Note from a cranky editor

[Christopher]

My mission is the absolute obliteration of the semi-colon.

No reason for its existence whatsoever. Many more elegant and easier-to-read ways to accomplish the same thing. (see endash and emdash) Visually, reading a semi-colon is like stumbing over something on the ground. It ruins the flow of the content.

I don't agree. To me, a semicolon and a dash convey two very different kinds of pause. A dash is an abrupt break -- intense, sudden, sharp. A semicolon is a gentler, more thoughtful pause; also, it conveys not merely emphasis, but transition from one thought to another.

Also, as I understand it, a dash is more or less gramatically equivalent to a comma. You use it in the same places you'd use a comma, but in situations where you want a sharper or more emphatic divide. Thus, using it in place of a semicolon would create a run-on sentence.

...and Copywrite for Copyright.

Oh yeah, that one really bugs me. I mean, I can understand it, since people associate it with writing, but it's missing the whole point of the word, which is that it's a right, a legal entitlement. It's the right to reproduce or distribute a work for profit. Not to mention that "copywrite" already has its own distinct meaning, i.e. to write copy.

 

[Greg Cox]

I don't know that it's been mentioned before in this topic, but another common mistake I see is confusing vane/vein/vain and waist/waste.

What a waist. It's all in vein.

...and Copywrite for Copyright.

And loose/lose.

I see that one all the time.

 

[Klaus]

And loose/lose.

I see that one all the time.

That's a definite peeve for me. Who loosed all these losers on us?

 

[JustKate]

So let's say that, hypothetically, I were to stand up, metaphorically, in this thread and pronounce myself a firm believer in the serial (or Harvard, or Oxford) comma.

Would I be shot in the head? Or whatever it is you grammar police do?

Certainly not. I don't use it very often - I've been using AP style for a long, long, looooooong time now - but no matter what anybody tells you, the Oxford comma isn't ever incorrect, and every now and then, it does aid comprehension. When in doubt, use it, that's what I say.

 

[Sakrysta]

^Bless you!

 

[Gryffindorian]

An older version of this book was my grammar bible in school back in the 1990s. In fact, I decided to buy the 2004 or 2005 edition years ago for home reference. The author is very good.

 

[Myasishchev]

My mission is the absolute obliteration of the semi-colon.

The idea is monstrous. The semicolon is a beautiful piece of punctuation. Yes, you might say, "If you love the semicolon so much, why don't you marry it?" Would that I could.

 

[Mike Farley]

What bugz me more then NE thing is the lack of any kind of punctuation i mean poeple are on the internet all day long you would think that their typing skills would be somewhat passible...

I hate it when people misspell skillz as skills.

 

[MarianLH]

My mission is the absolute obliteration of the semi-colon.

The idea is monstrous. The semicolon is a beautiful piece of punctuation. Yes, you might say, "If you love the semicolon so much, why don't you marry it?" Would that I could.

I'm totally with you on that one. Semicolons rule.


Marian

 

[Lonemagpie]

But seriously... I looked it up, and according to American Heritage, the word is "curmudgeonry."

American Heritage? Well, it's not *real* English, then, is it...?

 

[Gryffindorian]

My mission is the absolute obliteration of the semi-colon.

The idea is monstrous. The semicolon is a beautiful piece of punctuation. Yes, you might say, "If you love the semicolon so much, why don't you marry it?" Would that I could.

I'm totally with you on that one. Semicolons rule.


Marian

Agreed. They're very functional (as well as artistic). I use semicolons all the time.

Common Uses:

* To separate two independent clauses not joined with a coordinating conjunction (and, or, nor, but).
* To separate series of words or phrases that contain internal commas (such as cities and States) to avoid confusion.
* To separate clauses in complex sentences containing conjunctive adverbs (e.g., therefore, furthermore, moreover, etc.).

 

[Christopher]

Not to mention that if there were no semicolons, we'd be unable to wink at each other online.

 

[Gryffindorian]

Yup. ;-) Oops! I didn't do that right. Yup.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

Ahh, I was looking for this forum...

I just received my rejection letter for one of my stories, and I guess I may have to tweak my story soon. (It's still out in three other markets).

This particular editior didn't like comments in brackets [ ], wanting me to integrate the comments into the story, since she believed that it destroyed the flow of said story....and it was said I shouldn't use and/or in the story....

Hmmm.....

There was something else mentioned, but one would actually have to read the story to know what she was talking about....

 

[Christopher]

^You used square brackets in a work of prose fiction? That's rather unusual. What did you use them for?

 

[Myasishchev]

Parenthetical inside a parenthetical?

 

[BrotherBenny]

Ahh, I was looking for this forum...

I just received my rejection letter for one of my stories, and I guess I may have to tweak my story soon. (It's still out in three other markets).

This particular editior didn't like comments in brackets [ ], wanting me to integrate the comments into the story, since she believed that it destroyed the flow of said story....and it was said I shouldn't use and/or in the story....

Hmmm.....

There was something else mentioned, but one would actually have to read the story to know what she was talking about....

I don't mean to be insensitive, and if I am then please forgive me, but if you have used text in the [] to explain something which was necessary to the story but which you couldn't describe adequately, then I would recommend a writing course. If you used them to explain the backstory to a particular event, perhaps dialogue would be better suited in that instance, without it being an infodump. If you used them to convey a character's thoughts, then italics might have been better suited but the [] should be fine if you are going for something unusual.

If you want any assistance, PM me for my email address and send me your story and I'll see if I can help. My fiancée has helped me immensely with my own writing and I'd like to help someone else.

 

[Christopher]

Avoiding "and/or" is good editorial advice as well. It's an awkward construction and not good for the flow of a sentence.

Also... Joel, you sent the same story to four markets at once? Most markets frown on simultaneous submissions. If they want to buy your story and you come back and tell them you've sold it to someone else instead, that's not considered kosher or polite. If they're going to invest their attention and interest in your story, they deserve to know that it won't turn out to be a waste of their time. As a rule, you shouldn't send a story to more than one magazine at the same time unless they specifically say they're okay with simultaneous submissions.

 

[TGTheodore]

^You used square brackets in a work of prose fiction? That's rather unusual. What did you use them for?

In place of semi-colons.

--Ted

 

[JustKate]

Add my name to the Save the Semicolons movement - wouldn't that make a great bumper sticker? - and also to the list of those who are a little puzzled by Joel Kirk's brackets.

However, I must admit to an irrational dislike of the em-dash. Really. I know it serves some specific and useful purposes, and I even know all the little rules and guidelines that govern its use, as well as that of en-dashes and hyphens, but hardly anbody else does. As a result it's used wrongly so often (often replaced by the en-dash or a single hyphen, which is what I use here since inserting real dashes in bulletin board posts is annoying) that its effectiveness has been diminished. Also, I just hate how it looks in text - that's the "irrational" part.

I also agree that and/or should almost always be avoided. Pick one or the other - that's my advice.