The tiniest things can be so useful when you come to consider the nuts and bolts of writing. The comma is one of them. No, don't go away: it's a useful device that's often used badly -- or ignored altogether.
As an editor of books, I am forever sticking commas into other people's prose, having first of all had to work out what their sentence is trying to say. Many people are slapdash about comma use, and it can go down badly with a commissioning editor who is, say, looking at your approach letter and sample chapter and thinking, "Uh, oh. This one's going to give us problems. Where's that equally promising but better-presented proposal that will cost us far less in copy-editing fees?"
There are many useful punctuation and grammar tips in a downloadable book I co-wrote on how you can get yourself published very quickly, You Can Write Books (at www.youcanwritebooks.com), although its main focus is on how to get your work before a publisher. But here I'll deal with this one useful but sometimes overlooked little squiggle, and a few things that many writers neglect.
First, should be used in a list of items to break them up: pens, pencils, books, and paper. Should you use a comma before and in that list, though? Well, yes if you're, say, a North American; yes and no if you're British. This is called the list comma or serial comma (it is often called the Oxford comma, and is still used by Oxford University Press).
Many people say it's not necessary, because the word and in that sentence is doing the job the commas were doing earlier in the sentence. However, many writers of English throughout the world -- notably, as I said, in America -- like the serial comma, and insist on it. Most British writers, publishers, and newspapers don't bother with it, and so would write "writers, publishers and newspapers"; "pens, pencils, books and paper."
What should you do? Well, you choose a style and stick to it. Be consistent. Better still, you see which style your potential publisher uses, and go with that. That goes for all stylistic considerations. Don't forget: you're selling an idea to a publishing house, and anything you can do to impress them will go in your favor.
The comma is also very handy to separate two distinct clauses in a sentence, and this is where many writers ignore it. You'll see how I used it in the last sentence, after the word sentence. Not only does it give you a pause for breath (a mental breath if you're not reading aloud, of course), but often it can help the meaning.
Take this: "I passed the ball to Joe and Fred kicked it into the net." I passed the ball to Joe and Fred? No, I passed it to Joe, and then Fred came along and kicked it into the net. You get the meaning eventually, but why should I as writer give you, the reader, pause? If I'd written, "I passed the ball to Joe, and Fred kicked it into the net," you wouldn't even have blinked, because the meaning would have been immediately clear.
Or look at this sentence: "That day I went to the movies ..." could mean that on that particular day I went to the movies ("That day, I went to the movies") or that it was on the day I went to the movies that something else happened ("That day I went to the movies something else happened").
In the first pair of parentheses above, you'll see how the comma has been used to convey the first of the two possible meanings. But, if you miss it out, you're going to have your reader thinking you meant it the other way. If that's not your intention, make sure you use the comma.
A few final brief points, then, about the comma.
Commas come before quoted speech: "Joe said, 'Let's go and see a movie.'"
Commas come after a piece of quoted speech, before you say who's speaking: "'Let's go and see a movie,' said Joe."
Commas can be used in the way brackets are used: "My English teacher, Martha Moonbeam, gave me good marks this week." The commas here are known as bracketing commas, because they do the same work as parentheses (round brackets, like these) but in a "weaker" way.
Another example of bracketing commas would be, "The train, which was late leaving, made up for lost time." Don't miss off the second comma; many people do.
Commas separate adjectives in such sentences as, "It was a cold, damp, dreary sort of day." In this context, they're doing much the same work as in the list of items above, except that here we have adjectives, not nouns.
In one short article, you have, I hope, got to grips with this bit of occasionally troublesome but very useful punctuation. You may have been familiar with some of the things, anyway, but I hope that, if there were one or two concerns you weren't too sure about, this article has been of help.
Andrew John is co-author of You Can Write Books, a no-nonsense downloadable book from http://www.youcanwritebooks.com that will get you into print if you follow its advice. He and his co-author, Stephen Blake, have written more than a dozen print titles (details on http://www.youcanwritebooks.com). Both are writers and editors, and You Can Write Books is crammed with advice you can trust.
apartment cleaning near Highland Park ..As writers, we initially tend to be either more cerebral... Read More
Do you want to publish something? An article, a non-fiction... Read More
Arrogance has a bad rap. We think of arrogant people... Read More
In large publishing houses, many manuscripts penned by first-time authors,... Read More
Every morning I excitedly get out of bed. Just a... Read More
LATER, LATTERLater means afterwards; latter is the second of two... Read More
There is no doubt that a staff writer enjoys advantages... Read More
Regardless of what sort of writer you are and how... Read More
No one is born a novel writer. But do you... Read More
If you are looking for copywriter books, you'll want to... Read More
How many of you take the time to really write... Read More
FERRETING OUT WORK You keep hearing that there's work out... Read More
1. Turning your idea into a bookWith non-fiction books the... Read More
ESSAY 2Andre Malraux once said that what interested him in... Read More
Obtaining the skills for writing good business correpondence is important;... Read More
The first five pages of a novel are critical.Editors make... Read More
Beyond three and four act story structure, lies the Hero's... Read More
Do you have a problem creating a focus in your... Read More
ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It is a... Read More
The decision to publish a book is very exciting! It... Read More
Although he has his own website, John Grisham probably does... Read More
Short Story Writing Tips ?We all have different tastes in... Read More
Not long ago, I took stock of my unrealized desire... Read More
Connectors -- conjunctions, punctuation, and transitional phrases -- allow readers... Read More
Many writers write for the experience. Others dream of having... Read More
cleaning lady near Arlington Heights ..I went to school to be a teacher. In fact,... Read More
This article is to help identify which style, technique or... Read More
Freewriting is a release from the prison of rules. It... Read More
Your computer is a writing machine, a word processor, a... Read More
We've all been told that we need to use all... Read More
Whether you keep a separate spiritual journal or just want... Read More
So you've decided to crown yourself with a title that... Read More
One of the best ways to blow someone's winning streak... Read More
As you set out to create your first niche non-fiction... Read More
(Skip directly to ten for the fastest shortcut!)Like any field,... Read More
Maybe you should write a book! This is not as... Read More
I've just come back to work after nine glorious, sun-drenched... Read More
A friend and I were talking the other day about... Read More
ESSAYS ON AUTOBIOGRAPHY: NUMBER 1Preamble:Nearly seven years ago I wrote... Read More
Today Norm Goldman, Editor of sketchandtravel and bookpleasures is honored... Read More
It would be very selfless or noble of me to... Read More
No matter what you are writing, the first priority is... Read More
Mixing and mingling with industry professionals is an opportunity that... Read More
There is one key difference between reports and most other... Read More
Sometimes I can be dense when it comes to realizing... Read More
Don't they drive you nuts?You can visit all the rules... Read More
People familiar with the Myers-Briggs Personality test know that the... Read More
First drafts are for getting down the ideas. Anna Jacobs... Read More
Most writers are familiar with first and third points of... Read More
I owe the completion and success of my book to... Read More
Writing |