The Semicolon

 

The semicolon is similar in name and appearance to the colon, but its function is unrelated; it serves as a weak period, as employed here, or as a strong comma, as shown in the next paragraph. In its weak-period guise, it marks the end of one statement and the beginning of another; however, it is appropriate in place of a period only if the second statement is closely related to or dependent on the first one. Note that when a semicolon appears in such a case, no coordinating conjunction (such as and or but) should follow it. (However, when the conjunctive adverb that begins this sentence, or others such as moreover or therefore, follows a semicolon, as occurs earlier in this paragraph, a comma should follow the word.)

A strong-comma semicolon is one used in place of two or more commas when the elements in a run-in list are themselves lists, as in this sentence: “The three most frequent color schemes in flags are red, white, and blue; red and white; and, tied for third place, red, yellow, and green and red, white, and green.” (Note that not all list items must include internal punctuation.)

Many writers are reluctant to use semicolons because they do not understand how to use the punctuation mark correctly or consider it overly formal, but its roles are simple and helpful.

Proper Use of The Colon

 

The colon is a versatile punctuation mark. Here are its three primary functions, followed by a few other uses:

Definition or Expansion

“But here’s the interesting thing: He hadn’t ever been there before.”

Note the capitalization of the first word after the colon. All usage guides agree that in a sentence like “I want you to tell me one thing: the truth,” the first word should be lowercase because it begins a phrase, not a complete sentence. But handbooks are divided over whether to capitalize complete sentences.

The Chicago Manual of Style advises doing so only when the defining or expanding passage following the colon consists of two or more sentences. Others disagree, and though I usually follow Chicago, I concur with them: It can be difficult in a passage to know when the definition or expansion ends, and the distinction between a single sentence and two or more seems trivial and inconsistent.

Setting up a Quotation

He makes this moral argument: “Taking whatever we need from the world to support our comfortable lives is not worthy of us as moral beings.”

Note that the colon concludes an independent clause that introduces a statement; it brings the reader to a temporary halt. Writers, ignoring the grammatical distinction between this construction and a simple attribution, widely but incorrectly use colons in place of commas, as in this erroneous usage: “He voted against it, declaring: ‘The only thing this bill will stimulate is the national debt.’” In this case, or after “He said” or “She asked” or a similar term, a simple comma suffices.

Introducing a List

When a phrase that introduces a numbered, unnumbered, or bullet list, or a run-in list, syntactically comes to a stop, use the colon as the bumper:

“The two central questions in ethical theories are as follows:
1. What is the good for which we strive or should strive, and what is the evil that we would like to or must avoid?
2. What is the proper or desired course of action, and what is the inappropriate or forbidden course of action?”

But when each item in the list is an incomplete sentence that continues an introductory phrase, omit it:

“For this experiment, you will need electrical wire (at least 3 feet), a pair of wire cutters, a battery, a flashlight bulb, and electrical tape.”

When, in the latter example, the list is formatted with the introductory phrase and each item on its own line, “For this experiment, you will need” remains bereft of a colon, and each item ends with a period.

(Notice that my explanatory introduction to each list type above is closed, with a colon.)

Colons are used in several other ways to clarify relationships between words and numbers: They set off a character’s name from a line of dialogue in a script; separate titles and subtitles of books, films, and other works; distinguish between chapter and verse in reference to books of the Bible and in similar usages; and separate numerals denoting hours, minutes, and other units of time.

In addition, they have specific functions in mathematics, logic, and computer programming, as well as informal roles in setting actions or sounds apart from words in email and online chats (much as parentheses are used in quotations and dialogue) and as a basic character in emoticons (arrangements of punctuation marks and other symbols to simulate a facial expression).

But it is when the colon is employed in one of the three primary purposes that errors are most likely to appear and communication is most likely to be compromised.

From: Daily Writing Tips

Three Cases of Complicated Parenthetical Punctuation

Inserting additional information into a sentence without careful consideration of sentence organization can create barriers to comprehension, especially when the parenthesis is complicated. Here are several sentences in which complex parenthetical phrases are not treated with care, followed by discussion and revision.
1. Consumers have the right to speak out or complain, and to seek compensation—payment or a replacement item—or redress—have a wrong corrected.
Here, the use of dashes to set off a pair of parenthetical phrases confuses the reader’s eye; use mirror-image parenthetical marks instead for a clearer picture of the sentence’s syntactical organization: “Consumers have the right to speak out or complain, and to seek compensation (payment or a replacement item) or redress (have a wrong corrected).”
2. They had an unwavering belief that they simply could not—or maybe more accurately stated, would not—be defeated.
Because “maybe more accurately stated” is a parenthesis within a parenthesis, a comma must precede as well as follow it: “They had an unwavering belief that they simply could not—or, maybe more accurately stated, would not—be defeated.”
3. If thorough controls are not in place, over time, as updates and changes are made to your environment, conflicts are likely to arise, posing varying levels of risk to your business and ultimately forcing you to revisit your design.
The number of commas in this sentence is excessive; when the phrase “over time” and the rest of the parenthetical phrase (ending with environment) is transposed, the comma between them becomes extraneous and the sentence structure is clearer: “If thorough controls are not in place, as updates and changes are made to your environment over time, conflicts are likely to arise, posing varying levels of risk to your business and ultimately forcing you to revisit your design.”

