The comma.

[sr71plt]

I was never in the military, which everyone who is here regularly knows. I'll stick with fuck off, drifter.

You have zero effect on me because you are a drone here. Granted, who who thinks he's really, really cute.

 

[sr71plt]

What, you've run out of bile, GA? Come on, I know this means so much to you. Do keep it up, ya hear? The world is depending on you.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

What, you've run out of bile, GA? Come on, I know this means so much to you. Do keep it up, ya hear? The world is depending on you.

i was doing life stuff - y'know, life? you wanna try and get one; other than the walter mitty universe you inhabit.

...and if i don't bother you, why do you keep on coming back with a riposte?

i know, rather than mug up this thread, we could start one and to-and-fro in privacy and comfort.

i could really spank your arse there. saves you embarrassment.

waddya say, walt?

 

[NotWise]

i was doing life stuff - y'know, life? you wanna try and get one; other than the walter mitty universe you inhabit.

...and if i don't bother you, why do you keep on coming back with a riposte?

i know, rather than mug up this thread, we could start one and to-and-fro in privacy and comfort.

i could really spank your arse there. saves you embarrassment.

waddya say, walt?

Sorry guys, but this is hilarious. I didn't think anyone could get quite so excited about English punctuation.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

Sorry guys, but this is hilarious. I didn't think anyone could get quite so excited about English punctuation.

i'm really concentrating on comma placement!

 

[NotWise]

i'm really concentrating on comma placement!

I imagine that would be creative comma placement.

 

[sr71plt]

Sorry guys, but this is hilarious. I didn't think anyone could get quite so excited about English punctuation.

It isn't about punctuation, is it? It's about some folks here feeling threatened about what they don't know and won't bother to learn. And it's about hate and bile. So, Internet business as usual.

 

[sr71plt]

I'm having--and have already had--a very interesting life, GA. (Bet I've been to most of the places you have before you got there). Thanks for showing such concern and making sweeping (and, as we've seen, false) assumptions about me. I understand that you feel the need to lift yourself up by trying to tear me down. Sorry, ain't gonna happen. But whatever floats your little boat.

Notice that I've never shown nosiness about your background. I guess I don't feel threatened by you like you seem to feel about me. I also haven't razzed you in the last ten years. You can't say the same. Sorry, my dance card is full.

 

[NotWise]

It isn't about punctuation, is it? It's about some folks here feeling threatened about what they don't know and won't bother to learn. And it's about hate and bile. So, Internet business as usual.

Well no, it isn't about punctuation now. I've had some questions answered about the appropriate use of commas -- thanks Pilot and others who responded to the topic. I'd love it if someone else commented on commas because the use of commas seems to be a common editorial issue.

Aside from that I don't think I'd call it hate and bile; I haven't been here long but I've been here long enough to say that "hate and bile" isn't a good description. Y'all have a complicated relationship and you amuse yourselves by going off on each other. I think that's fine as long as it's a mutual amusement.

 

[sr71plt]

Well, alrighty then. Of course you've only been here less than a year. It was pretty wild and hectoring here when LC had a gang to run with--before they dumped him.

 

[barefootgirl69]

I think you get the right rhythm if the commas are in the right place. The reader then knows something, unstated, about the character.
"throw the tablet down"? be thankful you ain't reading a tower PC. !

You understand perfectly! Without commas, you wouldn't pause when reading aloud; have you ever heard someone drone on and on, punctuation be damned? *shivers*
Honestly, it was my phone.

rules, eh?

fuck 'em.

although i sometimes wish cormac mccarthy would use a comma more often!

and when i see "come on England!" on Facebook posts during rugby competitions, etc., i do have to smirk.

Such a rebel!

 

[barefootgirl69]

Well no, it isn't about punctuation now. I've had some questions answered about the appropriate use of commas -- thanks Pilot and others who responded to the topic. I'd love it if someone else commented on commas because the use of commas seems to be a common editorial issue.

Aside from that(comma) I don't think I'd call it hate and bile; I haven't been here long(comma) but I've been here long enough to say that "hate and bile" isn't a good description. Y'all have a complicated relationship and you amuse yourselves by going off on each other. I think that's fine as long as it's a mutual amusement.

See what I did?
Commas off-set adverbial clauses or phrases which set the scene at the beginning of a sentence. (At noon yesterday,) (As soon as you get this,) (After drinking all night,)

Commas come before conjunctions (and, or, or but) when at the beginning of two independent clauses.

 

[kcRollins]

When I wrote for a newspaper, the most important punctuation (to the paper) was the comma. It's definitely an important punctuation; however, when the editor got my novel, the first thing she asked was: "Did you write for a newspaper?"

I tend to overuse rather than under use commas, but only when I deem them necessary. It's almost common sense if you read a sentence out loud. And I, too, am guilty of offsetting a name with commas (a newspaper habit). If it weren't for people like me, editors would be out of a job.

Although, I did read a headline once that went right past an editor: "Rachael Ray finds inspiration in cooking her family and her dog." ~shrugs~ (Maybe it wasn't a mistake - Bool kogi anyone?)

 

[LadyVer]

“Homosexuality is a chosen behavior that is contrary to the fundamental unchanging truths that has been ordained by God in the Bible, recognized by our nation’s founders, and shared by the majority of Texans."

Comma usage by the Texas GOP in their 2016 platform.

