, or even a dozen, over the course of a full length novel.

As with the exclamation mark, the best way to use the ellipsis is to let it nudge you into querying your own writing. If you feel yourself wanting to use the ellipsis, just check that it’s not your writing that needs to change. In nine out of ten cases, adjusting your text will be a better option than using the ellipsis.

The Semi-Colon ( ; )

The semi-colon is a divider, the way commas and periods are dividers. The comma is the lightest of these in weight: it inserts the shortest of pauses. The period inserts the maximum pause. The semi-colon lives somewhere in between. Here’s an example of all three in action:

It never normally rained, but the weather that day was awful. (comma = minimal pause) It never normally rained; my mother didn’t even own an umbrella (semi-colon = mid-weight pause) It never normally rained. That day, though, there was a deluge. (period = strongest pause)

And look: you can live without the semi-colon completely. Personally, I quite like semi-colons, but my narrator, Fiona Griffiths, never uses them, so in about 750,000 words of published Fiona Griffiths’ novels, there’s only one semi-colon – and that enters the text via a direct quote from Wikipedia.

Short message: if the semi-colon scares you, it’s fine to leave it well alone.

There are no common errors with semi-colons, except maybe overuse by people thinking they’re fancy.

Thinking of semi-colons as a middle-weight pause is technically correct, but it misses something, nevertheless. A better way to conceive of the mark is this:  You need a semi-colon when you have two sentences, and the second one corrects or modifies the meaning of the first .

So take those examples above. We used a semi-colon in this context:

It never normally rained; my mother didn’t even own an umbrella.

The first sentence is, in effect, adjusted by the second. The semi-colon tells us to read the second sentence as a kind of comment on the first one: “look, here’s just how much it never rained.”

Or, if you want a slightly more grown-up example, here’s William Faulkner in  The Sound and the Fury :

Clocks slay time… time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life.

But you can get too hung up on these things. Arguably, sentences that speak about each other shouldn’t need any punctuation to get their point across. The text itself should handle the communication just fine. So there’ll be plenty of writers (including my narrator) who’d agree with Kurt Vonnegut’s lesson in creative writing:

First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.

And who cares if you’ve been to college, right?

Parenthesis

Brackets () | Dashes – – | Commas ,,

There are three types of parenthesis you can use. They are:

• Commas : The comma, always a useful creature, can be used to separate one clause from the rest.
• Dashes : The dash – a more forceful beast – can be used in much the same way.
• Brackets : The bracket (perfectly fine in non-fiction) is relatively rare in fiction.

But these three are not equivalent, and not equally common.

I just opened up my Word document that contains the entire Fiona Griffiths series, and checked to see how many of each punctuation mark I used. In about 650,000 words of text, I used:

• 39,000 commas,  of which, admittedly, many thousand wouldn’t be parenthetical.
• 5,000 dashes,  though most of these were actually hyphens, as in “short-tempered”. So I’m going to guess maybe only 1,000 actual dashes.
• 100 brackets , of which many were things like “in Paragraph 22(c)”, where the use of the bracket isn’t really a parenthesis in the normal way.

There are two common errors when it comes to parenthesis. The first error is not to use anything to mark off a clause from the rest of a sentence resulting in (often, but not always) a sentence that is just plain hard to read. For example:

The comma always a useful creature can be used to separate one clause from the rest.

Tucking commas in around the useful-creature clause makes the meaning pop right out.

The second error is kind of the opposite. It’s as though writers get worried that commas aren’t emphatic enough, so they start clamping their text inside brackets, like this:

She couldn’t get enough of him (understandable, given her past), so she tried to find reasons why he couldn’t leave.

And that feels heavy-handed. A simple rewrite releases the sentence and lets it breathe:

Understandably, given her tangled past, she couldn’t get enough of him and she tried to find reasons why he couldn’t leave.

There’s more flow there. Less sense of an author forcing information at you. The no-brackets alternative seems much more natural to fiction. The with-brackets version is better suited to the information-delivery task of non-fiction.

More Advanced Ways To Use Parenthesis

The real trick with parenthesis – and with commas particularly – is to learn to feel the weight of a sentence.

In most cases, commas will cover your parenthetical needs. If you need to rewrite something to make it work, then rewrite it. If you need the greater weight of dashes, then go for it, but recognise that you are, in a small way, pulling on the handbrake mid-sentence. If that’s what you want, fine. In many cases, there’ll be better options.

Oh, and though I personally never read my text out loud, lots of authors swear by it – and any hiccups or awkwardness as you read is a huge clue that your punctuation or your text (or both) are at fault.

Hyphens And Dashes

The hyphen, the en dash, and the em dash

We can’t quite leave a post about punctuation without talking about the various dashes available to you. Specifics in one second, but first, a public annoucement:

The specifics don’t really matter.

Yes, a lot of writers (especially those college-educated brutes that got Vonnegut all riled up) care a lot about their en dashes and their em dashes. But if you’ve never spent a moment caring about them in the past, you don’t have to worry that you’ve been doing something very wrong. You haven’t. Any “errors” on this scale will bother almost nobody – neither readers, nor agents.

So, here’s what hyphens and dashes are and how to use them.

The hyphen is on your keyboard as a minus sign.

You use it to connect words, as for example:

The hot-headed wood-cutter tip-toed past the one-eyed she-wolf.

Apart from a slight anxiety about whether a hyphen is needed in a particular context (is it  woodcutter  or  wood-cutter ?), it’s hard to get these little fellows wrong. Oh, and although everyone will have a house-style defining when to use hyphens, everyone’s style guide will be a bit different, so there’s often not a clear right and wrong here anyway.

The En Dash

The en dash is so called because it is a dash approximately the same width as the letter N. And it doesn’t live on your keyboard anywhere: you have to give it life and breath all by yourself. You do this by hitting Ctrl and the minus sign at the same time, to give yourself something that looks like this:

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

As that example suggests, it’s used mostly for dates, or for things that feel much the same, for example: Washington–New York (in the context of a flight timetable, for example.)

The Em Dash

The em dash is so called because … well, you’re going to have to guess which letter-width it’s named after.

You create this little critter in Word by hitting Ctrl-Alt-minus.

And the em dash performs the following functions:

• It marks an interruption in dialogue. “The buried treasure,” he said, as he lay dying, “the treasure can be found just to the right of the old—”
• It marks a parenthesis in the middle of a sentence. The em dash—more forceful than commas—marks out a parenthesis in the middle of a sentence.
• But it can also mark out a parenthesis at the end of a sentence. He was allergic to fruit, sunshine, exercise and soap—or so he always insisted. (The “so he always insisted” part is the parenthesis here. If you were using brackets, that whole end chunk would be enclosed in brackets.)
• It can be used as a slightly informal colon. The result of that informal colon—often a little hint of comedy, or something of a “ta-daa” quality.
• It marks deleted or redacted words. The accuser, Ms — —, struck a defiant tone in court.

Best practice is generally to use the em dash without a space before or after, but that’s one of those things that doesn’t actually matter. Newspapers tend to use spaces and British usage is much more tolerant of spacing and lots of people just don’t know the rules anyway.

That’s it from me. Beautiful punctuation is often a sign of careful writing and a beautifully readable book.

About the author

Harry has written a variety of books over the years, notching up multiple six-figure deals and relationships with each of the world’s three largest trade publishers. His work has been critically acclaimed across the globe, has been adapted for TV, and is currently the subject of a major new screen deal. He’s also written non-fiction, short stories, and has worked as ghost/editor on a number of exciting projects. Harry also self-publishes some of his work, and loves doing so. His Fiona Griffiths series in particular has done really well in the US, where it’s been self-published since 2015. View his website , his Amazon profile , his Twitter . He's been reviewed in Kirkus, the Boston Globe , USA Today , The Seattle Times , The Washington Post , Library Journal , Publishers Weekly , CulturMag (Germany), Frankfurter Allgemeine , The Daily Mail , The Sunday Times , The Daily Telegraph , The Guardian , and many other places besides. His work has appeared on TV, via Bonafide . And go take a look at what he thinks about Blick Rothenberg . You might also want to watch our " Blick Rothenberg - The Truth " video, if you want to know how badly an accountancy firm can behave.

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8 Essential Rules for Punctuating Dialogue - article

Dialogue is a critical component to a great book: it drives action; it reveals character; and it relays facts and information. Writing realistic, compelling dialogue takes skill and practice—and so does punctuating it correctly. Dialogue has its own set of rules that can be tricky to keep straight. Here are eight essential rules for punctuating dialogue correctly, so that your text communicates clearly and appears polished and professional.

