Writing: Calamity Punctuation

 

Contributed by Margot Conor

I think the worst thing about my writing is punctuation. I use it incorrectly a lot of the time. I use commas where I shouldn’t and forget to put them where I should. I am never quite sure when a semicolon should be used. One of my editors took all of them out of my book saying they should never be used in fiction. It is a pet peeve of hers. But I see them used in fiction quite a lot and maybe that is due to auto correct programs. 

I’m sure I didn’t pay enough attention to grammar rules in school. But due to the patience of my critique groups, I am learning to correct my bad habits. I also use a program called AutoCrit which is helpful in many ways and has improved my writing craft.

Here is one lesson that came to me not long ago. I had used ellipses in my novel to indicate a pause in the dialogue. My editor replaced most of them with an em dash. Well, I didn’t like the way that looked and put the ellipses back. But then my critique group told me they are not interchangeable. They have different purposes. 

Both ellipses (…) and em dashes (—) are punctuation marks that serve to add rhythm, pause, or emphasis to writing, but they function differently.

Here are four examples of how to use ellipses:

To show that part of a quoted sentence has been removed. “The mission was successful… despite the damage sustained.”

To indicate a pause, hesitation, or that a character’s thought or speech trails off. “I thought I saw something, but it was probably just…”

They can stretch time or reflect uncertainty or suspense. “She stepped into the dark corridor… nothing moved… yet.”

They can imply something is left unsaid or is emotionally loaded. “You said you’d never lie to me…”

An em dash has lately been called out as proof you used ChatGPT or some other AI assistant to write for you. So many writers are hesitant to use them because of that, despite the fact that they have been in use forever, and AI learned how to use them from the books they were trained on. 

Here are a few examples how they should be used:

An Em Dash represents a sharp break or cut-off in speech or thought. “Wait—did you hear that?”

“If we don’t—” he began, but the explosion cut him off.
It separates an inserted or emphasized clause—often more striking than commas. “The creature—twice her size—lunged forward.”

It marks a sentence shift or unexpected turn. “She wanted to run—but her legs wouldn’t move.”

It’s used in place of parentheses to de-emphasize less integral information. “The moons—bright and ominous—cast strange shadows.”

Quite honestly, I find all of that hard to distinguish, but I started using the Em Dash in my stories to get accustomed to how they should be inserted. For example, an Em Dash is for abrupt interruption, dramatic insertion, and sharp sentence breaks, it is sudden action. While the ellipsis is for omission, hesitation, trailing off speech, and soft pensive sentence breaks. It is used during slower paced interactions.
 
I’m hoping my manuscripts won’t be such a calamity of errors in the future. I am slowly learning the error of my ways. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Margot Conor has been writing for as long as she can remember, but it wasn't until the COVID lock-down that she had enough time to dedicate to the craft and bring something to completion. Having finished her first novel, she went through the grueling two-year process of editing. Now she has jumped into the author's world with both feet. Margot's debut multiverse adventure novel, Inverse, is available on Amazon. 

She's spent the last year attending many writing retreats, seminars, and writers' events. She also listened to presentations specifically on the topic of publishing and book marketing. She will be sharing what she learns with the reader. Learn more about Margot at https://margotconor.com/
 

 

 

Summer Writing Blues: Dealing with Distractions, Procrastination and Other Book Killers

 

Summer is here! And that means vacations, barbecues, lazy summer evenings, and bored kids at home watching the television all day and asking for endless snacks.

However, finding the time to write a book is definitely going to be a struggle.

Procrastination is even worse.  When you're writing a book and feeling just a tiny bit stuck, suddenly it seems much more important that you finish your laundry, brush the dog, or redesign your website than it is to sit down and write.  

 And when you combine the possibility of procrastination with a few of life's little distractions... well, you can see how it might take you several years to finally get the book written.  

To prevent this from happening to your author dreams work out a plan ahead of time.

Look at your schedule for the next two weeks; 

 Where can you identify pockets of time to spend even five minutes writing? This includes looking at the time before everyone's awake, mid-morning, mid-afternoon, evening, late evening.  

✔   When is your best time for being productive during the day? Are you a morning or night owl person? Write during your most productive time.  

✔   What can you cut back on or give up in the next 2 weeks? Instead of endless scrolling on social media, watching television or cleaning - open up a notes app on your phone and write your book.  

Procrastination is a little harder to deal with, because it's all on you. The key is to know what's likely to trigger procrastination, and design ways to keep yourself motivated.

Some ideas include:  

✔     Set some goals for the week whether it's a word count or page count. Sometimes, procrastination comes when we don't have a definitive goal to work towards.  

✔      Rewarding yourself with a favorite treat or trip to the bookstore after a week of good writing (or even a day if you're prone to procrastination). 

✔    Enlist the help of a partner to keep you on track.  

If you find the first five minutes to write you'll easily find more and for much longer. The reward for all this effort is that you will discover you can write a book.  

 Keep writing! 

About Rebecca

Rebecca Camarena is a Book Coach, author and editor who helps writers, creatives, authors, and entrepreneurs elevate their words with editorial and writing support and critique services.

Connect with me here, www.rebeccacamarena.com/contact

Why Every Author Needs To Update Their Editing Skills

 

 

Why Every Author Needs to Know Editing

 

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Author of The Frugal Editor: Do-It-Yourself Editing
Now In Its Third Edition

 

Last month I contributed an article “Ten Easy Ways to Keep Dialogue Sharp
to this #WritersontheMove blog with a promise to give authors reasons why
they need to know all the editing skills they can work into their busy writing 
schedule including those for writing dialogue that I covered last week. I hoped to entice
even nonfiction writers who don’t often use dialogue to start using
it. Even newspapers that once

demanded strict "who, how, were, and why leads”
 now include anecdotes in their front-page stories!

