July newsletter
Winking smiley face, shocked face, dot dot dot
Hi everyone
I hope you’re all having a lovely start to summer, even though it’s been much rainier here in the UK than we’re used to!
This month, I thought I would go back to basics, and look at punctuation. It’s often said that you don’t need to be great at grammar and spelling to be a great writer because that’s what editors and AI (boo!) are for, and to some extent that is true, but I think it’s helpful to know what punctuation can do for your style of writing and not just have an editor or robot make it “correct” for you.
Punctuation is as much about style as anything else and, if you don’t believe that, take a look at reviews for Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl Woman Other, Sally’s Rooney’s Normal People, Caleb Azumah Nelson’s Open Water or anything else that “breaks the rules” of punctuation, and you’ll see how much using it correctly, or not, can affect your work.
There is zero point to the semicolon; it literally serves no purpose.
The above quote is from a style guide from somewhere I used to work (it’s closed now). It was written completely without irony and the writer did truly hate the semicolon and didn’t see the purpose of them, outside of winky smileys. They also didn’t know they’d subconsciously put one in their style guide, smack bang where they were telling everyone else not to use them.
I guess some things are so drummed into you working in journalism, you never stop even if you want to.
Personally, I hate the exclamation mark, especially in its irritating double or treble format. I use them very sparingly in my fiction, and only if absolutely necessary, and almost never in my non-fiction. There’s something overexcited about a headline that ends with one or more exclamation marks. And the double treble format is equally annoying if they’re separated into different sentences.
Taylor Swift is coming to Liverpool!!!
Winter is coming! Red lipstick is back! Read our top tips to prevent fade now!
It’s all just a bit overexcited and unnecessary, isn’t it? While the semicolon I find quite sweet and timid - this may be partly caused by my synaesthesia to be fair…
Dashes, particularly the controversial em-dash, are a point of contention among many editors who say that they’re a lazy tool for creating drama in prose that isn’t capable of it — meow! I don’t often use an em-dash, but then again, I don’t often write thrillers or horrors which is where their melodramatic shape thrives the most. I have nothing against them and they definitely provide a certain flair in the right genre — I see them as similar to the beat in a theatre script. Sometimes drama is in the silence, not the words.
And speaking of silence, there is the much maligned comma to consider. Certain people hate commas more than anything and call for their absolute abolition. Worse than no punctuation at all, worse than a ill-placed em-dash, worse than a semicolon, the poor little comma. These same people, if you miss a comma and ruin the meaning of the sentence by doing so, will of course criticise just as vehemently. I think one of the biggest problems we have with the comma, at least here in the UK, is we’re never taught to use them properly. We are told, from a very young age, that a comma is to take a breath, which makes the correct grammatical use of some commas absolutely nonsensical.
Thank you, mother.
No pause for breath there, at least not with my accent. And of course, these types of commas are unfashionable and many people would write that without the comma and no one would think badly of them (well, some people would, but that’s besides the point).
Commas add rhythm to your writing. You tend to see poets who write prose using commas in their work far more often than writers who never venture into verse. Commas look small, insignificant and many people believe them to be a tool used only to show off your grammar skills, but playing with them, and smashing the rules around their use to smithereens, can lead to some spectacular results.
Having said that, when it comes to poetry, I do like writing one with no punctuation whatsoever. And scattered alignment. I like words in a poem to look special on the page and they can do that all by themselves without any dots, swoops or dashes at all.
What are your favourite punctuation marks and what do your favourite writers do with punctuation to make their work unique?
Shortlistings, winnings and flash floodings
I was really happy to be shortlisted in the April 2024 Retreat West Micro Fiction competition, with This is an Emergency Alert… This story began life at one of Retreat West’s Online Flash Festivals; their September Online Short Story Festival is available to book onto now.
I was then extremely lucky to have my story What they’ll say to you… selected for the National Flash Fiction Day Flash Flood, and to have twelve stories selected for their Write-In. I’ve had some amazing feedback on What they’ll say to you… which actually began life in last year’s Write-In and did not place in a Retreat West Micro Fiction competition, which just goes to show that the right place is there for every story if you wait for it.
Finally, I was absolutely honoured to be awarded second place in the WestWord Prize for Micro Fiction with But there never was a Big Bad Wolf, was there? I adore Tania Hershman’s work and her comments on my story were so lovely. As well as the obvious fairy tale influence, I took inspiration from Jane Eyre, which put Red Riding’s Hood’s woodland home in a whole new Gothic light dark.
Sea Invisible
Over on Sea Invisible, my newsletter about living with invisible disability, you can read my review of Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors and the way it made me think about how chronic pain and the treatment of it is seen in our society.
Molly’s corner
Meow. I am now officially a famous superstar cat as the human wrote a story about me which was published as part of the National Flash Fiction Day Write-In. In the story I go on a London adventure which some human who becomes very important by using my genius. I am very glad that the story acknowledges his success is all down to me and not his teeny human brain. I have no idea why the story says I am little, because I am gigantic, like a tiger. Purr.
What I’m reading
Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson
Things that have caught my eye
Man buys 1970s train for £1 to save it from scrap I’ve always loved trains (I think I was overly influenced by The Railway Children as a child) and this is such a sweet story.
Twelfth Night I’m looking forward to seeing this over the weekend. It’s a great Shakespearean play for summer - just need to hope it stays dry! (That naughty exclamation mark sneaked in there…)
Forget Show Don’t Tell - Embrace Seduction Not Instruction with K.M. Elkes This looks like a great workshop. I really fight over-adherence to “show don’t tell” and it’s something I saw a lot of problems with as an editor. It’s seen as the golden rule but is oversimplified so often you end up with very flowery writing which, among all the pretty verbosity, ends up being entirely unreadable. Like salt in soup, use generously but with caution.
Pause to Simply Be Such a poignant piece about just being. I’ve been very bothered by the rain recently. We have a house issue which makes it very loud and the change in air pressure often causes me pain, but I’ll try and focus on the lessons here next time we have a downpour. Unless I’m watching Shakespeare outdoors, in which case rain is not ideal at all.
Beddgelert! This gorgeous Welsh village is so beautiful and has a powerful tragic story that shaped its fate. If you don’t know the tale, do look it up, and definitely try and make some time to go and visit.