1. Use a comma to introduce text

When writing dialogue, place a comma before your opening quote. There is, however, an exception to this rule: no comma is needed when you introduce text using a conjunction, such as that or whether .

She said, "It's all in the details."

He told me that "there are 1,008 different reasons to write."

2. Use a comma when a dialogue tag follows a quote

While your character may have just spoken a complete sentence, you may not need to end it with a period. When dialogue is followed by a tag (for example, he said, asked, replied ), then use a comma before the closing quote when you would normally use a period. If no tag follows the text, end the dialogue with punctuation to end the spoken sentence. This rule applies only to periods. You should not omit other punctuation that adds meaning or clarity to the sentence, such as an exclamation point or question mark.

"Let go of your fears," he replied.

"Write from your heart," she stated. "It's the best way to reach the reader."

"When is the best time to write?" she asked.

"Now!" he answered.

3. Periods and commas fall within closing quotations

When closing a quotation, a period or comma always falls within the quotation, not outside of it.

"All of these rules are starting to make sense."

"It's a matter of practice," he said.

She explained, "You just need to understand each rule."

4. Question marks, exclamation points, and dashes fall inside or outside closing quotations

In dialogue, question marks, exclamation points, and em dashes typically fall within closing quotation marks. However, it depends on the usage and meaning. These punctuation marks may fall outside of the closing quotation mark in some cases.

"Four!" he shouted, as he whacked the ball off the tee.

Congratulations to "the man who has it all"!

"Are you joining us today?" she asked.

Which book contains the phrase, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"?

She said, "I can do this"— and that's when she began her career in writing.

5. Use single quotes when using quotes within dialogue

Use a pair of single quotes nested within doubles to indicate quoted text within dialogue. Note that there is no added space in between the closing single and double quotation mark.

"When doling out dessert, my grandmother always said, 'You may have a cookie for each hand.'"

He said, "I've heard that this one is 'the phone for the next generation,' but I'm not sold on it yet."

6. Use capitalization to indicate the end of the sentence

When writing dialogue, only capitalize the first letter of a word to indicate the end of the sentence. There may be times when you end the quote with punctuation that would normally require the next word to be capitalized, such as an exclamation point or question mark. But unless the sentence is truly over, use a lowercase letter to follow this punctuation.

"He's here! He's here!" she screamed.

"Would you like to answer the door?" she asked.

"What do you mean," he said to Jenna, "by asking me to dinner?"

7. Use paragraph breaks to indicate a change in speaker

In dialogue, a new paragraph is used each time there's a change in speaker. This helps with clarity and can eliminate the need to add tags after each line of dialogue. Here's an example from A Tale of Two Cities :

"You know the Old Bailey well, no doubt?" said one of the oldest of clerks to Jerry the messenger.

"Ye-es, sir," returned Jerry, in something of a dogged manner. "I do know the Bailey."

"Just so. And you know Mr. Lorry?"

"I know Mr. Lorry, sir, much better than I know the Bailey. Much better," said Jerry, not unlike a reluctant witness at the establishment in question, "than I, as a honest tradesman, wish to know the Bailey."

8. When in doubt, look it up

The rules for punctuating dialogue are established for the sake of clarity. Follow the rules, and you can communicate your message clearly to your reader. You can find more details and examples to special cases in The Chicago Manual of Style . Also, rely on a good copy editor to help you catch any errors in dialogue punctuation you may have missed.

• E. Claire</a> likes this" data-format="<span class="count"><span class="icon"></span>{count}</span>" data-configuration="Format=%3Cspan%20class%3D%22count%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22icon%22%3E%3C%2Fspan%3E%7Bcount%7D%3C%2Fspan%3E&IncludeTip=true&LikeTypeId=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000" >

Top Comments

You have given petty good tips on punctuation which is not known by many students. I am preparing my own articles now and your tips and tutorials are helpful in framing my sentences with good grammar.

intresting im only 11 yrs old and im intrested

• olivia</a> likes this" data-format="{count}" data-configuration="Format=%7Bcount%7D&IncludeTip=true&LikeTypeId=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000" >

I often have doubts, especially when I need to use punctuation in my gothic narratives, where there are sounds and screams which I have to render by text and then incorporate the general idea of fear and awe. I was a business writer a couple of years ago, so it's a drastic change for me in fiction

Quite helpful, thank you!

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• Writing Tips

Punctuating and Formatting Dialogue in Fiction

4-minute read

• 8th February 2019

Dialogue – i.e., the words spoken by characters in a story – is a vital part of fiction . And to make sure your story is easy to read, you need to present the dialogue clearly. So to make sure your writing is perfect, check out our guide to punctuating and formatting dialogue in fiction.

1. Basic Punctuation and Dialogue Tags

The most important thing about dialogue in fiction is to use quote marks . These are sometimes even known as “speech marks,” as they indicate that someone has said something. All you need to do in this respect is place spoken dialogue within quote marks:

“ That is the biggest horse I have ever seen, ” said Craig.

In American English, as shown above, we use double quotes marks for dialogue. You may also have noticed some words outside the quote marks here. This is a dialogue tag . You can use dialogue tags to show who is speaking in a passage of dialogue (in this case, someone called “Craig”).

2. Quotes within Dialogue

If a character in your story is quoting someone else in their speech, use single quotation marks to enclose the quote within the main speech marks. Take the following line of dialogue, for example:

“He called me an ‘ arrogant fool ’ when I said I’d seen bigger horses.”

Here, we have single quote marks around the words “arrogant fool.” This shows us that the speaker is quoting someone while they are speaking.

3. New Speaker, New Paragraph

A good guideline when formatting dialogue is “new speaker, new paragraph.” This means that when someone new starts speaking, you set the dialogue on a new line. For instance:

Craig stared at the massive horse. “So huge,” he muttered to himself. “What are you doing?” asked Shannon, emerging from the farmhouse. “I’m watching this massive horse,” Craig said. “I can see that,” Shannon said. “But you’ve been here for six hours, Craig.”

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In the passage above, we have dialogue from two characters. As such, we use line breaks to help the reader keep track of who is speaking, beginning a new line each time the speaker changes.

4. Formatting Long Speeches

One passage of dialogue may require multiple paragraphs. For instance, a character may be telling another character a story within a story as part of your narrative, which could involve them speaking at length. And when this happens, it may not be obvious how to punctuate the dialogue.

The answer here is to use a quotation mark at the start of each paragraph when formatting dialogue. However, you will only use a closing quotation mark when the character finally finishes speaking:

Craig sighed. “I’ve always been obsessed with horses,” he explained. “When I was a child, I spent weekends on my grandparents’ farm. But all they had were miniature ponies. And they told me that all horses were the same size. They said the ones I saw on television looked bigger because they hired tiny actors to ride them. And I believed it.

“Or, I did until I was eighteen, anyway. That’s when I met Clayton Moore, the guy who played the Lone Ranger on TV. And he was over six feet tall, so I knew that Silver couldn’t have been as small as the ponies on my grandparents’ farm! It had all been a lie! I felt so betrayed. And ever since then, I have been looking for the biggest horse I can find.”

In the passage above, for instance, we do not use a closing quotation mark at the end of the first paragraph because it is only half way through Craig’s dialogue. At the end of the second paragraph, however, we use a speech mark to show that Craig has finished speaking.

5. Ellipses and Dashes

Finally, you can use ellipses and dashes to indicate interruptions in dialogue. And while there are no strict rules about how this works, we suggest the following guidelines:

• Use ellipses to show that speech has trailed off (e.g., “I don’t know why you have a problem with…” Craig said, before falling into silence ).
• Use an en dash or em dash to indicate speech that ends suddenly (e.g., “You need to take th–” Shannon began, before the horse neighed loudly ).

This will help your reader tell the difference between dialogue that trails off and dialogue that is suddenly interrupted.

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Punctuation

Punctuation fills our writing with silent intonation. We pause, stop, emphasize, or question using a comma, a period, an exclamation point or a question mark. Correct punctuation adds clarity and precision to writing; it allows the writer to stop, pause, or give emphasis to certain parts of the sentence.

This section of the tutorial covers the most general uses of punctuation marks. Special attention is given to the most common mistakes that occur when punctuation does not follow standard written English conventions. The guidelines and examples given here do not offer a comprehensive analysis of all punctuation uses, rather a quick overview of some of the most frequent punctuation mistakes students make in writing. The section also covers the use of apostrophes and capital letters; these do not directly refer to punctuation but more to mechanics and spelling. However, just as with punctuation marks, knowledge of their proper use is intrinsic to good writing.

