All Write - Fiction Advice

Part 1 covered exclamation marks, semi-colons, em-dashes, ellipses and question marks. This week we’ll look at commas, quote marks, hyphens and apostrophes. The comma, like the exclamation mark, is probably the most misused of all punctuation marks. While full stops (periods) end a sentence, commas can highlight an extremely short pause within the narrative, they can separate clauses or they can separate items in a list of three or more. Commas also help join two independent clauses with a conjunction, which are necessary if you start a sentence with a dependent clause. Beginners often misuse commas by placing them in the wrong place within sentences, using them incorrectly or by not using them at all.   The following examples show correct use: ' You know, I figured that was going to happen.’   (Signifies short pause). She collected mint, sage, oregano and parsley.   (Separates items in a list). One common result of incorrect comma use is the comma splice....

Punctuation is one of those things that writers pay less attention, mainly because they’re too busy worrying about the more technical aspects of writing, like descriptions, plot twists, subplots and so on. But punctuation is important. Whether it’s full stops, commas, quote marks, exclamations, question marks, dashes, semicolons, apostrophes or ellipsis – they should all be presented correctly, otherwise reading and understanding the narrative might become difficult and not worth the reader’s time. The moment a reader has to stop and re-read something to figure out what the writer is trying to say is the moment the storytelling breaks. Writing relies on the right punctuation to make it effective . It shouldn’t distract or render the writing ambiguous or unclear, but instead it should emphasise , create attention and help bring the fiction to life. More importantly, it should make the writing clear and understandable. Perfect punctuation requires a broad knowledge of how wr...