Writing Tips

CHAPTER ONE: Punctuation :)

Punctuation is one of the most important things when it comes to writing. If you have shabby punctuation, then your readers will probably get annoyed with you because you didn't edit enough or whatever. 

Commas are important. Commas are really important. Commas are really, really important.

In a long sentence, or a long description, or anything, commas are important. If you don't use commas, it will sound like your rambling and kinda crazy, and your readers will run out of mental breath trying to read it all in one go.

For example, if you don't use commas, it will sound something like this. 

She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords) the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man) and the climbing wall which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently dropped boulders sprayed lava and clashed together if you didn't get to the top of the wall fast enough.

Okay, that actually wasn't that bad, because of the parentheses, (parenthesi??) but trust me, you don't want to forget the commas. Because it sounds so much better when you include them.

She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords), the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man), and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top of the wall fast enough.

See? Doesn't that sound better? Don't you get less out-of-breathy? Doesn't that sound so much better? So I guess reread what you write.

Added bonus: I've seen some people adding commas,then not putting a space in between. It's a minor mistake, but it makes me itch to put a space in between, like this.

                                                                                                                                👆

Now, let's talk about periods.

Periods go at the end of sentences. I'm pretty sure you already knew that, but, you know, just making sure.

Periods are also another punctuation mark that's extremely important. 

For example, a paragraph without periods:

She nodded, staring down at her new accessory the wide band had a single teal jewel set into the front, a smooth gray rectangle on the back, and intricate symbols etched all around she blinked when she realized they were letters letters that spelled out gibberish which seemed like an odd way to decorate a bracelet but what wasn't odd about this world?

(I did PJO last time so I did KotLC this time hehe)

A paragraph with periods:

She nodded, staring down at her new accessory. The wide band had a single teal jewel set into the front, a smooth gray rectangle on the back, and intricate symbols etched all around. She blinked when she realized they were letters. Letters that spelled out gibberish. Which seemed like an odd way to decorate a bracelet but what wasn't odd about this world?

And yes, you probably already knew how important periods were. But that was merely a demonstration to how important other punctuation marks are.

So yes, punctuation is essential. Periods are essential. Commas are essential.

Now, I want to talk about exclamation points.

You don't want to use them too much, unless that's your writing style.

If you use exclamation points too much, your characters will sound a little childish! And that would be bad! Unless they're six years old!

In random sentences with zero dialogue, you would probably use little to no exclamation points. But in dialogue, you would use them a lot more. 

Just not too much. Never too much.

So like I said, exclamation points for dialogue. But use them strictly for when your character is surprised, yelling, crying, exclaiming, (duh) etc., etc.,

And I'm pretty sure I don't need to talk about question marks.

So... yeah. That's my take on punctuation. I hope this helps! 

              (appropriate place to use exclamation point 👆)

And maybe if you enjoyed this chapter you can vote? 👉👈 It really boasts my moral.