Blogging Tips

Punctuation: a small primer

Punctuation is important, sure, but it’s not a deal-breaker. For the most part, your readers probably don’t care whether you’re comma-crazed, like me, or writing marathon run-on sentences. Few people are studying closely to determine whether you should be using parentheses rather than dashes. Still, there are a few instances where something as small and boring as a punctuation mark can make or break your post.

The most exciting mark is, of course, the exclamation point. This gets overused a lot, especially in email. That’s because the exclamation point is the big dumb dog of the punctuation world; a sentence ending in an exclamation is a sentence that jumps and slobber all over you. It’s not clean or subtle, but at least the tone is unmistakable. You like me! You really like me! When you’re really crafting your sentences you’ll be able to convey your tone without the exclamation point, but we all have days where we’re just throwing a post together in a sloppy kind of way without worrying too much about how it looks. On those days, the exclamation point is a life saver. It conveys instant enthusiasm and sincerity without having to work for it.

On the opposite side of the spectrum are the semi-colon and colon. These are the dry professors of the punctuation world, but they, too, have their uses. For example: A post that’s all short sentences is boring. Your readers’ eyes will start to tire. Too many simple sentences give a staccato feel. Yet too many run-ons can be exhausting too. On the other hand, adding a semi-colon can introduce some variety to a paragraph; it allows you to string two sentences together, breaking up the line of simple sentences you had before.

Do you have further thoughts on these or other punctuation marks? Probably not, unless, like me, you are a giant grammar geek. But I encourage all you lurking geeks to throw down in the comments.

Written by Kris Larson from Carthage
Posted on January 3rd, 2008 and filed under Writing
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6 Responses to “Punctuation: a small primer”

Author comments are in a darker gray color for you to easily identify the posts author in the comments

Jessi says:

January 4, 2008 at 2:09 am

In formal writing, I’m obsessed with grammar/spelling/punctuation. In informal writing like my blog, I’m…well, obsessed with grammer/spelling/punctuation…but I try not to make it apparent. The ellipses are my friends. Dot-dot-dot. They’re not formal colons…or formal periods separating complete sentences. They’re just “dot-dot-dots” that keep my writing flowing….in a pathetic manner, of course, but still!
webmaster tutorials says:

January 4, 2008 at 2:57 am

fantastic blog! i really enjoyed reading your article. that blew me away! I think you addressed it perfectly; Excellent stuff. you said absolutely right, the exclamation point gets overused a lot nowadays. i like that line you said, “Punctuation is important, sure, but it’s not a deal-breaker.” Truely awesome. keep posting:)
Josh Spaulding says:

January 4, 2008 at 1:23 pm

My grammar leaves much to be improved. Mainly because I was interested in everything but school work.

I agree most people don’t worry too much about it, but it’s something many of us do need to improve. I learned a few rules here Thanks.
Jansie Blom says:

January 5, 2008 at 3:44 pm

i’m trying to be a punctuation geek. it bothers me that people don’t write properly. and i include myself in that. so i’m trying to become more expert at writing for the web. thanks, great post.

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