Punctuation Promises

Have you ever left out a comma in the wrong place,

Ever use and exclamation mark wrong!

Punctuation promises to bring our writing to a new level when used properly. So often I see people trying to use colons where semi-colons should be; quotation marks when no one is speaking, and periods where comma’s should be and vice-versa.

I try and tell them (the writer) to bring your cleanest work to the table and don’t hand me a piece where I need to line critique your work to bits. I am no grammar queen by any means, but I do try and bring my full knowledge into anything I’m going to post and have others look at for me.

Granted even the best of us make mistakes and sometimes it takes someone else's eyes to see something that we missed. I’m not talking about minor faux pas, I’m talking, “Where did you go to school at?” kind of work.

Grammar is easy for some of us, harder on others as many people live in different countries and English is their second or third language. I have to say this though, if you’re going to write for American magazines then you will need to hone the craft of the English grammar and punctuation.

Why let someone else do your work for you?

I think I’ll save all my line-by-line critiques for when I become an editor (read between the words here; when I start getting PAID to line crit.). But on the plus side, it has definitely been a learning experience. I have Writer’s Village University to thank for that.

Why am I telling all of you, my readers, this? Because I want you to tighten up your work! I want you to bring your best work forward. Do your homework on honing a skill, a craft, an art.

A semicolon is to join related independent clauses in a compound sentence.

Mary and Jody were on the team together; Jody was the better of the two players.

A colon may be used for many different things. Mainly listing items is a clue that you need a colon instead of a semicolon.

Mary and Jody were undecided which team to join: The Mavericks, The Beatles or the Birds.

Use question marks when ASKING a question. Exclamation marks when you want to add emphasis to a statement! A period when a statement ends.

I could go on and on with a grammar class here but for now, I’ll let you do your own homework and make use of the links to the left on grammar. They are there to help and assist you in becoming more educated in the field of writing.

So what are you waiting for?