Take the Quick Self-Test to identify the common punctuation mistakes you may encounter in your writing. Follow the links included in the answers to the quiz questions to learn more about how to correct or avoid each punctuation mistake. If you prefer, you may review the entire punctuation section.

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Review Punctuation

• Capitalization
• Parentheses
• Comma Splice
• Run-on Sentences
• Sentence Fragments
• Organization

Home » Blog » Punctuation Guide » Punctuation Rules: A Comprehensive Guide

Punctuation Rules: A Comprehensive Guide

Punctuation rules are really the backbone in written communication, and yet many of us largely take them for granted. Imagine, if you will, a road without signs. Very odd, isn’t it? Writing in which proper punctuation is absent is quite similar to that. Punctuation marks serve to inform the reader about pauses, stops, and the emotional feelings that the writing is trying to convey. This ensures that the sentences communicate what you intended, and therefore are easily comprehensible.

Below is a comprehensive guide on key punctuation marks, discussion of common pitfalls, and best practice tips to ensure that you get it right.

Key Punctuation Marks and Punctuation Rules

One of the most basic marks of punctuation, the period indicates that a declarative or imperative sentence has come to an end. It tells the reader that a thought or statement is at its end too. Periods are important for clarity; without them, sentences can turn into long, rambling thoughts and strings of ideas that can confuse readers. Sentences break up complex ideas into manageable chunks.

Wrong: The sun set the sky turned dark.

Correct: The sun set. The sky turned dark.

Periods also indicate abbreviations (Dr., Mr., etc.). Modern usage often dispenses with them in these cases, though. The only exceptions are very formal writing, with this usage rarely seen in electronic media. Knowing when and where a period belongs is very important to the sense of your sentences.

One of the most flexible punctuation marks is a comma; correct usage greatly impacts the readability of text. A comma might separate elements of a list, connect independent clauses using a conjunction, or set off introductory elements. But more often than not, commas aren’t used correctly. This either confuses or changes the intended meaning.

List: I bought apples, oranges, and bananas.

Introductory element: After the movie, we went to dinner.

Joining clauses: She wanted to go to the park, but it started raining.

Another critical use of commas is in non-essential clauses. These are phrases that offer information, but you can omit them without altering the basic meaning of a sentence.

Incorrect: My brother who lives in New York is visiting.

Correct: My brother, who lives in New York, is visiting.

Correct use of commas can make your writing more exact and clear to follow, thus avoiding misunderstandings.

The colon introduces lists, quotations, explanations, or examples. It indicates that what’s written before it is explained in greater detail by what follows. You should always precede a colon with an independent sentence.

List: You’ll need to bring the following items: a tent, sleeping bag, and flashlight.

Quotation: She said it best: “Practice makes perfect.”

You can also place colons after salutations in formal letters, for example “Dear Sir/Madam:”. In titles, they can separate a main title from a subtitle, for example, “Punctuation Rules: A Comprehensive Guide.” In every respect, it would denote that the sequence of what proceeds from it is related to or is a direct result of a previous statement.

Semicolon (;)

The semicolon is a mighty, if misunderstood, punctuation mark. It joins two very closely related independent clauses. It suggests that they could stand alone as sentences, but are also more closely connected in meaning than a period would suggest. In other words, it’s a mark that signals a pause longer than a comma but shorter than a period.

Incorrect: She loves reading, she spends hours in the library.

Correct: She loves reading; she spends hours in the library.

You can also use semicolons in complex lists where the items themselves have commas. This helps avoid confusion.

We visited Los Angeles, California; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington.

Question Mark (?)

The question mark is very simple in principle: you should use it at the end of a direct question. However, you shouldn’t use it after any sort of indirect questions or those statements that imply a question.

Direct question: Are you coming to the party?

Indirect question: I wonder if he is coming to the party.

Question marks are sometimes the culprit in making documents too informal, such as when they are overused and especially with rhetorical questions. Using them where they truly belong will give clarity and proper formality to the texts.

Exclamation Point (!)

Exclamation points show strong feelings or emphasis. They can indicate excitement, surprise, anger, or other high-order feelings. However, you should use exclamation points sparingly in formal writing. Too many will seem unprofessional and represent very emotional writing.

Incorrect: I can’t believe it’s already Friday!!!

Correct: I can’t believe it’s already Friday!

Exclamation points are handy for putting life into the dialogue or action in creative writing. That said, they must not be overused, as this will dilute the impact of the element one is trying to stress.

Apostrophe (‘)

Apostrophes are primarily used to indicate possession or to form contractions. They are widely misused, particularly in the case of plural nouns and possessive forms.

Possession: The dog’s leash (belonging to one dog)

Contraction: It’s a beautiful day (It is a beautiful day)

Perhaps the most common mistake is to use apostrophes to show a noun plural, which is incorrect.

Incorrect: The cats are sleeping.

Correct: The cats are sleeping.

Apostrophes are also used in contractions to show omitted letters (e.g., “don’t” for “do not”). Understanding the proper use of apostrophes can help you avoid common errors that can make your writing look careless.

Quotation Marks (” “)

Quotation marks indicate direct speech, when quoting a person or piece of text, or the title of a short work: articles, poems, songs. They are also used to suggest irony or sarcasm or to highlight a certain word or sentence.

Direct speech: She said, “I’ll be there soon.”

Titles: I just finished reading “The Road Not Taken.”

In American English, the logic with quotes is to place periods and commas inside of the quotation marks. In British English, this can differ based on context.

American English: “We need to leave now,” he said.

British English: “We need to leave now”, he said.

You can also use quotation marks for a word or phrase that’s nonstandard or ironic. Just make sure you use them infrequently like this, lest the reader gets confused.

Dash (—) and Hyphen (-)

There are two types of hyphens and dashes, but they are often mixed up with each other. A dash—it is primarily used to indicate a break in a sentence or to emphasize a point—versus a hyphen serves primarily to join words or parts of words.

Dash: I had no idea—how could I have known?

Hyphen: She is a well-known author.

A dash may substitute commas, parentheses, or colons to introduce some variation and highlight aspects in your writing. However, overusing it will make your text fragmentary. Hyphens, on the other hand, are essential in compound adjectives (e.g., “high-speed chase”) and for clarity in certain words (e.g., “re-sign” vs. “resign”).

Common Ways of Breaking Punctuation Rules

Comma Splice

A comma splice occurs when you join two independent clauses with a comma. As one of the most frequent errors, it can give way to run-on sentences that aren’t very clear and professional in reading. If you want to avoid comma splices, use a semicolon, a conjunction, or a period instead.

Misplaced Apostrophes

Lots of people use apostrophes incorrectly. You might’ve missed them when the terms are possessive nouns and contractions. You’ve used an apostrophe improperly if you placed it before the “s” in terms to indicate more than one quantity when the term is plural unless the nouns are showing possession by something or someone.

Incorrect: The dogs’ are barking loudly.

Correct: The dogs are barking loudly.

Correct (Possession): The dog’s bone is buried.

One common mistake people make is that they use “its” (possessive form) instead of “it’s” (a contraction for “it is”).

Incorrect: It’s raining outside.

Correct: It’s raining outside.

The practice of differentiating among these forms will rescue you from numerous common apostrophe errors.

Overuse of Punctuation Like Exclamation Points

Exclamation points are forceful, but just like anything too repetitive, their power can get watered down. In serious writing, too many exclamation points can make the writing appear overly emotional or even immature.

Incorrect: I can’t believe we won the game!!!

Correct: I can’t believe we won the game!

Use exclamation points only when evoking strong emotions Otherwise, save it for nonbusiness writing.

Incorrect Use of Quotation Marks

It’s common to misuse quotation marks when encapsulating indirect speech or non-essential phrasings. Moreover, American and British English set punctuation inside the quotation marks in different ways, which can be confusing.

Incorrect: The professor said that, “we need to study hard.”

Correct: The professor said that we need to study hard.

In American English, periods and commas always go inside the quotation marks, even if they are not part of the quoted material. The rule in British English is more flexible and frequently depends on the sentence structure.

American English: She called it a “brilliant idea.”

British English: She called it a “brilliant idea”.

Punctuation Rules and Best Practices

Reading aloud is one of the best ways to ensure that your writing follows correct punctuation rules. Listen to natural pauses and stops in your speech. They usually indicate where you need punctuation. This can help you locate especially long and awkwardly constructed sentences that would benefit from additional periods, commas, or even semicolons.

Reading aloud might reveal that a sentence like “She ran to the store and bought milk bread and eggs” could become clearer if written as “She ran to the store and bought milk, bread, and eggs.”

