Yeah, I guest that could have been it.
So anyway. I told them that they could get some extra credit points by visiting here and commenting when they saw an article about writing. I know, I'm a big ole softy, but HELLO!!!! This is the one for this week!!!!!
And I'm speaking of exclamation points.
To anyone with a third-grade education, an exclamation point expresses excitement. I hear the intro music to Schoolhouse Rock right now.
(Oh, oops, I'm showing my age. For those of you who didn't grow up in the 70s and 80s, SR played little educational tunes with dancing cartoon characters between commercials during Saturday morning kid's programming. They taught me what a Bill was, all about conjunctions and adverbs, and I still use the "Little Twelve-toes" song to remember the 12 multiplication table.)
The exclamation point was highlighted in the Interjections video. "For excitement or emotion, they're generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point, or by a comma when the feeling's not as strong."
Only I'm learning that those cool looking little punctuation marks that I used to dot with a heart aren't to be used in professional writing. Oh my gosh! I mean ... Oh my gosh.
From what I understand, those marks put a broad neon sign on my manuscript that blinks saying, "Novice, beginner, amateur." I'm so glad I learned that before I did much in the way of shopping my manuscript! Oops.
I can only guess that the mark became so woefully overused by freshman writers (No, not ya'll, I'm talking about newbies on the publishing scene at this point, like me.) that they detracted from the writing rather than adding to it.
I can live with that. I scaled my novel down from its several hundred points to only about 125. Okay, make it 75. Can I keep in about 30? But I really like that one!
Yes, I sacrificed every single one of those cute little dots on the pyres of writing professionalism. Rest in peace.
By the way, I can't think of any circumstance where an exclamation point could possibly be appropriate for expository writing. Hint. Hint.
Is there an acceptable time to use the exclamation point in fiction or non-fiction writing? I'd love to hear your opinion! Oops, did it again.
I read once that an exclamation point is you laughing at your own joke :-) I thought that was a good one.
ReplyDeleteI think some publishers allow them more than others, but they should be used sparingly. My advice to other writers would be to read books published by people you want to be published by and use that research as a guideline.
Both my daughter and I erupted in a "Ha!" as I read your comment. I agree, Natalia, that's a great definition.
ReplyDeleteAnd your advice is brilliant. I've been inhaling inspirational novels and books on craft all summer. (I do find the novels a little easier to read - probably because they don't include homework.)
I had no idea that exclamation points were so looked down upon! Haha, wups. I would have a hard time writing without them. (Oh, and you're not the only one who still likes Schoolhouse Rock. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, well you come by the quirky, old TV love naturally!
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame, really, because they can work so well as decoration. Sort of like jewelry at the end of our sentences. Oh well.
Wow, I am totally going to have that "Interjection" song stuck in my head for the rest of the day. I really had never thought of exclamation points as being overused before. It makes sense, though. Thank you so much for sharing your insight.
ReplyDelete-Amy Jo
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (sorry, i just had to get that out of my system....)
Happy to be of service, Amy Jo. Anytime you feel the need to expunge some just come on the site and know that you have a safe place to let them all out!
ReplyDeleteI think exclamation points can definitely be overused. Especially if you use them too much, the value of them is cheapened. (Then it's like, Oh my gosh, is this person just excited about everything?) But the thought that publishers don't like them is interesting. I guess it becomes a challenge for the more professional writers to make something exciting with out a bunch of !!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what it does. I think maybe newbie writer's have used them like crutches, along with italics and all caps. The publishers want to remove the crutches and see if the stories can stand alone.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Ellie! See you in class!
I think exclamation points are perfect for portraying strong emotion, and I can't think of any good books without emotion ;)
ReplyDeleteI suppose I see their point though :\
I'm going to take all the !'s out of my essays :P
btw, who hasn't seen schoolhouse rock?
I love schoolhouse rock. :) Of course, I am not old enough to have seen them on TV, I have them on video though. I don't often use exclamation points, so I understand why they aren't good for formal writing. Personally I find expressive words and adjectives much more effective in portraying emotion. It is a shame though, because sometimes exclamation points are just more fun!
ReplyDeleteoops.
So glad you both got the POINT!
ReplyDelete