 

It surprises people when they learn that grammar rules change over time. Or that what they learned in high school or advanced grammar classes in college is either passé or may not apply to fiction. It also surprises them to learn that a perfectly edited book is never perfect because there are always so many disagreements among experts. And even experts are often misinformed. The worlds of grammar and style choices are filled with myths and misinformation like, “Never use contractions in your writing,” “Never use fragments,” and “Never end a sentence with a preposition.” Further, as my client base grew, I kept running into common misconceptions and outright annoying style choices that would never fly in the publishing world. Thus, a new edition of The Frugal Editor was a must! And, thus, I keep battling decades old misinformation about editing—especially among newer authors. 

 

But what about authors who can proudly point to decades of publishing? Well, sometimes they suffer a little hubris. They think they have done well without worrying about spending time on what they know from high school grammar classes. and therefore already know. So we’ll start off with a smattering of what is new in my The Frugal Editor in its third edition—new in that last few years, in fact! And—if you scroll a bit—you’ll find another list of editing myths you—still believe—yes! You personally—that just happen to still be lying in wait for an occasion to embarrass (humiliate!?) you:

·       The Third Edition of The Frugal Editor has been reorganized, and my publisher Victor Volkman at Modern History Press tells me I outdid myself with about 50% new (helpful!) material including new “Editor’s Extras” based on my own school of hard knocks!

·       Authors will love the all-new sections including:

o    Beta readers and peer reviewers

o    What you probably don’t know about custom dictionaries

o    Up-to-date rules for accommodating gender-specific and other cultural needs

o    A chapter for word-lovers and poets

o    Quickie reviews of word processors for you

o    What even traditionally accepted front and back matter can do for your book sales, your career, and your readers

o    Political Correctness considerations change and grow with each passing day. So, yes! Lots of updating here!

·       The Third Edition of The Frugal Editor still includes the basics that make you into an on-your-own editor when you must be. Few writers other than Stephen King can afford to hire an editor for every query letter, every media release, every media kit, every blog post. So until your career is so star-studded you can afford a publicist and editor on a retainer basis, writers need to know both the basics of editing and the little-known secrets.

·       The third edition is still loaded with reader favorites like what authors need to know about book covers—another aspect of publishing that even experienced authors might leave entirely up to others—but it’s updated!

·       New information will dispel myths like these:

o    Agents are a cantankerous lot. (Nope! In The Frugal Editor, twenty-one of the nation's best tell you their pet peeves and they do it in the best of spirits.)

o    If your English teacher told you something is OK, it is. (No! Language rules have changed since you were a sophomore. Anyway, your English teachers likely have no background in publishing, so apart from basic grammar, how much help can they be?

o    If a manuscript or query is grammar-perfect, you'll be fine. (No! Lots of things that are grammatically correct annoy publishers.)

o    Always use your Spell and Grammar Checker. (No! Some suggest you don't use it at all, but The Frugal Editorwill help you make it your partner instead of your enemy.)

o    It's easy to avoid agent and editor scams by asking other writers. Even other professionals! (The Frugal Editorgives you a to-do and not-to-do lists to help you avoid being taken even when you are doing just that. )

o    Your publisher will assign a top-flight editor. Even big five publishers are having budget problems and many cut expenses by using less experienced/qualified editors. (Maybe, but don't count on it. The more you know, the better partner you’ll be for an editor!)

o    Formatters and editors will take care of the hyphens, ellipses, and all the other grungy little punctuation marks that English teachers avoided teaching because they didn't know how to use them either. (Chances are, you'll catch even great formatters and editors—the ones you pay for their services—in an error or two if you know your stuff!

o    When you do know your stuff, you’ll feel more comfortable defying all kinds of rules that are still extant. You’ll even feel comfortable explaining to your editor why this choice is an improvement for this particular title, voice, time, or era.

 

NOTE: The parts of this article bulleted are reprints (edited and updated) from one of my sell sheets. They are widely used in publishers’ and authors’ review-getting process using query letters, ARCs, and accompanying marketing materials. Find a sample of sell sheets—front, back, and footer—in the Appendix of The Frugal Editor, third edition.

You’ll find the first part of this plea of mine for writers right here on Karen Cioffi’s Writers on the Move
blog in my column on basic dialogue tips posted  in May, 2025.

It will give you ten reasons why knowing more 
editing than your do already might make

you a better (and happier) writer . 

Go to:  
 https://www.writersonthemove.com/2025/05/dialogues-ten-basic-cant-go-wrong-rules.html

 

MORE ABOUT TODAY’S WRITERS ON THE MOVE CONTRIBUTOR

Carolyn Howard-Johnson was an instructor for the UCLA Extension Writer's Program for nearly a decade. The first book in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books, The Frugal Book Promoter, won USA Book News' Best Professional Book Award and Book Publicists of Southern California's Irwin Award. The second, The Frugal Editor, is the winningest book in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers (The first edition was named best of 2004 by USA Book News.) TFEIII includes many more editing tips on dialogue—even punctuation for dialogue. Learn more about building a career in the publishing world at www.howtodoitfrugally.com. 

 

“Careers that are not fed die as readily as any living
 organism given no sustenance.”

·