#grammar tips

If you’re ignoring punctuation in your works right now, I promise, you are missing out on so much additional storytelling. Punctuation’s primary purpose (say that ten times fast), is to clarify your message. It’s the difference between,

“My parents, Jack and Jill…” (My parents, who are named Jack and Jill). And, “My parents, Jack, and Jill…” (My parents plus someone named Jack plus someone named Jill).

However, it also has the amazing ability to create tone and give the readers subtle hints at what they should be feeling in any situation. See:

“I washed the dishes, cleaned the floors, and made the bed while he walked the dog.” (We are all productive in this household.) And, “I washed the dishes, cleaned the floors, and made the bed. He walked the dog.” (I do so much more than him.)

One period can mean the difference between a casual tone, and something that holds tension.

Here’s another example:

“Cheryl said she’d be here, so she’ll be here.” (Cheryl made a promise, so I’m confident she’ll follow up on it. Holds a bit of defensiveness, as though the speaker is talking to someone doubting Cheryl.) And, “Cheryl said she’d be here. She’ll be here.” (Repetition and short sentences holds a sort of anxiety—speaker is trying to convince themselves that nothing bad has happened to Cheryl)

But this isn’t just true of dialogue. We can imbue tone through punctuation in description alone. This is one of my favourite descriptions from Jack Spratt Investigates the Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde:

“The years had been charitable to Mrs. Spratt, and despite her age she was as bright as a button and had certainly not lost any of her youthful zest. Jack put it down to quantity of children. It had either made her tough in old age or worn her out—if the latter, then without Jack and his nine elder siblings, she might have lived to one hundred ninety-six. She painted people’s pets in oils because ‘someone has to,’ collected small pottery animals, Blue Baboon LPs and Jellyman commemorative plates. She had been widowed seventeen years.”

Feel how that line at the end lands especially heavy after the chipper, short sentences and crisp punctuation of the description that came above it? Fforde ramps up the pacing in punchy lines throughout the beginning and middle, just to land a blow beneath our ribs at the end. A masterclass.

Play around with punctuation in your writing—see how you can change the tone, and how tone and pacing walk hand in hand (or run) to get their intentional message across.

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“Well,” her teacher began, “you consider whether something is a dialogue tag—”

“What’s a dialogue tag?”

Her teacher smiled and said, “A dialogue tag informs the reader who is speaking. It can come either before or after the dialogue itself, but it is not a complete sentence in its own right.”

(Reader, you will notice three dialogue tags have appeared thus far: “she asked,” “her teacher said,” and “Her teacher smiled and said,” and the first two weren’t capitalized because they were continuations of the dialogue itself, sort of like how this bit of text after the comma is a continuation of this very sentence. The third example, by contrast, was capitalized because the dialogue tag began the sentence, then segued into the dialogue afterward.)

“I see…” The girl nodded, gaze casting downward as she considered what she’d learned.

“That, however, was an action tag.”

The girl’s brows scrunched together. “An action tag?”

“Mm-hmm. Action tags describe an action the speaker takes or perhaps an internal thought the speaker has, but, unlike dialogue tags, they are sentences in their own right.” The teacher paused, perhaps for emphasis, perhaps simply to let the girl process the new information. “They do not get connected to dialogue with commas.”

(Reader, once again you’ll notice that three action tags appeared in the prior section: one following dialogue, one preceding dialogue, and one sandwiched in the middle of dialogue. Note the lack of commas.)

“Hmm, okay. But what about—” The girl couldn’t recall the correct term and her question abruptly died on her tongue.

“Em dashes?” her teacher supplied, a knowing grin curving her lips.

“Yes! Yes, how do you”—the girl mimed as though she was grabbing a ball—“place them appropriately?”

Her teacher shrugged. “It depends on their function.”

“Can you—” the girl started.

“Give an example?” her teacher finished.

The girl nodded.

Once again, her teacher smiled. “I believe you, my dear, already have.”

(Reader, you’ll note that em dashes can be used to transition into both action tags and dialogue tags. If an action tag temporarily interrupts dialogue, as with the second example in this section, the structure is: “Dialogue”—action tag—“continued dialogue.” No commas, no capitalization.)

“I think,” the girl said somewhat petulantly, her hands coming to roost on her hips, “that you’re just making all of this up.”

Her teacher sighed. “Would that I were.” After some rustling, her teacher produced a link to a professional editor’s blog. “But I fear these rules come from The Chicago Manual of Style itself.”

“What’s The Chicago Manual of Style?” the girl asked.

A hollow laugh caught in the teacher’s throat. “For those of us writing in American English, it is both our guide and our shackle.”

“Sounds limiting,” the girl mused.

😤…

🫱🏻🫱🏻 UNconscious = A state of unresponsiveness

🫲🏻🫲🏻 SUBconscious = Underneath, below consciousness.

Unconscious SUBconscious bias. SUBconscious habits. SUBconsciously.

When you are UNconscious, you are not doing anything except having fainted, or being in a coma. Apparently, specifically brain death counts too. It is used most often and correctly in medical settings. You are not actively doing ANYTHING that involves bias or habits because you are NOT LUCID. You are the OPPOSITE of conscious.

When something is SUBconscious, it is a habit or opinion that you are awake to perform, but you are not aware that you are doing it, or you are not aware that it harms people.

When something is subLIMINAL, it is communication meant to bypass one’s immediate consciousness. It is BELOW your awareness. You see it in logo design a LOT, but importantly, *shakily grips your shoulders* YOU ARE AWAKE to INTERACT with them.

IT’S SUBconscious. SUB-!

Writing conventions are used to maintain clarity and understanding for the reader. That being said, conventions are not rules and some writers choose to subvert them. Whether learning conventions to use them or ignore them, being intentional and aware is ideal.

⬩ 𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔩𝔢 𝔳𝔰. 𝔡𝔬𝔲𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔮𝔲𝔬𝔱𝔢𝔰 ⬩ 𝔭𝔲𝔫𝔠𝔱𝔲𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱 ⬩ 𝔡𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝔳𝔰. 𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔞𝔤𝔰 ⬩ 𝔠𝔞𝔭𝔦𝔱𝔞𝔩𝔦𝔰𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 ⬩ 𝔠𝔦𝔱𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰 ⬩ 𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔦𝔯𝔢𝔠𝔱 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔫𝔞𝔩 𝔡𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 ⬩ 𝔢𝔪 𝔡𝔞𝔰𝔥𝔢𝔰 ⬩ 𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔭𝔰𝔢𝔰 ⬩ 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔯𝔞𝔭𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 ⬩

^Here's what's included below :)

Lose (verb): to be deprived of, to misplace something, or to be defeated in a contest or game

Loose (adjective) describes something that is not firmly attached, not tightly fitting, or free from restraint

So! Keep in mind…

lose is a verb, which means it is performing an action. It has to be connected to a subject that is doing something. I lose the game. She loses her shoe. I don’t want to lose.

Loose is an adjective, which means it is describing a noun. My pants are loose. The pickle jar lid is loose. She plays fast and loose with the rules.

Trick: If you want to say you need to lose something, but you’ve written “loose,” you need to lose an o.

It’s a common mistake that I keep seeing, but it’s an easily remedied one! Remember, writing clarity is important, and readers are more likely to stick with a story that they don’t have an overly difficult time deciphering.