Punctuation, Spelling, Grammar and All That Stuff - Why Bother?

There may be some people out there who think that getting the punctuation, grammar and spelling right doesn't matter. There are editors to do all that stuff, aren't there? And no one really cares about it - what really matters is the story or the ideas.

The current reality is that publishers are looking for manuscripts that are pretty much ready to go to press. The days of an editor laboriously working their way through a manuscript with the author have long gone. Yes, an amazing story or a stunning idea will make it through regardless of the quality of the presentation, but that's going to be true for only the most fabulous of tales. If an editor has a choice between two manuscripts of roughly equal story quality they'll choose the one which requires least work.

And people do care. The most common complaint about self published work is the quality of the editing. People don't like reading work with poor punctuation, spelling, grammar etc and they can, and do, complain. It doesn't matter how wonderful the story telling is if no one gets beyond the first few pages.

I think it's like dressing up to go to some amazing party. You've dressed incredibly carefully in your best clothes, then just before leaving you nip to the loo and set off with your skirt tucked up in your knickers/flies undone and shirt sticking out.

Finally, what does poorly presented work say about your attitude? It's easy enough to employ a copy editor, although the more mistakes there are, the more expensive it is. With luck you can find a friend who'll do it for you for free/alcohol/favours.

Either way, you have to try to make your work as perfect as possible. If you can't be bothered to make sure your work is the best it can be, then why should anyone else be bothered?

Full Stops, Commas, Colons and Semi-Colons

It depends on your education, but the chances are, the younger you are, the shakier your grasp on the finer points of using the following punctuation marks: full stops, commas, colons and semi-colons; not necessarily because educational standards have slipped, but rather that they've changed emphasis.

(Goodness I had to work hard to fit them all in there.)

Here is a really rough guide - if you want/need something better, try The Elements of Style by Strunk and White or Brilliant Writing Tips for Students by Julia Copus.

Punctuation is really all about common sense and breathing. Common sense comes into play because you're trying to make what you write comprehensible and the longer and more convoluted your sentences, the harder they are to understand. Breathing is about how we speak because punctuation should follow our speech patterns.

When I'm working as an RLF Fellow I find many students whack in colons and semi-colons because they think it makes them look more intelligent if they have lots of long, long sentences that go on and on to the point of incomprehension. Trouble is, it doesn't make them look intelligent, just waffly and confused. I reckon you can write a whole book without using colons and semi-colons - and have proved that more than once - so most of the time you don't need to use them. But if you must...

Colons (:) often have a list following them, as in the following

...using the following punctuation marks: full stops, commas, colons...

Semi-colons (;) indicate a sentence fragment that can't stand on its own two feet and needs to hang around with a bigger, badder sentence to make sense. So,

Not necessarily because educational standards have slipped, but rather that they've changed.

doesn't make sense standing on its own, it needs the previous part of the sentence to prop it up.

...the shakier your grasp on the finer points of using the following punctuation marks: full stops, commas, colons and semi-colons; not necessarily because educational standards...

Commas (,) are used when you naturally take a little breath, for example between items on a list, and full stops are when you've come to the end of that thought. Say the following out loud, and you'll find yourself going up at the end of each item of shopping (=comma) and going down at the end (=full stop).

I went shopping and I bought an apple, a banana, an orange and a pencil.

I have a habit of using what is technically called the Oxford comma (also known as a Harvard comma - I only hang out at the poshest of universities you know). If you look at the opening paragraph again I've put a comma in-between 'education' and 'but'

It depends on your education, but the chances are...

Not wrong, but it would read more easily without the comma, especially as there are more commas coming up in the rest of the paragraph.

It depends on your education but the chances are...

Sometimes you need the extra comma for the sentence to read clearly -

I dedicate this book to my children, Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck.

Are my children called Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck? An Oxford comma would make it clear that my children aren't called Minnie and Donald and I'm a Disney fan.

I dedicate this book to my children, Minnie Mouse, and Donald Duck.

Full stops (.) indicate the end of a sentence. I recommend my RLF students put in lots of full stops as two shorter sentences usually aid comprehension and make their work appear more confident and authoritative compared to one long sentence. It is not always desirable. It can make work appear abrupt. Or even, it is not always desirable as it can make work appear abrupt, but I'm sure you get the point. The opening paragraph to this post would undoubtedly read better if it wasn't one long sentence.

It depends on your education. The chances are the younger you are, the shakier your grasp on the finer points of using punctuation marks such as full stops, commas, colons and semi-colons. This is not necessarily because educational standards have slipped, but rather that they've changed emphasis.

Two extra full stops added, one Oxford comma, one colon, one semi-colon deleted, and I think it reads more easily. I am, of course, expecting to be inundated with comments saying I've got it wrong but until then,

Happy Easter everyone!

The Importance of Punctuation II

There's more than one "right answer", but here are two versions. The love letter: Dear John, I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we are apart. I can be forever happy - will you let me be yours? Gloria The ending it letter: Dear John, I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people who are not like you. Admit being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men I yearn. For you I have no feelings whatsoever. When we are apart I can be forever happy. Will you let me be? Yours, Gloria

The Importance of Punctuation I

I came across this from Anna Reynolds, a fellow RLF Fellow and thought it might be a fun exercise for the weekend.

Put punctuation into the following to make it first a love letter, then an ending it letter.

Dear John I want a man who knows what love is all about you are generous kind thoughtful people who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior you have ruined me for other men I yearn for you I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart I can be forever happy will you let me be yours Gloria

Punctuation - as Natural as Breathing?

Punctuation. If you went to school before 1970 you're probably fine with it, but somewhere it got lost in education and it matters. Why?

a) it follows the rhythm of speech so indicates when to pause etc.

b) it makes your writing clear and easy to read.

c) you look as if you're lazy, careless or stupid if there are lots of punctuation mistakes. Sorry, but that's true. And especially so if the reader was educated before 1970, because poor punctuation screams off the page.

d) editors and agents are looking for reasons to discard your work and poor punctuation gives them an excuse.

Sorry, but you just have to learn it! Especially if you're being picked up on it all the time. Get a good book eg Strunk and White. And if you can't be bothered to learn, then find yourself a good line editor, a friend who will delight in fixing your punctuation before you send your work out. They are around.

In student work I notice a lot of mistakes around dialogue.

'Speech and the punctuation pertaining to the speech stays WITHIN the quotes,' she said.

'But the sentence is completed by the "she said" so the full stop comes after that.' He paused, thinking he'd got a capital H because this was starting a new action, that of pausing, after he'd finished his previous action of speaking, which therefore merited the full stop.

'The same is true even if the dialogue is finished with an exclamation mark!' she added. 'Or a ?' she continued, bossily.

Another common error is putting in commas when they should be full stops and vice versa. Think about how you speak when reading aloud. A full stop comes when you take a proper breath, commas are just the briefest of pauses. Or, think about what happens when you read out a list. Try reading this out:

'I went shopping and I bought a cat, a mouse, a bit of cheese, two tomatoes and a potato.'

If you listen you can hear your voice goes up slightly at the end of each word that's separated by the comma, and down when it comes to the end with the full stop. Punctuation is actually quite logical, it's not arbitrary sets of rules sent to try us.

(BTW I could have gone for a ; in that sentence instead of the comma as they are two complete sentences in themselves, linked by a common thought. And if I was speaking, I'd have a slightly longer pause between the two than you'd usually have with a comma pause.) Note full stop within the brackets as it's a complete sentence/thought within itself.

Punctuation shows us how people are speaking, where they are breathing, what the emphasis is, where the rhythm is. That's why it's important. And you don't want to look lazy, careless or stupid either, do you?