Comments on: My use of the comma http://www.island94.org/2009/09/my-use-of-the-comma/ Ben Sheldon's lost & found Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:05:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ben http://www.island94.org/2009/09/my-use-of-the-comma/#comment-21642 ben Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:12:31 +0000 http://www.island94.org/?p=735#comment-21642 Noah Lukeman uses driving metaphors (period is a stop sign, comma speed bump, etc.) with the idea that you will pace your writing for the reader (he is talking to fiction writers). For me, using commas is more of a warning-sign that I'm being weasily: usually when I'm trying to avoid saying something that could be contentious, or when I'm trying to heavily parse a concept. If I'm aware of this, I'll usually take a moment to: 1. figure out what the core message is that I want to tell the reader. I usually notice I'm taking a really long time to write something as simple as "This is dumb and I don't care." 2. decide if this is even something I really want to say (if not, I'll delete what I have and just not write anything) 3. commit myself to saying just that core idea (and jettisoning the rest) Or, I'll just continue to be weasily and substitute colons, parentheses and em-dashes in the place of commas. Noah Lukeman uses driving metaphors (period is a stop sign, comma speed bump, etc.) with the idea that you will pace your writing for the reader (he is talking to fiction writers).

For me, using commas is more of a warning-sign that I’m being weasily: usually when I’m trying to avoid saying something that could be contentious, or when I’m trying to heavily parse a concept. If I’m aware of this, I’ll usually take a moment to:

1. figure out what the core message is that I want to tell the reader. I usually notice I’m taking a really long time to write something as simple as “This is dumb and I don’t care.”

2. decide if this is even something I really want to say (if not, I’ll delete what I have and just not write anything)

3. commit myself to saying just that core idea (and jettisoning the rest)

Or, I’ll just continue to be weasily and substitute colons, parentheses and em-dashes in the place of commas.

]]> By: Cheryl http://www.island94.org/2009/09/my-use-of-the-comma/#comment-21631 Cheryl Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:15:13 +0000 http://www.island94.org/?p=735#comment-21631 how much is too much? how much is too much?

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