#205 — Dead or alive | SHARING FROM MY PERSONAL WRITING EXPERIENCE
With Proper Punctuation, You See What The Writer Means
A comma, semicolon, period and other punctuation marks can make the difference between your reader understanding your text or not
Punctuation is essential to any piece of writing. It allows for pacing, structure and order in your story. With proper punctuation, your story reaches the reader like you intended.
No punctuation
Have you ever tried to read a story with no punctuation at all?
Read the following:
the instant hailey shut the door and saw the cab driver he reminded her of her need to get home her nipples pressed hard against the smooth creme colored fabric of her Marilyn Monroe dress piercing blue eyes looked deep into her soul where to miss his words were more than just a question it was a caress as he spoke his eyes touched her body from top to toe why it made her feel safe instead of irritated hailey didnt know and didnt care to explain to herself she gave him her address
Horrible, right?
When I try to read a piece like this, it seems I want to read quicker and quicker. Also, when I get to the end, I realize I don’t know what I have read. The words don’t seem to enter my mind.
With punctuation
Now, read the same piece as above, but this time with punctuation:
The instant Hailey shut the door and saw the cab driver, he reminded her of her need to get home. Her nipples pressed hard against the smooth, creme-colored fabric of her Marilyn Monroe dress. Piercing blue eyes looked deep into her soul.
“Where to, Miss?”
His words were more than just a question. It was a caress. As he spoke, his eyes touched her body from top to toe. Why it made her feel safe instead of irritated, Hailey didn’t know and didn’t care to explain to herself. She gave him her address.
From: Yellow Cab Service
Every period, every comma, paces your reading. It gives you time to take in what you’re reading. It builds the tension, wants you to read on and know more.
Pieces with proper punctuation reads different from those without.
Common punctuation marks
In the list below, you will find the most commonly used punctuation marks and the explanation of their use.
- Period . Use a period (full stop) to signal the end of a complete sentence. To translate the period to speaking, the speaker will briefly stop after a full sentence. That’s the spot where you use a period in your writing. It’s also used after most abbreviations.
- Semicolon ; The semicolon shows a longer pause than a comma and a shorter pause than a period. It’s used between two closely related clauses that could be separate sentences, and which aren’t linked by words such as ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘or’, ‘for’ and ‘so’. We can also use the semicolon between clauses when one or both contains a comma.
- Comma , It indicates a pause in a sentence, but also helps to clarify a sentence when there is a possibility of confusion. Use a comma to separate items in a list or to set apart nonessential clauses, or use it after an introductory phrase. If you use the name of a person in dialogue, you put a comma either after or before their names, depending if the name is at the beginning or end of the sentence. Other places to use a comma: * He went to the restaurant, which was the same one… * She was his niece, who he had met many years ago… * They went to the museum, where they saw…
- Parenthesis ( ) Use the parenthesis to set off extra information that further explains or clarifies an idea, but it isn’t necessary to the meaning of the sentence.
- Exclamation mark ! If you write a statement that expresses powerful emotion, you use an exclamation mark. It’s also used for an urgent command, and to show excitement.
- Question mark ? When you or a character in a story asks a question, always put a question mark at the end of your sentence.
- Colon : Use the colon before the part of a sentence which explains a statement you had just made. It’s also used before a long quotation or a list. When writing dialogue¹, we mostly end the sentence with ‘he/she/they said’. You can also choose to put that part before the actual words said, and then you use a colon after ‘said’.
- Apostrophe ’ An apostrophe shows possession or ownership, so instead of saying ‘his book’, you say ‘Paul’s book’. You also use it for word contractions, so instead of do not, you write don’t. You therefore use an apostrophe in place of a letter which isn’t there.
- Quote marks “ ” and ‘ ’ Quote marks are used to show someone’s exact words, or in fiction you use it when someone speaks. It’s also used for quoted material in writing. In creative writing², you can use either single or double quotes, but make sure you are consistent throughout.
- Hyphen - Joins some compound words, or two separate words that should be read together as a single idea. It’s also used to signal a word break at the end of a line of text.
- Brackets [ ] Used to show words in a quote that wasn’t the speaker or writer’s original words. It can also be used to make a comment on the text, to correct an error or to fill in a missing or changed word. You see this frequently used in newspapers, when an editor wants to explain something the readers might not directly understand.
- Dash — It emphasizes words or phrases or is used to signal a change or a break in thought.
- Slash / A slash shows a choice, and it’s also sometimes used as a separator between lines of poetry.
- Ellipsis … An ellipsis indicates a pause or interruption, but it also shows that a statement is trailing off or unfinished. It’s also used to show where words have been omitted from a quotation.
Using proper punctuation in your writing shows the reader when to speed up the reading, or when to slow down. It helps them to follow your ideas and keeps them engaged.
ProWritingAid³ does a good job of showing where you need to add or remove a comma, or where sentence structures are clumsy.
Happy writing!
[1] When To Use And How To Format Dialogue In Your Stories — Sharing things I have learned during my over twenty years of reading and writing
[2] How To Capture Those Special Moments In Your Writing — Sharing special moments helps your reader to connect to your story
[3] Improve Your Writing With ProWritingAid (or Grammarly) — About using a proofreading tool while you’re busy writing
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