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fandom_grammar is not enough for me and my passion for punctuation explodes from my face (beware projectile commas). There are also times when I read a few fics in a row that have no conception of how to punctuate for pauses, and that vexes me.So, today you all are suffering through a lesson on punctuation for pauses.
Lesson 1: Periods end sentences.
Periods signal the end of a complete sentence. A complete sentence—for those who need the reminder—is a complete thought with a subject and a predicate, or (boiling it down even more) a noun/pronoun and a verb. Complete sentences include:
- Daniel kind of ran.
Sirius transfigures the table and falls asleep.
Notice that each complete thought ends with the proper terminal punctuation that signifies the end of the sentence.
These are NOT complete sentences:
- Daniel kind of. Ran.
Sirius transfigures the table and. Falls asleep?
These are not complete sentences because Daniel kind of doesn't have a verb; it's not a complete thought even. A complete sentence should tell you what Daniel is doing. Sirius transfigures the table and is also not a complete sentence because it isn't a complete thought. Sirius transfigures isn't even a complete sentence because "transfigure" is a transitive verb, which means that it needs an object. In this sentence the object is the table. So a complete sentence is Sirius transfigures the table. However, and is a conjunction, which means that it joins two thoughts together. Unless your point is to prompt further explanation with the sarcastic "And?" you cannot end a sentence with and.
Lesson 2: How to pause.
There are two ways to punctuate a pause in the middle of the sentence—use an ellipsis or use an em dash.
- Daniel kind of . . . ran.
This example is showing a hesitation in defining the way Daniel is moving. The narrator is struggling to find the right word and finally settles. That hesitation is shown through the ellipsis—a piece of punctuation that doesn't end a sentence but conveys a pause.
- Sirius transfigures the table and . . . falls asleep?
Sirius transfigures the table and—falls asleep?
The ellipsis works in this sentence as well, but I would encourage the use an an em dash here. Why, you may ask. Because an em dash signals a change in direction. An ellipsis is very specifically used to designate an omission or pause, whereas an em dash symbolizes a break in thought. Originally this sentence would probably have been a statement and ended in a period, however, when the narrator saw Sirius fall asleep, he was surprised and the end of his sentence became a question. Since there was a change in direction in the middle of the sentence, an em dash is more likely to be the appropriate punctuation here.
In Summary
Punctuation is efficient. It's short-hand for the author's intended meaning. And while Daniel kind of. Runs. does get across the intended pause, it ignores the fact that there is a piece of punctuation that would convey this inflection, and it misuses the period, signaling an end of a sentence that isn't a sentence.
In short: Don't abuse punctuation!
Also, I provided a very nice write up on punctuating pauses at
fandom_grammar last November.
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Comments
So.
Bloody.
Confused.
am kidding, btw. smushes you
well, maybe I am curious about your answer to the end of a sentence thingTherefore, you should now know what to do. . . .
Misused punctuation drives. Me. Crazy.
While I'm good with that in netspeak, it doesn't belong in prose. I'm willing to let someone get away with that in the safety of dialogue because dialouge is just different, but narration should be smoother and properly punctuated. There are very, very few times that I can think of in which improper punctuation or grammar should be used in narration.
Plus, this also means the same thing: Misused punctuation drives—me—crazy.
Hmm . . . or maybe just italics:
Misused punctuation drives me crazy.
Or something more stylistic with a colon:
Misused punctuation: Drives. Me. Crazy.
(I could get behind that as a one-line paragraph.)
Actually I think the only "proper" way to punctuate it is:
Misused punctuation drives . . . me . . . crazy!
And "Hi!" by the way. :)
I don't always like stylistic devices and they are inappropriately used, not to mentioned overused too often, but I've come across two examples of that full-period stop which were so effective that I set aside the usual reaction to its unorthodox usage. I've also come across a handful of examples of incomplete clauses used as full sentences which had a very powerful impact. Admittedly, the exceptions are rare and the overuse lessens the effect.
Unfortunately, I was never really taught much about dashes.
If the ellipses came at the end of a sentence, it was necessary to include a period, something no one seems to do these days.
This is true and is what I explained to
Em dashes are for parenthetical clauses, but like parenthetical clauses that are set off by commas, you don't need a second one to "close" the clause if the sentence is ending.
Abrupt closing breaks were indicated by endashes or two hyphens.
This is something I need to research. The only time I've actually seen an en dash used is for a span like "5–10."
Also, generally it's accepted in American that 2 hyphens make an em dash and most people ignore the en dash. (Thankfully I can make them both on my computer. YAY!)
Admittedly, the exceptions are rare and the overuse lessens the effect.
The exceptions are quite rare and mostly I just want people to punctuate correctly. I think the real driving force is that people don't understand what punctuation means and why it's so important. Once they understand what their punctuation is saying, I think they'll know how to use it effectively.
I use different style-guides depending on to whom I'm sending queries: Chicago, NYTimes or -- very rarely -- Webster for American markets, Canadian Gage or Canadian Oxford for the publishers in my country, Oxford for British Commonwealth or English publications abroad. Different editors and copy editors have their own preferences, so if I don't know, I usually email or phone to find out.
One thing I was discussing with an editor on my f-list was about how grammar, punctuation and spelling are habitual and memorized, and the habit-forming aspects get confused or, perhaps, re-oriented because of the internet. With so many different practices, all perfectly correct in the country of origin for the writer, the imprints tend to change. Then there are just flat-out mistakes but, because the memory is imprinted by common usage, they become absorbed into normalcy. The multi-stop sentence ending is a good example.
I wrote a story for a giftfic exchange, and because I use a lot of parenthetical clauses and broken sentences to indicate broken thoughts, it had many em dashes and en dashes. As usual, I used the series of hyphens to replace them. My American-trained beta, who was also the moderator of the community, replaced them with proper em dashes and en dashes. Unfortunately, she posted them in the livejournal community in the plaintext window, where they all defaulted to single hyphens. So there were dozens of places in the story which should have been marked with em dashes that became riddled with very strange compound words. That is why I use hyphens instead of dashes.
I hate you STOP
Just. Occasionally? Not. Often?
*runs*
Also, I was interviewing for a job today, and the guy asked about serial commas!! I tried not giggle out loud. :)
That is giggle worthy. Serial commas are awesome.