Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [punctuation]

The correct and appropriate usage of punctuation.

Questions about the correct and appropriate usage of punctuation. These usages may vary according to culture and geography. Covers not just "what do I use here?" but "how do I punctuate this so it's clear?"

311 questions
87
votes
10 answers

Should an emoji come before or after a full-stop?

When I make a hilarious joke on social media it's easy to put an emoji/emoticon/smiley on the end. But sometimes I want to set the context and make a more reasoned argument over a paragraph or so. I might put something funny in the middle . Should…
Mat
  • 849
  • 1
  • 6
  • 5
77
votes
10 answers

The Good, the Bad, and the Semicolon

I completed my novel and an editor friend graciously offered to assist me with formatting. As a former scientist, I am more familiar with technical or academic writing, so formatting fiction can be a challenge. My friend stripped out my semicolons…
Richard Stanzak
  • 2,660
  • 1
  • 16
  • 30
33
votes
4 answers

Dashes vs. Commas vs. parentheses?

Occasionally I write sentences containing subparts with extra information. I never know how to block off this information from the rest of the sentence. Three ways I have seen are dashes, commas, and parentheses. For example: When Bilbo sat down…
Wolf's Dilemma
  • 491
  • 1
  • 6
  • 7
23
votes
5 answers

When writing an error prompt, should we end the sentence with a exclamation mark or a dot?

When writing an error prompt, should we end the sentence with a exclamation mark or a dot? I am writing an application for iPhone and I have some error prompt in my application like "Your password must be 8 character long with alphanumeric…
user36239
22
votes
3 answers

Do you bold punctuation directly after bold text?

Do you bold punctuation directly after bold, linked or italic text?
GiantCowFilms
  • 323
  • 1
  • 3
  • 9
21
votes
3 answers

Why am I getting a strange double quote (“) in Open Office instead of the ordinary one (")?

Why am I getting a strange double quote (“) in Open Office instead of the ordinary one (")? Every time I type the double quote, I get the weird version instead of the ordinary one. How do I get the normal one instead when I type it? Is there a way…
user36239
19
votes
8 answers

How to show a brief hesitation around a word

When we speak, there are often small pauses between syntactic units such as sentences. In writing, these pauses are signified by punctuation: I can come if you want. (without pause) I can come, if you want. (with brief pause) I can come. If you…
user5645
17
votes
8 answers

How many commas is too many?

I find myself often in writing using too many commas, but then going through and editing many of them back out again or restructuring to use full-stops. Is there a rule of thumb I've forgotten from my school days (English language was never pushed…
Neil Barnwell
  • 279
  • 1
  • 2
  • 7
17
votes
5 answers

Eliminating the Dash in Prose Writing

I have been accused — shock, horror — of using the dash (the one that indicates a three-quarters pause) too much in my fiction. Thing is — I quite like the effect (the space inserted in sentences by the slightly extended pause) it has on my writing…
robertcday
  • 7,773
  • 27
  • 76
16
votes
8 answers

How much leeway can be expected from an editor regarding my preference for nonstandard punctuation?

As I hope to present a unique style to the world, as I am not especially tolerant of being told I'm doing things "wrong" when that's a subjective statement related to writing style, and as I've never been published, I'd like to understand what to…
QuickerSnarkerBacker
  • 495
  • 2
  • 10
14
votes
6 answers

Are modern authors still using colons and semicolons in dialogue?

Not sure if it's just my idea but I rarely see colons and semicolons in dialogue (especially in modern novels). Is it because they don't simulate normal speech? Because their use is more a semantic one? If I'm wrong, could you please give me some…
wyc
  • 12,457
  • 21
  • 67
  • 128
12
votes
4 answers

En vs em dash and the one on the keyboard

The dash provided on my laptop keyboard (-) is always marked as a spelling mistake in my Word document, no matter how I choose to use it. This is the dash right next to the 0 on the line of numbers keys. When I right-click on the 'mistake', it…
Gemma H
  • 121
  • 4
12
votes
4 answers

Proofreading a novel: is it okay to use a question mark with an exclamation mark - "?!"

Is it ever acceptable to use an exclamation mark following a question mark? I am proofreading a novel and have been instructed to make no stylistic changes, only errors that impede sense/clarity. The copy-editing phase is complete, so if something…
user753711
  • 135
  • 1
  • 6
12
votes
2 answers

Ending a line of dialogue with "?!": Allowed or obnoxious?

A dialogue of mine contains the following sentence: "You fired all three of them?!" Trouble is, I'm not sure I've ever seen a novel that used a question mark and an exclamation point together - it's something I normally see in comic strips and the…
user36961
11
votes
2 answers

Overuse of bullet points

I collaborate with someone who insists on making every sentence (or two) in a business document into a bullet point, by prefacing it with a bullet. This is typically done across a multi-page document, which is divided into sections with section…
Conor
  • 213
  • 2
  • 4
1
2 3
…
20 21