Punctuation Gospel Chapter Two

"Broadcasters pronounce better, but newspaper people punctuate correctly," joked a newspaper journalist.

 After looking at some stories, I'd have to add, "Sometimes." I also know that many of my students have not had grammar since they were in eighth grade. As an old English major who repented and turned to journalism, I know the Gospel of Correct Punctuation may have been amended some for us heretics, but the basics are the same. Correct punctuation is essential for accurate writing—for getting our meaning across (why else would you write?).

So here is Chapter Two of the Revised Version of the Gospel of Punctuation, also known as Clark's Easy Reference Punctuation Guide for Journalists.

Clip it and put it near your computer.

·       Period--Use lots of them. (Short sentences). And after abbreviations. But don't put a period after an abbreviation when it concludes a sentence, as He moved to Washington, D.C..

·       Question mark. Perhaps the easiest one, at the end of a question. Understand? Only difficulty is with quotation marks. See that item, ok? And never use more than one. It’s immature.  Got it????????

·       Semi-colons--avoid because they make for long sentences. Usually break something into shorter sentences for better readability. Two uses-- in a series for clarity when commas are used: He went to Bugtussle, Oklahoma; Dimebox, Texas; and Hell, Michigan. Or in a certain compound sentences --Take only necessary items; leave behind anything heavy. or Holiday traffic has always been dangerous; for instance, 100 died last July 4.
·      Hyphens--Compound adjectives--Thirty-three students, a second-story room.

·       Ellipses--Avoid (…), even when cutting quotes, because people distrust them and think you're leaving out stuff you don't agree with, or are taking out of context. You can choose parts of quotes to use and as long as you don’t change context, there’s no harm: “I’m going to resign tomorrow,” said Superintendent Jones, at the end of a speech on embezzlement.

·       Dashes--Use with caution, when a comma or period won't do, an abrupt break, or for emphasis. Or--as I have done in this article—for lists.

·       The virgule (slash). Hate this sign as in and/or. Again, try to write around it.

·       Parentheses. Don't use them, unless you're William Faulkner (Or are Clark writing this scree on punctuation and he’s already used them several times for clarity).  (See?)  They are stop signs for readers and interrupt the flow of reading. They make for long complicated reading. Make another sentence, or a compound sentence, linked with "and" or but." (But avoid most compound sentences, like parentheses). 

Always ask yourself if you have a question about punctuation, “Why do I need this?” or “Why am I using this?” Most grammatical problems can be cured with short sentences.