Use Punctuation Rules to Enhance Clarity

Punctuation should always work to clarify your writing. Often, a sentence is confusing or unclear because you haven’t followed punctuation rules. Read over each sentence and ask if it would be clearer if you added a comma or a dash or perhaps divided the sentence in two.

Original: Despite the rain we decided to go on the hike, we were not disappointed.

Revised: Despite the rain, we decided to go on the hike. We were not disappointed.

This revised sentence is much clearer and easier to follow.

Avoid Overusing Punctuation Rules

While it’s important to use punctuation correctly, it’s equally important not to overdo it. Excessive commas, dashes, or exclamation points can make your writing appear cluttered and difficult to read. Strive for a balance that maintains the flow of your writing without overwhelming the reader.

Over-punctuated: The cake—which, by the way, was delicious—was gone in, like, ten minutes!

Balanced: The cake, which was delicious, was gone in ten minutes.

Simplicity often leads to clearer, more effective writing.

Punctuation Practice Makes Perfect

The more you write, the more instinctively you’ll follow punctuation rules. Writing regularly and periodically refreshing yourself on the rules can help to drive home your learning. Soon, you’ll have a sense of when you need to include the various punctuation marks, and it will make writing a lot easier and much less frustrating.

Set a little time every day to write, each day on some different aspects of punctuation. One day, you are working on using commas in complex sentences; another, mastering semicolons. Deliberate practice will pay off in writing.

Let’s Wrap Up Our Punctuation Rules Guideline

Punctuation may seem like a small aspect of writing, but it has deep implications for how others perceive your message. Work can improve in quality by knowing what the roles really are of the different punctuation marks, avoiding common errors, and following best practices. Whether one is drafting an email, a report, or a creative piece of writing, correct punctuation is the guarantee that your ideas are clearly and effectively communicated. Remember, punctuation is a silent partner to your writing. It guides readers through your text effortlessly and fluently. Master it, and your writing will shine.

About The Author

Kashif - Writer at PunctuationCheck.com

Related posts, 20 punctuation memes you show know, 12 best free grammarly alternatives in 2024.

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Pen and Glory

Self-publishing, simplified.

• Jan 29, 2015

Advanced Rules for Punctuation in Creative Writing

There are lots of punctuation guides out there, but in creative writing there is more than just correct grammar at stake. Your tone as a writer, the voice you give your characters, the feel that readers get when they open your novel can be dramatically altered depending on how you use punctuation.

I’m entering the advanced editing section of my novel,  The Automaton of Miss Ada Stirling (currently being released as a JukePop serial if you want to check it out!). One thing that I noticed when doing a stream-lining run-through yesterday was how colorful my punctuation gets. I use M dashes—(and brackets) and ellipses points . . . a lot. Maybe too much. But at the same time, I can think of other books I’ve read that were drowning in commas and semicolons, bogged down in a monotonous repetition of the most blasé punctuation possible.

Photo by Bev Lloyd-Roberts LRPS

Punctuation is like spice. A little can work wonders to flavor your book, but too much can overwhelm the senses. I advise the use of punctuation in creative ways. Illustrate your point! Just because you shouldn’t use more than one at a time (?!?!?!?!) doesn’t mean you should ban exclamation points and question marks altogether. Use them sparingly, and you will give them more weight. Add snappiness to your narration with the use of M dashes instead of commas—and watch how the tone becomes more dramatic and intense in the meanwhile. Play around! Learn how to make punctuation work for you instead of sitting on the page marking phrases, clauses and sentences. The perfect balance can breath new life into your writing!

#AmandaClemmer #JukePop #punctuation #finishthatnovel #correctpunctuation #punctuationrules

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7 Rules of Punctuating Dialogue: How to Punctuate Dialogue Easily

Learning how to punctuate dialogue is important when writing the conversations between your characters. Punctuating dialogue might not sound like a very exciting topic or a lot of fun as a writer to study – but it is very important in making sure your dialogue exchanges between characters make sense to your readers! Good punctuation…

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Learning how to punctuate dialogue is important when writing the conversations between your characters.

Punctuating dialogue might not sound like a very exciting topic or a lot of fun as a writer to study – but it is very important in making sure your dialogue exchanges between characters make sense to your readers!

Good punctuation will help your readers connect to your characters and help you write a stronger book.

If you’ve done all of the work of planning an outline for your novel and worked on developing your characters , the last thing you want to do is lose readers by making common grammar mistakes!

How to Punctuate Dialogue

Dialogue punctuation rules are fairly straight forward and simple. Once you learn the basics of how to use punctuation in dialogue, it becomes second nature. You’ll be writing down those spoken exchanges between your fictional characters while writing your novel in no time!

In order to punctuate your dialogue correctly, it helps to understand the different parts of a sentence.

Most dialogue sentences are made of two parts: the dialogue, which is the spoken portion of the sentence, and then the dialogue tag, which identifies the speaker.

In this example, we have the following sentence, spoken by Martha.

“I am going to the zoo,” said Martha.

The sentence which Martha speaks is the dialogue . This is the part that ends with a comma. The second part is the dialogue tag . The dialogue tag is what identifies Martha as the speaker.

Now that we know this basic anatomy of dialogue sentence structure, let’s move onto the rules!

The 7 Rules of Dialogue Punctuation

These rules are simple to follow.

Rule #1: Use Quote Marks and Commas

Surround your dialogue with quotation marks and end it with a comma before the last quote mark. End with the dialogue tag to identify the speaker.

“This is my favorite dress,” said Sally.

“I put your keys on top of the dresser,” Mark insisted.

For simple sentences, this is easy enough to remember. Now let’s get into punctuating more complex sentences!

Rule #2: Always Create a New Paragraph Line for New Speakers

When you have a new speaker, you should create a new paragraph line.

Example of Wrong Usage:

“This is my favorite dress”, said Sally. “It looks terrible on you,” said Mark.

In the example here, the two different speakers should have their own paragraphs.

Example of Proper Usage:

“This is my favorite dress,” said Sally. “It looks terrible on you,” said Mark.

Here each part of the dialogue exchange has its own individual paragraph.

Rule #3: Put Periods Inside of Quotation Marks When Not Using Dialogue Tags

When your sentence ends with a dialogue tag, you use a comma inside the quotation marks. When you are not using dialogue tags, you’ll want to put the period inside the quotation marks as well.

Incorrect Example:

Mark walked across the room to the corner dresser. “I swear I put your keys here”.

Correct Example:

Mark walked across the room to the corner dresser. “I swear I put your keys here.”

In these examples, we don’t need dialogue tags because we have already identified Mark in the paragraph. If we follow Rule #2 of always giving each character their own paragraph, we don’t have to worry about any potential confusion on who is speaking. It’s also not necessary to use a dialogue tag.

The important thing to remember for this rule is that we place the period inside the quotation marks.

Rule #4: Avoid Run-On Sentences – Use Multiple Sentences if Necessary

It’s easy to want to create run-on sentences. Fortunately, it is also easy to avoid them.

Below is an example of a run-on sentence in dialogue with way too much punctuation.

“I love this dress,” said Sally, “I’m going to wear it everywhere, not just to the wedding, but also to the grocery store, the library, and the pancake dinner.”

This above example has several mistakes in it. First of all, you should not put a comma after a dialogue tag. It’s best to use two separate sentences.

“I love this dress,” said Sally. “I’m going to wear it everywhere. I’m not just going to wear it to the wedding. I’m going to wear it to the grocery store, the library, and the pancake dinner.”

You can see in this example above we’ve actually transformed what was one giant run-on sentence into several sentences all within the quote marks.

Is this the most captivating dialogue you’ve ever read? Probably not, but it serves our example here.

Rule #5: Do Use a Comma for Action Within the Dialogue

“I love this dress,” said Sally, carefully taking it out of the closet. “I think it’s hideous,” said Mark, wondering why on earth she would want to wear something that reminded him of pea soup. “You do realize it’s the same color as pea soup, don’t you?”

In this instance, we DO use a comma, because it separates the dialogue tag from the action. In this case, Sally is doing a physical action as she takes the dress from the closet. Mark’s action is not a physical action. However, it still counts as a verb and an action all the same.

Rule #6: Know How to Punctuate Dialogue in Reverse

In all of our examples so far, we’ve put the dialogue tag at the end. However, both the dialogue tag and the action can come before the dialogue. In this case, you simply end the dialogue with a period and use a comma after the dialogue tag.

Mark whispered, “I love you even if you are wearing an ugly dress.” Looking into his eyes, Sally said, “Thank you for understanding.”

Basically, when the dialogue tag or the action comes first, you simply reverse the dialogue punctuation marks for the comma and the period.

