Lewis' Book of Reviews and Writing Advice

God help the Comma find it's PROPER Home

Greetings, Ink jars, Professor Lewis here. Today we shall be discussing an old friend called Punctuation. Does he sound familiar? To give you a hint, I'll provide the Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition:

Punctuation: the marks (such as periods and commas) in a piece of writing that make its meaning  clear and that separate it into sentences, clauses, etc.

Remember him now, dear Ink Jars? Some of you may not have ever heard of this magical subject. In truth, this can make or break your writing! It assists you in creating a strong voice. Your punctuation (or lack there of) can either pull readers in or push them away.

So when should you use punctuation? Well, first there is the Comma. I, personally, use commas WAY too often. Basically, a comma goes anywhere you pause. If you're not sure where this is, then read your sentences out loud and hear where your voice stops. There are these things called "Sentence Openers." They are my best friends. I use these all the time. Here are examples from words in this very paragraph.  

EXAPLES:

Well, first there is the comma.

I, personally, use commas WAY too often.

Basically, a comma goes anywhere you pause.

If you're not sure where this is, read your sentences out loud.

The "Sentence Openers" are the words in bold in front of the commas. What happens when you backspace all of the bold words? The sentences sound fine, don't they? These openers only add extra fluff--as I call it.

NOTE: If you're writing a project for school or a professional paper, you want to have a wide variety of different openers--or none at all. Sometimes, it is more professional and straighter to the point without them.

Remember when writing, you are technically speaking into your reader's head. Here's an example of lack of comma use. See what it does to the sentence:

"When I woke up I ate food went to school and had an okay day but the whole time I was looking forward to coming home and watching movies with my dad who finally got home from a business trip."

It seems a bit ranty and long doesn't it?

Next is the period. You cannot hear me, Ink Jars, but I am sighing here. Seriously, ALWAYS use periods! Please. If you are unaware, this "." is a period. Become best buds and never fall apart. These are to be placed at the end of sentences--at the end of THOUGHTS.

EXAMPLE OF LACK OF PERIOD:

"I went to the store it was fun I bought food and I said greetings to my friends that I ran into they were in Florida with their friends."

Do NOT do this to your innocent readers!!!

This leads me to emotion signs: Question marks (?) and Exclamation points (!).

Exclamation points are extra symbols which are placed (in the spot where the period normally goes) at the end of sentences to add more emotion.

EXAMPLE WITH EXCLAMATION SYMBOL:

"I can't believe Karen ate all that food!"

EXAMPLE WITHOUT EXCLAMATION:

"I can't believe Karen ate all that food."

The second seems duller, does it not?

Question marks, on the other hand, are not necessarily "extra." They are something you MUST use whenever the sentence you are phrasing is a question.

Then there are parenthesis ()! I have always like parenthesis actually. They are set appropriately in your sentence so that you can insert more information.

NOTE: You must ALWAYS make sure that you can read the sentence through normally with and WITHOUT the inserted text. 

EXAMPLE WITH PARENTHESIS:

"Exclamation points are extra symbols which are placed (in the spot where the period normally goes) at the end of sentences to add more emotion."

See how that works? It can be really difficult, but fun!

Then there's this thing: ";" The semicolon. I must admit, I avoid this thing like the plague because I have no idea when to use it and I'm always afraid the writing community will attack me and the grammar Nazis will take away my "Grammar Nazi" badge for using it in the wrong context. Perhaps there is nothing to me scared of, but still... Apparently, this strange device is supposed to go in between to statements which could technically be their own sentences, but you want to combine them for some unapparent reason. I'm not going to give an example--you know why.

Now there's this little buddy: " ' " He goes in your words when you are expressing possession generally:

EXAMPLES:

That blanket is HER'S.

That car is JASON'S.

The great debate (at least for me) arises when faced with "It's." It's is actually a contraction--which means two words put together--between "It" and "Is." So how in this world of Ink do you describe possession for poor "It?" Well, you simply write: "Its."

EXAMPLE:

That is its bone

Another time that people use him in a way that annoys me is with names ending in "S" like: James. Most people would write: "James's" which is acceptable, but it drives me INSANE. I prefer to write it this way: "James'." Look at how simple and beautiful that is!

Now here's my favorite type of punctuation (we don't know why): "--" The line! Oh, the lovely line, Ink Jars!!! I use it very often. It can serve like parenthesis or as an end of the statement add-on!

EXAMPLE:

(When it's like parenthesis): "Steve's full name--though he doesn't like me to give it out--is Stephanopoulos."

(When it's an add-on statement): "Steve's full name is Stephanopoulos--though he doesn't like me to give it out."

It can also be used at the end of dialog to show someone being cut off.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter on Punctuation/grammar. Hopefully, I've provided some helpful tips.

Your faithful writer, Professor Lewis