 

[sr71plt]

“Homosexuality is a chosen behavior that is contrary to the fundamental unchanging truths that has been ordained by God in the Bible, recognized by our nation’s founders, and shared by the majority of Texans."

Comma usage by the Texas GOP in their 2016 platform.

I thought of that one too, but this was a verb problem ("have" instead of "has"--the verb should be coming from "truths," not "homosexuality") not a comma problem. But it does point out how important grammar and punctuation can be to the meaning of what you write.

 

[Serafina1210]

Sorry guys, but this is hilarious. I didn't think anyone could get quite so excited about English punctuation.

Having been in this game for upwards of forty years, I can assure you that very few topics inspire more passion among writers than punctuation. The "Oxford Comma" battle regularly leaves puddles of blood among the cum splashes and used condoms on the Literotica floors. That's the greatest example, but other punctuation issues can also provoke spirited debate.

Meanwhile, more difficult questions, e.g. about point of view, tend to draw relatively placid, good-humored discussion.

Funny thing, though, is that the professional fiction writers I know mostly don't worry about punctuation much, but assume their editors will clean up after them.

 

[sr71plt]

Funny thing, though, is that the professional fiction writers I know mostly don't worry about punctuation much, but assume their editors will clean up after them.

This is true, to some extent, but I can assert (because I've worked in publishing houses) that providing good copy to begin with ups your chances of landing and continuing with a publisher. Editing time cost money; the more editing that is required, the more money a book project will cost. And the "pick me to publish" pile is huge.

The bottom line of your post, though, is that someone is going to apply publishing house standards before the thing gets published and there are publishing standards. It isn't "anything goes."

 

[SarahsHooters]

Punctuation, like much else, is subject to fashion. When I was at school and university (in the UK) there was a push to use fewer commas. Now the new national curriculum insists on bunging them in all over the place. A comma is deemed to be required following a "fronted adverbial", for example, so my last sentence would be considered incorrectly punctuated.

For those who are interested and have access to the BBC iPlayer, there was a fun edition on Tuesday on Radio 4 of the poet, Michael Rosen's "Word of Mouth" on the origins, development and usage of punctuation marks, from Aristophanes of Alexandria, through Jane Austen to the present day.

 

[Handley_Page]

Punctuation, like much else, is subject to fashion. When I was at school and university (in the UK) there was a push to use fewer commas. Now the new national curriculum insists on bunging them in all over the place. A comma is deemed to be required following a "fronted adverbial", for example, so my last sentence would be considered incorrectly punctuated.

For those who are interested and have access to the BBC iPlayer, there was a fun edition on Tuesday on Radio 4 of the poet, Michael Rosen's "Word of Mouth" on the origins, development and usage of punctuation marks, from Aristophanes of Alexandria, through Jane Austen to the present day.

There are times when I wish I understood such expressions as 'fronted adverbial '

<sigh>

 

[barefootgirl69]

There are times when I wish I understood such expressions as 'fronted adverbial '

<sigh>

It's the same as an adverbial clause or phrase at the beginning of a sentence.

"Sitting quietly, I sipped my tea."

As opposed to an adverbial phrase written this way:

"I sat in silence."

(Verb modifiers)

 

[NotWise]

It's the same as an adverbial clause or phrase at the beginning of a sentence.

"Sitting quietly, I sipped my tea."

As opposed to an adverbial phrase written this way:

"I sat in silence."

(Verb modifiers)

This is the sort of thing I complained about originally, where the rules require the writer to parse a sentence.

I think most people would put a comma in this example, but I'm not sure the comma does anything to make the sentence more understandable.

 

[sr71plt]

I think most readers would pause a bit at this point when reading it out loud, and thereby accepting that there should be a comma there. I've always just called that a gerund clause, though.

 

[barefootgirl69]

I think most readers would pause a bit at this point when reading it out loud, and thereby accepting that there should be a comma there. I've always just called that a gerund clause, though.

Though gerunds do begin with words having -ing, a gerund phrase functions as a noun.

"Washing clothes in a tub outside was a horrible chore!"

(Washing being the subject of the verb was)

Not all readers 'pause' while reading. While teaching a fourth grader to read, commas are important to show when and where to pause, just as periods tell them to stop.

 

[barefootgirl69]

This is the sort of thing I complained about originally, where the rules require the writer to parse a sentence.

I think most people would put a comma in this example, but I'm not sure the comma does anything to make the sentence more understandable.

But, if he is a writer, why not follow the rules? Is the writer lazy, or ignorant of the rules?

There are many people who read the stories on Literotica, and come across this very thing, a writer who has not used proper punctuation. The sentences go on and on and on without breath or pause, and it gets distracting. Honestly, it's frustrating. If you want to write, put the extra effort into doing it correctly.

* Not directed at you.

** No writers were hurt in the submission of this post.

 

[NotWise]

I think most readers would pause a bit at this point when reading it out loud, and thereby accepting that there should be a comma there. I've always just called that a gerund clause, though.

It is a gerund clause (or phrase) but why quibble over vocabulary, especially when we can find so many other things to quibble about?

Didn't JBJ give us the non-rule that you put commas where there should be a pause in speech? Personally I protest having a writer tell my where I should have a pause in my speech. Pauses are a unique character of a speaker's presentation.

There are reasons why I don't like leading a sentence with a gerund phrase. At least part of it is that I read my stories aloud to myself and those phrases seem very awkward.