Tag Archives: Exclamation points

November 7, 2018 · 6:00 am

Power Punctuation Revisited #amwriting #NaNoWriMo

An interesting conversation occurred in one of the many writers’ forums I frequent on Facebook, a discussion of the use of the ‘interrobang’ in modern literature. When the discussion was over, several new-to-the-craft writers lay dead on the floor, and two editors were blue in the face.

Okay, the writers weren’t actually dead unless acute embarrassment is a terminal condition. (Give me a break—I’m an author, and I write fiction.) However, I’m pretty sure the editors were blue in the face.

Anyway, most editors agree that the interrobang is not an accepted form of punctuation for anything but comic books, manga, and possibly, text messages. I thought about writing a new post on the subject, but instead, I have decided to be environmentally friendly and recycle this perfectly good post from May of 2017.

Enjoy!

A little power is a dangerous thing, and certain punctuation has power.

Exclamation points!

Em dashes—

Ellipses…

These are all wonderful, fun things to play with, but making too free with the power punctuation makes the narrative too breathless, or in the case of ellipses, too slow.

When prose is well-written, it conveys the excitement of the moment without force. A good author doesn’t resort to creating excitement with the overuse of exclamation points as this makes the narrative feel frantic. It tells the reader what to think, rather than showing them a scene that is exciting.

When I am laying down the first draft, I am just as guilty of filling the manuscript with exclamations, em dashes, and ellipses as anyone. I am in a rush to get the ideas down on paper.

This is a subconscious shorthand for the second draft, which is where I take those telling scenes and show them.

I do a global search for exclamation points, ellipses, and em dashes. At each one, I examine the scene. Nine times out of ten, I reword it to show the action and change the power punctuation to a period. Many times I find the em dash or ellipsis was not needed.

Exclamation points, em dashes, and ellipses are like speech tags. They are necessary, but simplicity is the key to making them unobtrusive. Generally, dialogue worded powerfully, along with the way you visualize and then show the attitude of the characters and their situation will serve to convey the emotions.

When it’s done right, you will only need one or two morsels of power punctuation, and the punctuation you use won’t be a needle in the eye of the reader. The common, garden-variety period or comma will usually serve the situation well and won’t throw the reader out of the book.

All punctuation has its place and should be used appropriately. For the most part, the way you have set the scene combined with the dialogue itself will convey the tension without your having to sprinkle the narrative with power punctuation.

I suggest you do a global search and change most of them to a period.

But what about !? These mutant morsels of madness are called “interrobangs.”

Comic books frequently employ interrobangs, generally because the authors are limited on space for narrative and use creative punctuation as a shorthand. They do this as a way of telling the story.

It’s your narrative, so of course, you will do as you see fit. However, the exclamation point before a question mark is not accepted punctuation in literature of any genre but comic books, so don’t be surprised if you receive negative feedback in reviews. Interrobangs are a writing habit the professional writer will avoid if they want to be taken seriously.

Peppering the narrative with exclamation points and interrobangs is a form of telling the reader “this is exciting” as opposed to showing the excitement. We want to immerse the reader, not blow them out of the manuscript.

Power punctuation used too freely becomes a bludgeon, beating the reader with how exciting it all is.

A great resource for ideas on how to convey strong emotions without telling the reader what the character is feeling is The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi.

All sentences should have only one punctuation mark to signify the end. “Ahah!” you say. “What about the ellipsis?”

When the ellipsis falls at the end of the sentence, it should be three dots followed by the required punctuation.

If the ellipsis falls at the end of a sentence in dialogue, use a comma at the end of it followed by a speech tag. “But, my dog…,” Annie said, her brow furrowed.
If no speech tag is used, employ a period, question mark, etc. “But, my dog….” Annie’s brow furrowed.

**This is because the ellipsis at the end of a sentence symbolizes unspoken words, trailing off. The ellipsis is not punctuation.**

The em dash at the end of a sentence symbolized cut off words, so no punctuation is needed.

This is what the Chicago Manual of Style says:

Use an ellipsis for any omitted word, phrase, line, or paragraph from within a quoted passage. There are two commonly used methods of using ellipsis: one uses three dots for any omission, while the second makes a distinction between omissions within a sentence (using three dots: . . .) and omissions between sentences (using a period and a space followed by three dots: . …). An ellipsis at the end of a sentence with no sentence following should be followed by a period (for a total of four dots).

Once again, I emphasize that we use the Chicago Manual of Style as our grammar reference guide if we are writing fiction and intend to publish it. The Chicago Manual of Style is written specifically for writers, editors, and publishers and is the publishing industry standard. All the editors at the major publishing houses own and refer to this book when they have questions.

If you develop a passion for words and ways in which we bend them, as I have done, you could soon find your bookshelf bowing under the weight of your reference books. Writing is not a one-size-fits-all kind of occupation. No style guide will fit every purpose, but the Chicago Manual of Style comes closest.

However, some things are universal:

Exclamation points must be used sparingly.