Rule #7: Multiple Paragraphs of Same Speaker

When you have a character who is speaking a lot, it is okay if you need to use multiple paragraphs. Simply omit the end quotation mark at the end of the first paragraph and begin the second paragraph with a quote mark.

This can sometimes be confusing to readers, but there are times when it is appropriate.

“Listen, I have a lot to say about why I love this dress.” Sally straightened her posture. “This dress was my grandmother’s dress. She wore it when she first came to this country in 1936. She had nothing – no money, no food – but she had this dress. “That’s where I am today. I have nothing. Nothing! No job, no money, no car. I have this dress. It worked for my grandmother, maybe it will work for me, too. “I’m wearing this dress, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

Again, sometimes it is better to break up your dialogue with different speakers or to add action – but it’s not always necessary. Largely a lot of this will depend on your own unique type of  writing style , type of work you are writing and what your goals are as a writer.

Additional Dialogue Punctuation Resources

Many writers can find the task of correctly punctuating their character’s dialogue to be overwhelming. Hopefully these punctuation rules for dialogue will help you improve as a writer.

Need more dialogue writing tips? Check out our article on 6 Tips for Writing Dialogue .

You may also find that a good style manual can be a great resource to have on hand as a desk reference as a writer.

Writing dialogue punctuation does not have to be difficult. With practice and a basic understanding of these rules for when to use commas, quotation marks, and periods, you can easily add dialogue to your stories confidently.

Have any suggestions for ways you can easily remember the rules on how to punctuate dialogue? Share your tips in the comments section below!

Chelle Stein wrote her first embarrassingly bad novel at the age of 14 and hasn't stopped writing since. As the founder of ThinkWritten, she enjoys encouraging writers and creatives of all types.

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Commas: Quick Rules

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

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Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The comma is a valuable, useful punctuation device because it separates the structural elements of sentences into manageable segments. The rules provided here are those found in traditional handbooks; however, in certain rhetorical contexts and for specific purposes, these rules may be broken.

The following is a short guide to get you started using commas. This resource also includes sections with more detailed rules and examples.

Quick Guide to Commas

• Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.
• Use commas after introductory a) clauses, b) phrases, or c) words that come before the main clause.
• Use a pair of commas in the middle of a sentence to set off clauses, phrases, and words that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Use one comma before to indicate the beginning of the pause and one at the end to indicate the end of the pause.
• Do not use commas to set off essential elements of the sentence, such as clauses beginning with that (relative clauses). That clauses after nouns are always essential. That clauses following a verb expressing mental action are always essential.
• Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses written in a series.
• Use commas to separate two or more coordinate adjectives that describe the same noun. Be sure never to add an extra comma between the final adjective and the noun itself or to use commas with non-coordinate adjectives.
• Use a comma near the end of a sentence to separate contrasted coordinate elements or to indicate a distinct pause or shift.
• Use commas to set off phrases at the end of the sentence that refer back to the beginning or middle of the sentence. Such phrases are free modifiers that can be placed anywhere in the sentence without causing confusion.
• Use commas to set off all geographical names, items in dates (except the month and day), addresses (except the street number and name), and titles in names.
• Use a comma to shift between the main discourse and a quotation.
• Use commas wherever necessary to prevent possible confusion or misreading.

Punctuation rules for students and teachers: A complete guide

This article is part of the ultimate guide to language for teachers and students. Click the buttons below to view these.

Punctuation is the process of using recognized symbols and protocols to turn a collection of words into a logical, structured piece of writing to be read, and understood by a universal audience.

A COMPLETE GUIDE TO PUNCTUATION RULES FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS

We use punctuation in numerous ways to meet the purpose of your task and the needs of your audience, but essentially you are trying to achieve two outcomes.

• To make the text easier to read by adding pauses, breaks and points of emphasis.
• To add expression, detail and switch perspective when characters, and narrators are speaking.

This guide is designed to provide teachers and students with a common shared understanding of what punctuation is and how to use it effectively in all genres of writing.

It has consciously been written in simple language so that teachers can use these examples directly with students.

WHAT IS PUNCTUATION AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Punctuation refers to the set of marks that are used to regulate and clarify meaning and rhythm within a text. Punctuation helps clarify the meaning of a text by linking or separating words, phrases, clauses, and sentences.

There are approximately 14 different marks or signs that are used in this manner in English.

HOW TO TEACH PUNCTUATION

Like grammar, native English speakers will sometimes know how to use the various punctuation marks correctly in their own writing but find it challenging to explain to others.

To adequately explain to students how to use punctuation correctly, you’ll require a good understanding of English grammar and be comfortable using terms such as introductory phrases, dependent and independent clauses, coordinating and subordinating conjunctions etc.

Simply verbally outlining the rules for using the various punctuation marks is unlikely to be the most successful approach to teaching punctuation. Punctuation is all about context, and it is best to employ written examples to explain how each punctuation mark is correctly used.

Let’s take a look at five valuable tips to help with the teaching of punctuation in your classroom before we deep dive into punctuation rules with examples.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON PUNCTUATION

This complete  PUNCTUATION UNIT  is designed to take students from zero to hero over  FIVE STRATEGIC LESSONS  to improve  PUNCTUATION & GRAMMAR SKILLS  through  PROVEN TEACHING STRATEGIES.

WHAT ARE THE 14 TYPES OF PUNCTUATION MARKS?

The 14 types of punctuation commonly used in English are:

• Question Mark
• Exclamation Point
• Parentheses
• Quotation Marks

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE PUNCTUATION RULES CHART AND QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

5 TIPS FOR TEACHING PUNCTUATION SUCCESSFULLY

Tip 1. teach grammar.

Your students will likely love grammar as much as they love homework. Given the complexity of English grammar, this can be a hard sell. But, time spent mastering its vagaries will be time well-spent. Gaining a firm grasp of grammar will reap rich rewards for students in terms of understanding how to use the different forms of punctuation correctly.

It’s true, too, that English grammar can be an extremely broad area of study, so which areas should we focus on?

Developing a secure understanding of how to use punctuation correctly is nigh on impossible without first understanding dependent and independent clauses and subordinating and coordinating conjunctions. So that’s the best place to start.

Tip 2. Avoid Shortcuts

Likely, your students will have a vague understanding of how most punctuation marks will be used. However, most likely, their understanding will be superficial at best.

Often, the teacher’s students encounter in their younger years will drip feed them information regarding punctuation use in an easily digestible form and on a need-to-know basis. This information can often be so general as to be inaccurate.

Things like ‘use a comma when you need a short pause and a period when you need a longer one’ or ‘a period mark the end of a thought’, may serve some purpose for beginning writers. Still, these explanations fail to adequately explain the mechanics of how things work. Only grammar does this adequately.

Simplified explanations serve a limited purpose, and student ignorance soon gets exposed when writing at a higher level.

I speak from experience, unfortunately. An esteemed college professor once commented on an undergraduate paper of mine, “Well written and thoroughly researched . Unfortunately, the author doesn’t know a semicolon from a demisemiquaver.”

Tip 3. Employ Context

So, we’ve stressed the importance of teaching grammar as a means of communicating a clear understanding of how punctuation works. The danger of getting carried away with technical explanations is that we climb so high up on the ladder of abstraction that we leave our students stranded clueless on the ground below.

To combat this, our punctuation and grammatical explanations should always be accompanied by solid examples from written texts. This is an extension of the Show, Don’t Tell rule that creative writers love to abide by.

Tip 4. Stress Communication

We want our students to use punctuation and grammar accurately, but we don’t want them to become paralysed with fear before the “tyranny of the blank page”. Balance the need for accuracy with encouragement.

The purpose of language, written or spoken, is communication. When in doubt, suggest students abandon long, grammatically complex sentences in favour of shorter, simpler sentences that are easier to punctuate correctly.

Tip 5. Proofread, Edit…

As mentioned, striving for accuracy in punctuation is a good thing to see in our students. Sometimes, however, it can interrupt the flow of the writing process. Especially when still growing in competency. For this reason, it’s important to stress to students that punctuation should be part of the proofreading and editing process.

As students read through their work on completion, they can revise the punctuation they have used to ensure it accurately conveys the meaning they were attempting to express.

This way, writing flow is not interrupted, and writer’s block is likely avoided.

So, to review, to teach punctuation effectively:

• Ensure students have a firm understanding of the necessary rules of grammar
• Avoid using vague explanations of the rules of usage as shortcuts
• Be sure to contextualize explanations with clear examples from texts
• Stress the importance of clear communication in writing over all else
• Encourage punctuation checks as part of the editing process.

 APOSTROPHES ’

Apostrophes serve two purposes in writing.

