Comma Here: Part One

(NOTE: The following was originally published in the monthly newsletter of SPAWN, the Small Publishers, Artists, and Writers Network.)

You wouldn’t think so much turmoil could be caused by such a little thing—a mere squiggle. Yet the furor that can arise over commas makes that squiggle seem like the most powerful punctuation mark in the universe.

The Chicago Manual of Style devotes 15 pages to the many uses for the comma in its 14th Edition, so we aren’t going to be doing a comprehensive tutorial here. Instead, we’ll address a couple of issues that have come up recently and see if we can’t clarify them. If anyone has specific questions I’ll be happy to address them.

To begin, I’m going to discuss a subject that has arisen in the last few years, fostered, I gather, by academic linguists with too much time on their hands. According to this theory, the comma when used in prose should be thought of the same way it is in music and poetry--as a “pause.” So, it is said, one should punctuate one’s sentences according to the way they’re supposed to sound rather than simply follow a lot of arbitrary rules.

This has led to some writers demanding that commas be left out because they “interrupt the flow of the language.” And they can be extremely belligerent about it. However, taken to excess this can amount to micromanaging the reader, something they tend to resent. An analogy would be the writer who wants to italicize all the words he or she thinks should be stressed instead of letting that stress flow naturally in the reader’s mind.

It’s true that some of the rules governing comma use are flexible. It’s also true that those of us who have always been sticklers for correct punctuation can feel very uncomfortable not using that comma before “too” when it’s used as “also” or to set off interjections at the beginning of a sentence (Suddenly, John heard a scream.) However, as long as omitting that squiggle doesn’t confuse the reader, there’s no harm in allowing the author his/her way. Be prepared to fight, though, if you’re the editor, because the writer doesn’t always see the problem. And if you’re the writer, keep in mind that just because you understand it doesn’t mean everyone else will.

Another issue that arises more often these days as publishing crosses international boundaries is the differences between UK style and US.

In US style, the comma, like other punctuation, goes inside the quotation marks in quotes or dialogue:

“I can’t see the forest,” she whined.

In UK style, the comma--and all other punctuation--goes on the outside:

‘I can’t smell the cookies’, he complained. (Yes, our friends over the pond also reverse quotation mark usage.)

If you’re writing for a UK-based audience, you can save the editor trouble by following the UK rules, and it really isn’t that difficult. Use the Find/Replace function in your word-processor. Search for [,” ] (Don’t forget to include the space after the quotation mark) and replace it with [’. ]. Do the same for other punctuation marks while you’re at it. You’ll still need to go through and fix a few spots but that will take care of most of them.

One of the best online resources for basic questions of style can be found at Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/. Another comprehensive resource is offered by Capital Community College in Hartford, CT: http://cctc2.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm

However, there’s no substitute for having a good, comprehensive style reference. I use both the Chicago Manual and the less pricey Merriam-Webster Manual for Writers and Editors. Although both are geared more toward nonfiction, they at least give you the rules, which you can then play with for fiction so long as the prose communicates with the reader. There is also the Plain & Simple series of style books, which are available on Amazon and in the major bookstores--I’ve gotten tons of use out of my copy of the one on commas, if only to win arguments.