Ellipses symbolize omitted words and are not punctuation, so when the conversation trails off, you must add ending punctuation. My God, I thought. What…?

Em dashes can either set off phrases—like this—or if used at the end of a sentence an em dash can indicate cut off words. Consider the following quote from A Dog’s Tale by Mark Twain. In this case, you do not add punctuation:

It did seem to me that life was just too lovely to—

You make the decision, but I see the interrobang and the overuse of the exclamation point as if they were too much seasoning. They are strong flavors that can ruin the taste of the narrative.

Sources and Attributions:

Power Punctuation by Connie J. Jasperson was first published here on Life in the Realm of Fantasy on May 17, 2017.

12 Comments

Filed under writer

Tagged as ellipsis, Exclamation points, interrobang, power punctuation, punctuation

May 17, 2017 · 6:45 am

#amwriting: Power Punctuation

A little power is a dangerous thing, and certain punctuation has power.

Exclamation points!

Em dashes—

Ellipses…

These are all wonderful, fun things to play with, but making too free with the power punctuation makes the narrative too breathless, or in the case of ellipses, too slow. When prose is well written, it conveys the excitement of the moment without force. A good author doesn’t resort to creating excitement with the overuse of exclamation points as this makes the narrative breathless. It tells the reader what to think, rather than showing them a scene that is exciting.

When I am laying down the first draft, I am just as guilty of filling the manuscript with exclamations, em dashes, and ellipses. I am in a rush to get the ideas down on paper, so in some places, this is a subconscious shorthand for the second draft, which is where I take those telling scenes and show them.

I do a global search for exclamation points, ellipses, and em dashes. At each one, I examine the scene. Nine times out of ten, I change the power punctuation to a period, or I find the em dash or ellipsis was not needed.

All punctuation has its place and should be used appropriately. Exclamation points, em dashes, and ellipses should be used, but only at important points. For the most part, the way you have set the scene combined with the dialogue itself will convey the tension without your having to sprinkle the narrative with power punctuation.

I suggest you do a global search and change most of them to a period.

But what about !? I only recently learned that these are called “interrobangs.” Comic books frequently employ interrobangs, generally because the authors are limited on space for narrative and use creative punctuation as a shorthand. They do this as a way of telling the story.

It’s your narrative, so of course, you will do as you see fit. However, the exclamation point before a question mark is not accepted punctuation in literature intended for adults, so don’t be surprised if you receive negative feedback in reviews. Interrobangs are a writing habit professional writers will avoid if they want to be taken seriously.

Peppering the narrative with exclamation points and interrobangs is a form of telling the reader “this is exciting”, as opposed to showing the excitement. We want to immerse the reader, not blow them out of the manuscript. A great resource for ideas on how to convey strong emotions without telling the reader what the character is feeling is The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi.

All sentences should have only one punctuation mark to signify the end. “Ahah!” you say. “What about the ellipsis?” When the ellipsis falls at the end of the sentence, it should be three dots followed by the required punctuation.

If the ellipsis falls at the end of a sentence in dialogue, use a comma at the end of it followed by a speech tag. “But, my dog…,” Annie said, her brow furrowed.
If no speech tag is used, employ a period, question mark, etc. “But, my dog….” Annie’s brow furrowed.

This is because the ellipsis or em dash at the end of a sentence symbolize unspoken words, trailing off. They are not considered punctuation.

This is what the Chicago Manual of Style says:

Use an ellipsis for any omitted word, phrase, line, or paragraph from within a quoted passage. There are two commonly used methods of using ellipsis: one uses three dots for any omission, while the second makes a distinction between omissions within a sentence (using three dots: . . .) and omissions between sentences (using a period and a space followed by three dots: . …). An ellipsis at the end of a sentence with no sentence following should be followed by a period (for a total of four dots).

Once again, I emphasize that we use the Chicago Manual of Style if we are writing fiction and intend to publish it. The Chicago Manual of Style is written specifically for writers, editors, and publishers and is the publishing industry standard. All the editors at the major publishing houses own and refer to this book when they have questions.

What is the best style guide for writing technical user manuals?

Chicago Manual of Style (The Chicago Manual of Style Online)
Microsoft Style for Technical Publication (Microsoft® Manual of Style, Fourth Edition)

Are you writing for a newspaper? AP style was developed for expediency in the newspaper industry and is not suitable for novels or for business correspondence, no matter how strenuously journalism majors try to push it forward. If you are using AP style, you are writing for the newspaper, not for literature. These are two widely different mediums with radically different requirements.

For business correspondence, you want to use the Gregg Reference Manual.

If you develop a passion for words and ways in which we bend them, as I have done, you could soon find your bookshelf bowing under the weight of your reference books. Writing is not a one-size-fits-all kind of occupation. There is no one style guide that will fit every purpose. Each essay and book may be meant for a different reader, and each should be written with the style that meets the expectations of the intended readers.

However, some things are universal:

Exclamation points must be used sparingly.

Ellipses symbolize omitted words and are not punctuation, so when the conversation trails off, you must add an ending punctuation. My God, I thought. What…?