From: Daily Writing Tips

The Top 5 Mistakes I Find as an Editor

A lot of writers won't hire an editor. This isn't a pitch to get your business (although, of course, I am always open to that). So since you probably won't hire me or any of my editor cohorts, I'm going to share with you a list of the five biggest mistakes I see in manuscripts, so you can watch for them, and fix them, yourself.

Mistake #1: Writers don't place a comma between independent clauses separated with a conjunction. Independent clauses are clauses that can stand on their own as sentences, e.g., "He took the 405 freeway to work, and he exited at the Getty Museum." Because both "He took the 405 freeway to work" and "he exited at the Getty Museum" are independent clauses—meaning they can stand alone as sentences, you must, must, place a comma before the conjunction, "and." This is probably the biggest, most common mistake I find in manuscripts and books. Don't make it. It's a very easy punctuation rule to remember.

Mistake #2: Writers place commas between independent clauses and dependent clauses. This is probably the second most common mistake I see. A dependent clause is one that cannot stand on its own as a sentence. Let's take the above example, and change it just a little: "He took the 405 freeway to work and exited at the Getty Museum." I took the second "he" out. That makes the clause after "and" a dependent clause, because "exited at the Getty Museum" cannot stand alone as a sentence. It is dependent upon the first clause to be understood; thus, no comma should precede the "and."

Of course, there are other places you need—and don't need—commas, but this isn't meant to be a comprehensive study of the comma. If in doubt, look up comma placement in The Chicago Manual of Style or other style manual.

Mistake #3: Writers don't know their homonyms. In just the last few weeks alone, I've seen characters who were unphased, waiving to people, and peaking out windows. The writer's spellchecker should have alerted her to the fact that "unphased" isn't even a word. She meant "unfazed." To waive means to relinquish, to set aside. The word this author wanted was "waving." And a peak is the highest point of something; one peeks, not peaks, out a window.

Please, unless you are 100 percent sure you are using the right homonym, look it up. The wrong choice could have your characters doing some pretty strange things!

Mistake #4: Writers rely on their spellcheckers. This is a big no-no. If ewe think you're spellchecker will fined awl yore miss steaks, your wrong. That sentence went through my spellchecker just fine, and there are no less than eight errors in it ("ewe" should be "you"; "you're" should be "your"; "fined" should be "find"; "awl" should be "all"; "yore" should be "your"; "miss" and "steaks" should be "mistakes": and finally, "your" should be "you're"). Homonym spelling errors are the most common type of spelling error I find. Do not rely on your spellchecker. It will let you down every time.

Mistake #5: Writers who make errors in syntax. For example, look at this sentence: "I saw a deer driving to work today." Uh, no—you didn't, unless there are some very talented deer in your neighborhood! The correct sentence structure is, "I saw a deer while driving to work today," or, "While driving to work today, I saw a deer." Please, don't put the deer in the driver's seat!

Here's another example: "If your toddler won't drink milk, warm it in the microwave for a few moments." Warm what in the microwave? You've got a choice of antecedents here. Heaven help the toddler if you make the wrong choice! The correct structure would read, "If your toddler won't drink milk, warm the milk in the microwave for a few moments."

Of course, if you and I were having a conversation, we'd probably understand each other if we made these syntax errors. But you can't count on that when people are reading your words. Make sure you have them in the correct order so your meaning cannot be misconstrued.

I cannot list every error I run across while editing manuscripts. To do so would fill a book. But if you watch for these top five mistakes in your writing, your manuscript will be a lot more polished, and you can be more confident about submitting it to your publisher.

Five Mistakes I Find as an Editor

Mistake #1: Writers don't place a comma between independent clauses separated with a conjunction. Independent clauses are clauses that can stand on their own as sentences, e.g., "He took the 405 freeway to work, and he exited at the Getty Museum." Because both "He took the 405 freeway to work" and "he exited at the Getty Museum" are independent clauses—meaning they can stand alone as sentences, you must, must, place a comma before the conjunction, "and." This is probably the biggest, most common mistake I find in manuscripts and books. Don't make it. It's a very easy punctuation rule to remember.