• To shorten and link connected words in what is known as a contraction.
• To show possession or ownership of something.

APOSTROPHES USED WITHIN A CONTRACTION

The purpose of an apostrophe is to indicate where a letter, or letters have been removed from a contraction.

For example

“ They’re coming our way,” screamed the general, and if we don’t move now you’ll be stuck here forever.

APOSTROPHES USED TO DEMONSTRATE OWNERSHIP

An apostrophe is also used to show possession or ownership of something. To point out to the reader that this “thing” belongs to the subject being written about.

For Example

Gargamel was always searching for the Smurf’s hidden village ( The village belongs to the Smurfs )

Have you seen Eva’s school bag? (The bag belongs to Eva)

As Wendy turned and walked away you could almost hear Jimmy’s heart break in two. ( The heart belongs to Jimmy.)

BRACKETS ( ) [ ] { } / /

Depending upon the text type you are writing brackets will serve different purposes. Let’s take a look at some examples to make sense of this.

ROUND BRACKETS – ALSO KNOWN AS PARENTHESES

The round bracket can be used in three ways.

Using brackets to add extra information where required.

Neil Armstrong ( The first person to walk on the Moon ) was introduced last.

I got my first game console ( A Super Nintendo ) when I was ten.

Try not to get into the habit of overusing brackets to add information as a replacement for high-quality, engaging writing. For example, we could rewrite the above example like this.

“I’ ‘ll never forget my tenth birthday as I unwrapped my first game console, a Super Nintendo, which is exactly what I wanted.”

Using round brackets to indicate where information has come from when you are quoting, citing or using information directly taken from another source.

“That’s one small step for man, but one giant leap for mankind.” ( Neil Armstrong – 1969 )

“A direct quote from a book” ( AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstname.  Title . Publisher, Year. )

Using round brackets/parentheses to organize a written list.

Round brackets can be used with letters and numbers to organize lists. You can use either open or closed brackets as long as you are consistent.

Items Required

a ) Fishing Line

b ) Coat Hanger

c ) Crepe Paper

Follow these steps

( 1 ) Remove from packaging

( 2 ) Insert Batteries

( 3 ) Charge the unit for 1.5 hours before use

SQUARE BRACKETS [ ]

Square brackets add information to the reader that was not explicitly stated. This is very similar to the ( ) round brackets in purpose; however, square brackets indicate this information was added by someone other than the original author. They are most commonly found within articles and non-fiction texts where an editor has made amendments.

She [ Mrs. Jones ] did not find it amusing

“I would have been happy with any type of dog except that one” [ A poodle ] she told the judge.

BRACES OR CURLY BRACKETS {

Braces or curly brackets are most commonly used in technical writing and mathematics, It is also used in written texts to branch items into sub-categories or indicate that more than one word is being referred to.

Types of Shark

{ Whale Shark, Bull Shark

The range of numbers is { 2, 4, 6, 8 }

Slashes are rarely seen in writing. They are used to separate dates

And to represent structure on a database or within a folder structure.

c:\\root folder\sub folder

BULLET POINTS

Bullet points are also frequently referred to as dot points, and they are used to create lists

CAPITAL LETTERS A B C D E F

Capital Letters serve a number of purposes and are a foundational skill of punctuation and writing in general.

They are used to begin a sentence .

T he rug was dark blue.

They are used to identify a proper noun.

I asked Simon to repeat the question.

The Siberian Tiger is an endangered animal.

I ran up the hill as fast as I could.

A colon is used to inform the reader that there is more detail to follow is already written. It separates two clauses and explains the first.

For example.

You will need the following items : Chalk, Paper, Scissors

She competed in four events: Archery, Athletics, Swimming and Gymnastics

Commas are used to separate words and force the reader to pause.

They are used to separate lists, phrases and clauses in sentences.

At dinner we ate fish , carrots , potatoes , and rice.

Could you please bring a watch , phone , water , and a snack.

They are also used to pace a sentence to emphasise when to pause and clarify meaning.

My heart was racing , I could feel the adrenaline flowing through my body. Soon , I felt my body become calm and I was ready to compete.

Dashes are used to emphasise a longer pause or break within a sentence, often for dramatic effect.

Don’t confuse the dash ( — ) with the hyphen. ( – ) . The dash is longer

After much deliberation, the final verdict was delivered. — “Not Guilty” The judge stated confidently.

The ellipse is constructed by creating three consecutive full stops. They serve three distinct purposes.

Using ellipses to demonstrate where speech has been interrupted.

“Mum, I know you told me once … ”

“I must have told you a hundred times! She interrupted.

Using ellipses to demonstrate where parts of a quote have been removed. This is done to shorten up a statement and get to the point.

“Our team just didn’t have what it takes to win tonight … We played with our heads down and barely communicated.”

Finally, they are used to add dramatic effect when demonstrating a statement is incomplete. For example when someone is left speechless, or without a response.

“So where did you leave your phone?” Asked dad.

“I…, I…, I just don’t know…” I replied

EXCLAMATION MARKS !

The purpose of an exclamation mark is to demonstrate strong emotions within a sentence. They help the reader to determine if a word is to be spoken with emphasis, anger or passion.

“Go get em ! ” Yelled Coach

“Look out ! ” I screamed

“Because she loves you ! You crazy fool ! ” her father exclaimed

Exclamation marks also emphasize single words to be stressed within a phrase.

I stuck my hand down the hole slowly and carefully. “Ouch ! ” i shrieked, as I withdrew it at lightning speed.

FULL STOPS .

The purpose of a full stop (also known as a period in the United States) is to end a sentence. To remind the reader to take pause, as this sequence of the text is complete.

Dogs are loyal animals who respect their owners .

Finally, the game had came to an unceremonious end .

HYPHENS –

The hyphen – ( Not to be confused with the longer dash — ) is used to link words or break words into smaller parts.

For example to link connected words

It was the thirty – fifth time the club had won a title.

“I just love choc – chip ice cream.”

To link words at the end of a line

Emma was an African Croc-

odile. A big one.

Using hyphens to explain pronunciation

croc-o-dile

fun-da-men-tal

QUESTION MARKS ?

Question marks remind the audience that a question is being asked as opposed to a statement being made. Question marks are only placed at the end of a sentence.

“Are you done yet ? ” shouted dad.

“So, what are you going to do ? ” asked the quiz master

Will he ever find true love ?

QUOTATION MARKS & SPEECH MARKS (“ ”) (‘ ’)

Quotation marks, also known as speech marks demonstrate to the reader words or phrases that are spoken or quoted.

It doesn’t matter if you use double or single quotation marks so long as you are consistent.

Let’s look at an example of direct speech.

“ No matter what you say, I have to go back for them ” I explained to my commander.

‘ I’ll take the big one thanks. I’m really hungry today ’ I told the waiter

Quotation marks are also used to highlight slang, strange or technical words within a sentence.

My boss reminded me that this was a “ no-brainer ” and that I shouldn’t hesitate any longer.

My little sister called me “ captain stink-face ” whatever that meant.

SEMICOLONS ;

Semicolons break sentences apart for a more dramatic pause than a comma. The difference between the two is that a comma separates ideas whereas a semicolon connects ideas.

We walked for hour, upon hour without seeing or hearing a single soul; then something appeared from nowhere that would change this day forever.

This day was shaping up to be the greatest day of my life; and I was conscious to enjoy it while it lasted.

Excellent punctuation tutorial video

BEAUTIFUL PUNCTUATION POSTERS FOR YOUR CLASSROOM OR STUDY

These posters are a constant visual reminder about all types of punctuation marks and how to use them.

• Exclamation Marks
• Quotation Mark
• Semicolon’s
• Full Stop / Period ( Both included)
• Apostrophes
• Bullet Points
• Colon’s
• Capital Letters

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MORE GREAT ARTICLES TO SUPPORT PUNCTUATION RULES

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Perfect Paragraph Writing: The Ultimate Guide

How to Misuse Punctuation Marks

by Melissa Donovan | Oct 15, 2020 | Punctuation Marks | 35 comments

Let’s try not to confuse readers with punctuation marks.

What is it about punctuation marks that cause so many bad sentence constructions?

You know the sentences I’m talking about. They’ve got random commas, missing quotation marks, and way too many exclamation points.

To make matters worse, some writers break the rules and get away with it while others are chastised for doing (what appears to be) the same thing.

E.E. Cummings ignored most of the rules and made up a few of of his own, and now his poetry is studied in universities. Cormac McCarthy didn’t use quotation marks with the dialogue in his novel, and he won a Pulitzer Prize.

And then there’s the internet. Now everyone’s a writer with a blog and a bunch of social media profiles. Bad grammar and badly placed punctuation marks have become rampant.

