More snow but it doesn't matter to me-- I'm chained to the laptop trying to finish up a paid job editing a novel before plunging into the weekly critiques for my class.
This writer is especially addicted to exclamation points and I am slashing ruthlessly. Wanting a little backup for my slaughter, I turned to the internet and found these gems:
No more than 2 or 3 in 1oo,oo words. --Well, I wasn't quite that ruthless.
Using an exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke. -- Yep, you need to make the joke funny enough that you don't have to laugh. And you need to make the sentence exciting/compelling enough that the reader doesn't need you jabbing them in the ribs with an exclamation point.
And my personal favorite-- Use exclamation points sparingly! It's like wearing underpants on your head.
7 comments:
Love that saying.
Your sculpted birds know exactly what you're saying, and I admit to loving those exclamation points in my comments...but only one at a time. Just one on every sentence. Oh dear. What a life I have wearing underpants on each end!
The rule is for written prose for adults. I think exclamation points are quite necessary in email and other e communication--including comments! You can take those underpants off your head, Barb!
Yes, in blog commenting you must have access to exclamation marks because it's like we're talking to each other. Right? Yes!
You're right, Vicki -- e-communication needs whatever it takes to convey tone of voice: emoji or old-guard emoticons, careful choice of words, and, yes, punctuation. Punctuation is in essence like a combination of stage directions and musical notation: generally, comma = very slight rise in pitch on the preceding word or syllable, followed by a pause; full stop = slight lowering of pitch, longer pause; question mark = rise in pitch, longer pause, and so on. Judicious use of such markers turns a series of comments into a conversation.
Up to three exclamation points in a row to indicate one is thoroughly outraged or gobsmacked is my rule, but in any case no more than three in the course of the comment. Believe me, if I go beyond three exclamation marks in a row, my outrage is such that I am not safe to be around. ;)
Time to review rules of punctuation especially since I started to use two question marks in a row in comments from time to time...
Comments and email and such are entirely different beasts from printed prose--no rules, or at least, fewer rules!!!!! I've read that younger people consider the use of periods in text messages as a kind of micro-aggression. Who knew?
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