Mistake #2: Writers place commas between independent clauses and dependent clauses. This is probably the second most common mistake I see. A dependent clause is one that cannot stand on its own as a sentence. Let's take the above example, and change it just a little: "He took the 405 freeway to work and exited at the Getty Museum." I took the second "he" out. That makes the clause after "and" a dependent clause, because "exited at the Getty Museum" cannot stand alone as a sentence. It is dependent upon the first clause to be understood; thus, no comma should precede the "and."

Of course, there are other places you need—and don't need—commas, but this isn't meant to be a comprehensive study of the comma. If in doubt, look up comma placement in The Chicago Manual of Style or other style manual.

Mistake #3: Writers don't know their homonyms. In just the last few weeks alone, I've seen characters who were unphased, waiving to people, and peaking out windows. The writer's spellchecker should have alerted her to the fact that "unphased" isn't even a word. She meant "unfazed." To waive means to relinquish, to set aside. The word this author wanted was "waving." And a peak is the highest point of something; one peeks, not peaks, out a window.

Please, unless you are 100 percent sure you are using the right homonym, look it up. The wrong choice could have your characters doing some pretty strange things!

Mistake #4: Writers rely on their spellcheckers. This is a big no-no. If ewe think you're spellchecker will fined awl yore miss steaks, your wrong. That sentence went through my spellchecker just fine, and there are no less than eight errors in it ("ewe" should be "you"; "you're" should be "your"; "fined" should be "find"; "awl" should be "all"; "yore" should be "your"; "miss" and "steaks" should be "mistakes": and finally, "your" should be "you're"). Homonym spelling errors are the most common type of spelling error I find. Do not rely on your spellchecker. It will let you down every time.

Mistake #5: Writers who make errors in syntax. For example, look at this sentence: "I saw a deer driving to work today." Uh, no—you didn't, unless there are some very talented deer in your neighborhood! The correct sentence structure is, "I saw a deer while driving to work today," or, "While driving to work today, I saw a deer." Please, don't put the deer in the driver's seat!

Here's another example: "If your toddler won't drink milk, warm it in the microwave for a few moments." Warm what in the microwave? You've got a choice of antecedents here. Heaven help the toddler if you make the wrong choice! The correct structure would read, "If your toddler won't drink milk, warm the milk in the microwave for a few moments."

Of course, if you and I were having a conversation, we'd probably understand each other if we made these syntax errors. But you can't count on that when people are reading your words. Make sure you have them in the correct order so your meaning cannot be misconstrued.

I cannot list every error I run across while editing manuscripts. To do so would fill a book. But if you watch for these top five mistakes in your writing, your manuscript will be a lot more polished, and you can be more confident about submitting it to your publisher.

General Rules About Abbreviations

This post outlines basic rules about abbreviations. There is a bewildering variety of standards, which will be explained in more detail in subsequent posts about specific categories of abbreviation, but the following guidelines cover an array of general types.
Use of abbreviation varies widely depending on the formality of writing employed for a given publication or a piece of content. Generally, the more formal the content, the less likely it is that abbreviation will be used, except in multiple references to terms commonly abbreviated or in tabular matter and other graphic elements.
In formal writing, journalistic contexts, and some informal content as well, terms are spelled out on first reference, followed by abbreviation in parentheses, as in “The Global Positioning System (GPS) uses satellite signals to fix the location of a radio receiver on or above the earth’s surface.” Thereafter, the abbreviation is used exclusively.
However, this tradition applies to single pieces of content, so that—unless, for example, an entire publication is devoted to articles about GPS technology—two articles in a publication that mention it will independently introduce the full spelled-out version of an abbreviation on first reference. Note, too, that specialized publications will likely abbreviate all references to widely used terms in that specialty.
Abbreviations consisting entirely of uppercase letters (including NY, US, FBI, and NASA) or that end with an uppercase letter (as in PhD) are not followed by a period; some publications retain periods in these types of abbreviations (at least two-letter ones), but that style is in decline. Abbreviations that end with a lowercase letter (a.m., Dr., i.e., etc.) are generally followed by a period.
Acronyms (abbreviations of phrases using initial letters of each word to form new word, such as AIDS) are almost invariably styled in all capital letters, though some, such as laser and scuba, have lost their uppercase form, and Nasdaq is treated as a proper noun. Initialisms (abbreviations of phrases using initial letters of each word, each of which is pronounced, such as FBI) are also generally capitalized. When using an article before an abbreviation, choose a or an depending on the first sound, not the first letter, of the abbreviation: “an NBA [en-bee-ay] team” but “a NASA [nasa] program.”
Avoid ampersands except in proper names (“Johnson & Johnson”) and in widely known abbreviations (“R&D,” for “research and development”).