Common Mistakes with Punctuation Marks

Typos are one thing. Not knowing the correct way to write a sentence is another thing. But blatantly misplacing or misusing punctuation marks is just plain reckless.

Too many commas

I’m a big fan of the serial comma , but let’s not get carried away. Commas often occur where there is a natural pause, but they should not be used to tell the reader where to pause.

Here’s an example of telling readers where to pause, using commas:

Lots of writers use commas, to tell readers where to pause and take a breath, as if the readers can’t figure it out, on their own.

We all pause in different places and your writing will feel forced and unnatural if you use punctuation marks as if they are musical notations.

Quotation marks for emphasis

I have to admit, this is becoming one of my pet peeves: putting words and phrases in quotation marks for emphasis. Here are some examples:

You know, they just “had” to go fishing last weekend. Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to “rock your boat.” If you sign up, they’ll send you a “free book!”

Quotation marks are for dialogue, quoted material, and sometimes for titles or headlines. But for some reason, people have gone crazy with quotation marks.

Writers who misuse quotation marks in this manner need to have a little more faith in their readers. Trust that they will know where to place emphasis. If you really need to tell the reader which word(s) get stressed, then use italics . But try to avoid that, too.

This use probably stems from the (informal) practice of using quotation marks to indicate that something is “so-called.” Here’s an example:

That “writer” over there doesn’t seem to have a dictionary.

In this case, quotation marks are placed around “writer” to suggest that the person is a so-called writer, but actually isn’t much of a writer at all. These are called scare quotes , and their usage is almost always derogatory and sarcastic. Use scare quotes with caution; insulting other writers is not going to do anything positive for your reputation.

Too many punctuation marks!!!

Did you hear me??? I wrote a book!!! Let me tell you all about it…..

Some people are so passionate. It’s inspiring, really, except when I’m reading a novel or some other piece of writing that should be professional quality. It’s one thing when my friend sends a text to tell me that her kid just said Mama!!! It’s another thing entirely when a character in a novel is really, very, extremely excited!!!

When you use three question marks instead of one, does the question become deeper? More mysterious? Is an expression with three exclamation points more exciting or more imperative than an expression with just one exclamation point? And what’s up with using more than three dots in an ellipsis? Does a five-dot ellipsis mean it’s taking you longer to trail off than a three-dot ellipsis?

While this usage is acceptable in casual settings (and really, what usage isn’t acceptable in casual settings?), it’s a bit much when you’re writing at the professional level. Too many punctuation marks distract the reader and make the text look sloppy. They also render a pushy, in-your-face, or desperate tone. But like I said, in text messages, they’re kinda cute.

There’s this thing called an ampersand

A few weeks ago, I started reading this novel (whose name shall be withheld), & before I finished page two, it occurred to me that something was wrong with the writing. I scanned the page & realized that the author was using ampersands (&) in place of the word and .

& let me tell you, it was annoying.

Prose is not signage. It’s not a tweet. The ampersand is not a word; it’s a symbol, and we are not writing in hieroglyphics. We write in words and sentences. I don’t have anything personal against the ampersand. It looks nice on signage and it comes in handy on Twitter and in text messages. It looks cute on trees where two lovers have carved their names:

Jack & Kate <3

Aw. How sweet.

But it really makes the reading rough when it’s used to replace the word and through an entire piece of writing.

Rough Writers

I know. I’m a mean old grammar snob. I’m sure folks who use these constructions are on the edge of their seats right now, scouring my blog for some little mistake, some place where I used an extra exclamation mark or an ampersand. I’m sure some are getting ready to drop comments letting me know that they “like” using quotation marks for emphasis, & that it’s their “style.” !!!

That’s fine. I’m just pointing out what is correct usage and what is not. If writers want to break the rules and take a few creative liberties, that’s their business, and I hope it works out. Some of my favorite writers have forgone the rules (and I love them for it).

But keep this in mind: when your text is peppered with extra, unnecessary punctuation marks, it’s a distraction to readers. Like I said, the book with all the ampersands had me thinking more about what was off about the text than what was happening in the story (and the story wasn’t very interesting either, which may explain why the author resorted to gimmicks). For the record, I didn’t make it past page thirty of that book, and I’ll never recommend it to anyone.

Taking Creative Liberties

I’m all for breaking the rules, but only if there’s a good reason for it. Cormac McCarthy broke the rules and got into Oprah’s book club. E.E. Cummings broke the rules became a celebrated American poet.

Why do some writers reap rewards when they break the rules while others just look like amateurs?

I personally think this has to do with the logic behind breaking the rules. Cormac McCarthy’s book was written in a minimalist fashion. The characters didn’t even have names. And E.E. Cummings wasn’t writing prose at all; he was writing poetry, which naturally allows for more creative liberties.

There’s a difference between tinkering with the rules as an experiment in art or because the style of the narrative calls for it and breaking the rules as a way to differentiate yourself as a unique writer or simply because you’re some kind of literary rebel.

Some writers believe they are branding themselves as an author or making their work stand out because they don’t capitalize the first word of every sentence, but these are just gimmicks that distract readers from the content. You’re telling readers that your work doesn’t stand on its own and you need to resort to silly tricks to make it seem interesting — or (worse) — you couldn’t be bothered to learn how to punctuate sentences correctly.

What really sucks is when good writers use these constructions. More than once I’ve read prose and poetry that was great except for all the weird punctuation marks and bad grammar. What would have been a wonderful story or beautiful poem gets lost in the mess. And that’s a shame.

The rules of grammar aren’t there to keep you in line; they are there to help you write prose and verse that readers can navigate with ease. Always keep that in mind, and when you do break the rules or use unusual punctuation marks and formatting, do so with good reason.

Have you seen writers break the rules effectively? Have you seen writers break the rules in a way that interfered with your ability to enjoy the reading experience? What was the difference? When is it okay the break the rules?

Rein in those punctuation marks and keep writing!

35 Comments

Oh well said!! Errr…”typed”.

Though I still abuse grammar in character voice…sigh.

Ha! It makes sense to make grammar exceptions in dialogue, but I still wouldn’t put three exclamation marks in character quotes. There are lots of other rules to break in dialogue.

Damned good post!!! Well done. I think you’ve explained yourself very clearly – and that’s often not the case. So, thank you……….

Very funny! Thank you.

I love your blog. It makes me feel like I’m not alone and serves to remind me to watch out for bad habits that try to form while I’m writing.

That’s wonderful, Bonnie, and it’s exactly why I keep this blog going. None of us are alone in this crazy writing journey. Thank you.

Ha ha love this post! I don’t always read posts about grammar, but the title got me right away. I agree with what you wrote, too! Incorrect grammar for the sake of standing out can get ridiculous. When used the right way, though, I think it can be a useful tool. Are there any rules that you break at times, Melissa?

Oh yes, I enjoyed breaking the rules for the examples and block-quote portions of this post. I pretty much ignore the rules completely when I’m writing personal notes, brainstorming, outlining, etc. Other than that, I break the rules whenever I think doing so makes the narrative better. I wouldn’t rewrite the rules of grammar as a way to brand or differentiate myself because I mostly find that when authors do that, it makes their work harder to read. Thanks!

Hi great post!

As a grammar guru can you please recommend a decent book(s) re. basic grammar and punctuation? I would like to go right back to basics and completely review and improve my writing style.

Kind regards,

Well, I’m not a grammar guru. I’m just a writer who likes to study grammar and occasionally write about it. While I always research my grammar posts, I definitely do not (by any means) consider myself an expert. Having said that, I would recommend starting with The Elements of Style . It’s more of a style guide than a grammar reference, but it’s the best place to begin, in my not-so-humble opinion.

Great post. It seems society has lost its appreciation for grammar. Sitting down to write a letter use to be appreciated and taken seriously. Now it all symbols and shortcuts and texting. I even heard from a teacher they were discussing not teaching spelling in schools. How could that be?

It looks like you made some subtle changes to your blog style or maybe it is just me. It looks nice.

I love this post. I shared it on Facebook in the hopes that some of my teaching friends would see it and maybe use if as a resource at the start of the school year.

Nicole–unfortunately, spelling is no longer being taught in some schools. I know at the middle school that I interned at last school year, one of the Language Arts teachers was telling me the Board doesn’t want them spending so much time on spelling because it takes away from focusing on improvement areas for State mandated tests, such as the Mastery Tests. It is becoming a growing problem now because it is not being enforced at all, which allows students to go on thinking that it is okay to use chat lingo in papers. It is horrible! I hope they come to their senses soon; I can’t imagine what lengths the English language might reach if spelling isn’t reinforced. (On a completely un-related note, your horse is beautiful!)