Em dashes can either set off phrases—like this—or if used at the end of a sentence an em dash can indicate cut off words.

Consider the following quote from A Dog’s Tale by Mark Twain. In this case, you do not add punctuation:

It did seem to me that life was just too lovely to—

It is your task to write the narrative so that it shows the character’s emotions. Their eyes will widen, or their mouth will drop open, or they will stop and stare. When it comes to punctuation, do you tell, or do you show? You make the decision, but I see the interrobang and the overuse of the exclamation point as if they were too much seasoning, strong flavors that can ruin the the taste of the narrative.

Sources and Attributions:

15 Comments

Filed under writing

Tagged as ellipsis, em dash, Exclamation points, interrobang, power punctuation, writing craft

May 18, 2016 · 6:45 am

#amwriting: keyboard tics and power punctuation

When a friend phones us, we’re usually able to identify them from the sound of their voice. We take this for granted, accepting the singularity of each speaker, seeing their idiosyncratic speech habits as part of what makes them who they are.

We writers communicate through our fingers, keying our thoughts. Our readers can recognize our work because we each have a unique voice and pattern to our writing, not unlike our individual manner of speaking.

And just as we do when we are speaking, we may have ‘keyboard tics’ when writing the first draft of a given work. These small keying habits occur as a pause in our thoughts, a simple twitch of a finger, liberally sprinkling the work with hyphens, semicolons, and exclamation points, to the extent the work makes our first reader breathless.

These punctuations have their place, but when they are used excessively, they must be weeded out, and this is part of making effective revisions.

One good way to do this is to print out each chapter, one at a time. Use a blank page, and work your way from the bottom up, covering all above except the paragraph you are looking at.

When you go back and isolate each paragraph, removing the context, you can make a better determination of how you really want to punctuate those ideas. Eight times out of ten, a simple period or comma will better serve the sentences and make the paragraph less confusing.

Using semicolons to make strong pauses in your sentences is WRONG, so remove them and use a comma or a period. Use an emdash or a hyphen to set a clause off for emphasis, and an ellipsis to show uncertainty.

But don’t go nuts.

No one enjoys reading a choppy narrative because short sentences are distracting and hard to get into. The way we smooth the narrative is to join short sentences into longer, compound sentences, but frequently that creates run-on sentences. (I am the queen of those.)

You do not join independent clauses with commas as that creates a rift in the space/time continuum: the Dreaded Comma Splice:

Comma Splice: My car is a blue Chevy Malibu and I like it, the dog likes to ride shotgun.

Same thought, written correctly: My car is a blue Chevy Malibu, and I like it. The dog likes to ride shotgun.

So when do we use a semicolon? Semicolons join independent clauses, which are clauses that can stand alone, and your best bet is to avoid using them except under extreme duress.

The two clauses that are joined together with a semicolon should be

complete sentences that relate to each other
if they don’t relate to each other, make them separate sentences and reword them so they are not choppy.

Two separate ideas done wrong: We should go to the Dairy Queen; it’s nearly half past five.

The first sentence is one whole idea—they want to go somewhere. The second sentence is a completely different idea—it’s telling you the time.

Two separate ideas done right, assuming the mention of time is important: We should go to the Dairy Queen soon. They close at eight, and it’s nearly half past five.

If time is the issue in both clauses, and you feel like you absolute MUST use a semicolon or you will explode, say, “The Dairy Queen is about to close; it’s nearly half past five.”

I generally try to find alternatives to semicolons, but I don’t dislike them, as some editors do. I think they are too easily abused and misused.

But what about exclamation points! I get so excited when I see a plethora of pointy exclamations! It makes me breathless! Too many, and your reader will be thrown out of the narrative and put the book down, never to pick it up again.

We shouldn’t resort to creating excitement with the overuse of exclamation points. I am just as guilty as anyone when it comes to peppering the first draft with exclamations, em dashes, and ellipses, because a little power is a dangerous thing, and certain punctuation has power:

Exclamation points!

Em dashes—

Ellipses…

Never underestimate the power of the “e-punctuation,” and never forget how easy it is to get carried away with them.

Exclamation points, em dashes, and ellipses should be used at important points. For the most part, the way you have set the scene combined with the dialogue itself will convey the tension without your having to sprinkle the narrative with ‘e’ punctuation.

Generally, dialogue worded powerfully, along with the way you show the attitude of the characters and their situation will serve to convey the emotions. Done right, you will only need one or two morsels of power punctuation. The common, garden-variety period or comma will usually serve the situation well, and won’t throw the reader out of the book.

Power punctuation can inadvertently become keyboard tics when we are laying down the first draft. They are road marks to show us how we felt when we first expressed that thought and want to just get it down on paper before we forgot it. The second draft requires us to step back and craft the narrative so that we are not relying on these signs to tell the story.

We want to show the story with mood, atmosphere, and setting the scene. The words we choose for each character’s conversation conveys their emotions, as does the way you have portrayed them. Thus, power punctuation should be used, but sparingly and for emphasis.