I'm very good at punctuation in Finnish. Unfortunately for me, English and Finnish punctuation has very little in common. I guess my English punctuation is then atrocious. That one of the things why is far more easier for me to write the story first in Finnish so that instead of writing I don't end up digging up English comma rules...
Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Posts: 203 Location: Vancouver, Canada
Are you good at punctuation?
Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 3:25 am
I have my own interpretation of punctuation. I figure that spoken English came first, and punctuation is just a set of symbols which helps to communicate the meaning and expression of the spoken word. Therefore, if I'm ever in doubt about the punctuation (commas especially), I say the sentence aloud, and write it the way it sounds. (My friends who are English teachers find this heretical. They would like people to memorize a set of rules, and follow them blindly.)
Within that guiding principle, though, I try to follow the usual rules as accurately as possible. After e e cummings, messing with punctuation to be 'creative' is just derivative. Making mistakes through ignorance demonstrates, well, ignorance. I have a certain amount of pride in my craft, and would like to think I'm a decent example for others. However, I'm not fanatic about it. For example, there is a possible punctuation error in this post (at least one that I noticed) which I have left in, rather than try to find out how it's supposed to be done.
Of course, 'correct punctuation' is a relative term, as anyone who has compared stylesheets from different organizations will have noticed. Don't get me started on English/American/Canadian spelling...
The biggest differences are in the words that end in -or in American English. For example, "colour", "honour", and "neighbour".
I've known university professors who will penalize students for omitting the "u" in their writing. And I've known others who don't care as long as you are consistent.
In my opinion, I fall into the latter group. However, since I'm Canadian and I live in Canada, I use Canadian spelling myself. If I were living in the US, I would use American spelling.
Which begs the question: Do American editors require American spelling when accepting work from Canadian, British, and Australian writers?
Now, as to the original question, I think my punctuation is quite good, although I do get a tad bamboozled on occasion. When that happens, I use the Gordon Long Method as well. _________________ Harker: ...I sometimes write stories.
Coroner: I sometimes read them.
Harker: Thank you.
Coroner: Stories in general--not yours.
-from "The Damned Thing" by Ambrose Bierce
I think I'm probably pretty good at punctuation. The comma is a mysterious animal that eludes me to some extent, but beyond that I feel pretty confident.
I don't know what American vs. other spellings is all that important in submissions. If they need to change it, that's an easy enough thing to do before publication. _________________ Violet "Violanthe" Kane
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