Hi Jen. Thanks for sharing this post on Facebook. I appreciate that!

Thanks, Nicole. Yes, the standards for grammar and good writing have really reached new lows. It was bad when I was going through the public school system, but I think it’s even worse now, both from what I’ve heard (from educators) and what I’ve seen (from students). It’s sad.

Yes, Writing Forward just got a little makeover last week. I’m glad you noticed and liked it. Thank you.

That’s shocking, Nicole. At the beginning of my teaching career, I was teaching English and we were told not to teach grammar and spelling as lessons, but to only do it in corrections of the pupil’s work. Also, years later, I had to tell a boy that using textspeak in his report of a Science experiment was not acceptable. (This was a piece of coursework that had to go to the examiner.) I was teaching science at that time. Science was my main subject and English one of my subsidiaries. Also, people seem to eschew capital letters these days. So often I see the name of our planet without a capital E. Talking about the soil as earth, fair enough, but referencing Planet Earth without capitals, definitely not. (And I saw on the scrolling bit on TV Brazil written without a capital.) It goes on and on. I can only think it’s to do with the teaching in schools. I learned about these things there and have never forgotten what they taught me. Do they teach sentence analysis? Do youngsters even know what a clause is (let alone a specific kind of clause)? And why do so many of them hold a pen in a way that makes it more difficult to control it with accuracy?

What I particularly like about this advice is that it reminds writers that we are to write in such a way that our reader gets the joy of discovering our character’s voice. By using rich vocabulary and correct grammar, my reader will know that the pitch of Emma’s voice rising and the elevation of her height due to her tiptoes being the last bit of flesh connected with the ground beneath her indicated her excitement. How dull to say, “Emma was very, very, really, excited!!!

Please forgive me though Melissa for disagreeing in one small way. Even on FB and in informal writing (e-mails to friends, hand written notes to teachers, etc.) I try to use correct grammar. For one, many people know I am an aspiring writer, so they’re often looking to my writing as a model for correctness. For another, I am very lazy, and if I do something the easy way rather than the correct way long enough, another bad habit is formed.

I love your blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with what you’re saying, that writers have an extra responsibility in adhering to grammar on FB and in notes. I was trying to explain that if my non-writer friends put a few extra exclamation marks after a sentence, I think nothing of it. I personally wouldn’t punctuate that way for the same reasons you cited. I’m always trying to represent myself as a writer with good skills. I also try to be moderate about grammar in general. I’m always walking the tightrope. On the one hand, I think writers should master the rules of grammar. On the other hand, I have seen people nitpick over some silly, minor (and debatable) issues. Anyway, we’re definitely on the same page.

Love this post!!! (he, he) I can’t believe how many people overuse commas, quotation marks, and exclamation points. It can take a good story or article and distract me so much I no longer want to read it. That’s sad for the writer and reader.

I guess I’ve trained myself to ignore bad punctuation if a piece is really good. Actually, I don’t really ignore it, but I do try to overlook it. For example, if I’m reading a great post about my favorite TV show, I will overlook bad grammar because an entertainment blogger or TV fan may not be advanced in writing and grammar. Anyway, it’s always frustrating. I wish the grammar fairy would wave her wand and give the whole world good grammar.

Great post! I’m with you on this one. I find it irritating as well to read prose that is sloppy when it comes to punctuation. But having said that, I appreciated the liberties Cormac McCarthy took in writing The Road.

I agree, Diana. I often listen to interviews with writers, and I suspect forgoing quotation marks is a new trend in literary fiction. I’ve heard several authors (in interviews) discussion their decision to not use quotation marks for dialogue. I find it interesting and have been wondering if that’s the direction we’re all headed.

I suspect there is some kind of punctuation inflation going on. If a lot of people are using !!!!! to express their excitement, using just one ! seems to downplay your excitement, in a way.

I am also suspecting that some sales pages attempt to overload your brain with colors and excessive punctuations, so you make impulsive purchases.

In my experience, people have always done the exclamation mark dance (!!!). I think, however, it’s especially prevalent among the young because I know I used to get a lot of notes from my friends (when I was in junior high and high school) with these enthusiastic expressions. I too was guilty of abusing various punctuation marks in this manner. Heheh.

For the life of me, I cannot understand how or why those sales pages are so effective. But apparently they are.

Excellent advice. Now, would you please write something about those authors who think they need to misspell words in order to show us how ignorant one of their characters is? It slows down the reading. I will bypass whatever that character says in order not to have to decipher what it is he’s supposed to be saying. Telling us he has an accent is better than trying to write that accent into the dialogue.

Thanks for you comment, Michele. I think that when dialect is done well, it works (for example, Huckleberry Finn ). However, very few writers can pull it off. I just read a novel by an extremely successful and seasoned author in which dialect was loosely attempted but unfortunately failed on every level. When dialect is done well, I think it adds a lot to the prose. In any case, if I do write a post on dialect, I would emphasize its difficulty and recommend experimenting with it and testing it on beta readers. I would also recommend that young and new writers stay away from it altogether. I agree with you that it’s not necessary, and I’d rather read a text with no dialect than one where it doesn’t work.

I write mostly poetry, and it’s always an inner battle determining how to use the punctuation. Usually, I do what would be most grammatically correct since the poetic phrases don’t always fit into easily defined sentences. However, it is extremely frustrating to read prose or poetry where the grammar and punctuation get in the way. I have one friend who sometimes writes poems using “2” instead of “to” and “u” in place of “you.” I often ignore those poems. Good art can be ruined by getting lost in the mess of bad grammar.

I couldn’t agree more. I was once approached by a young poet who wanted my feedback. I thought her poems were beautiful except that they were in all caps. When I pointed out that the capital letters were distracting and interfering with the poetry, she argued with me, insisting that all caps was her style and trademark. Augh! It was such a shame.

hi, thank you for an interesting post. Thanks too to those who replied. I too am a writer, and there is something I have a hard time with when I read a book. Many writers put and at the start of a sentence which I find distracting and annoying. Consequently I do not read much which is sad because it is relaxing. When I was at school we were taught that and at the start of a sentence is wrong. That it is a word that connects sentences, not begins them. This has stayed with me. What is your view on this practice?

I think it’s a bit strange that you don’t read books just because some writers start sentences with the word “and.” It’s a practice done mostly in informal writing. You won’t see it often in academic writing or journalism. Otherwise, it’s a fairly common practice, often used for emphasis. My view is that creative writers can and should break the rules if doing so strengthens their work, and if they are comfortable with it. I do it all the time. However, one should know the rule one is breaking and have a good reason for breaking it.

Is it really wrong to start a sentence with the word and ? Here is an interesting article on the subject:

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/can-you-start-sentences-with-%E2%80%9Cand%E2%80%9D-and-%E2%80%9Cbut%E2%80%9D/

Keep in mind, the English language is changing and evolving all the time. What was unacceptable a century ago enters common usage today and will be formally correct usage in a century from now. Also, there are times when one must break the rules or risk sounding archaic:

Which store are you going to? <— technically incorrect but sounds natural To which store are you going? <– technically correct but sounds archaic and unnatural

I think writers should learn the rules and then use their best judgment.

Hi Melissa,

Its such a wonderful post emphasizing the importance of grammar in English.I was awed after reading the posts on punctuation marks.I wonder how will i ever be sure of using them correctly in my writing.I really want to learn and improve on the grammar aspect of writing.There are so many rules,so many exceptions and so much to know.Seems impossible at times,but then its all important.

Sometimes I think it’s almost impossible to truly master grammar. There are many issues that grammar does not address, and we have to leave those decisions up to our own personal judgement or better yet, to a style guide. On the other hand, it’s worthwhile to do our best to know the rules and apply them accordingly. If we can find enjoyment in learning grammar and punctuation, then it will be a pleasurable lifelong pursuit.

Loved the part about the ampersands. There are posters on a couple message boards I go on whose posts I never read because they use “&” in every instance of the word “and”; one of those boards used to have mods that wouldn’t tolerate such things but the mods they have now don’t care.

Ampersands are okay on posters, text messages, tweets, and marketing collateral. It’s when they appear in prose or formal writing that they become problematic. It sounds like the board you’re visiting uses them everywhere. I think that would grate on my nerves a bit, too.

A serious pet peeve of mine. And another thing that I detest is when writers use question marks when there should be a period or an exclamation point. What is that all about?

Actually, there is a construct when it’s acceptable or even correct to use a period at the end of a question. If I remember correctly, it’s when the question is strictly rhetorical and not inviting an answer.

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