Tips for Punctuation?

Grievous

Hey Guys,

I am looking for tips for punctuation.

This is an area I fail in every time I write something. I was even thinking of doing a part-time night course just to brush up on the technical side of writing because I feel punctuation is holding me back a lot lately.

What tips or rules do you guys use or apply when writing a piece?

Thanks.

EileenG

Keep it simple. End sentences with a full stop, put a comma where you would naturally pause if you were reading aloud, put quote marks around speech, don't get fancy.

Not being sure if you should use a colon or semi-colon is not a big deal. You're allowed a few personal quirks, as long as they don't distract the reader from your story.

Cadiz

Hi G, there's a book called Elements of Style by Strunk & White.

Takes in grammar and punctuation and good writing style and it's really nicely written (well you'd hope wouldn't you ).

Lynne Truss's Eats Shoots, Leaves might help either (though haven't used myself).

Things to get right might simple things like apostrophe placement, eg. the notorious misuse of the possessive (see all over boards!).

Do a spellcheck, but also print out and do a thorough hard copy check, not just on screen. Good dictionary, good Thesaurus - essential kit.

EileenG

Should have said that. Badly places apostrophes can confuse some readers and tend to annoy most of them. Luckily, the rules are easy to learn, so it's not a big deal.

Grievous

Cadiz wrote: »

Hi G, there's a book called Elements of Style by Strunk & White.

Thanks Eileen and Cadiz.

Yeah Stephen King talks about the above book in his own book *ON WRITING* Which I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to be a writer.

Cadiz

Yeah Stephen King talks about the above book in his own book *ON WRITING* Which I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to be a writer.[/QUOTE]

Ooh I keep meaning to check that out