Articles about punctuation

Free Online Grammar Checker

by Lisa Lepki Jul 12, 2018

Nothing makes a reader lose faith in a writer faster than a grammar error!

The ProWritingAid Editing Tool is one of the world’s best grammar-checkers, but it also looks at elements of style and structure that help you make your writing as strong and clear as possible. Here's a quick guide to how it works.

The Apostrophe: When to Use It and When to Avoid It

by Liz McMahon May 19, 2018

The apostrophe, when used correctly, can add clarity to a piece of writing. But when misused, the results can be confusing. We take a look at getting it right.

To vs. Too vs. Two

by Hayley Milliman Apr 20, 2018

To, too, two. We teach you how to decide which of these pesky little words to use in specific situations.

Than vs. Then

by Hayley Milliman Apr 20, 2018

"Then" and "than" are two pesky words that sound alike but have very different meanings. We explore when to use each term.

Why an Editing Tool is Like a Hovering Librarian

by Kathy Edens Mar 28, 2018

Imagine a kindly, bespectacled woman with fresh, minty breath hovering over your shoulder as you pour words out on the screen. Her critical task is to help you make every word choice the best and to guide you to clearer, more concise sentences. She has your literary best interests at heart.

It’s vs. Its: Let’s Get It Straight

by ProWritingAid Mar 06, 2018

Contractions. Possessives. When do you use an apostrophe? Follow these rules on it’s versus its and self-edit with confidence.

Inventing Characters: A Character is What He Does, His Motives, and His Past

by Kathy Edens Jan 02, 2018

Characters in books give us insight into the human condition. We learn how people behave and what’s in human nature from our favorite characters in books and on the big screen.

Orson Scott Card says out of the multiple ways to get to know someone, the most powerful and the ones that make the strongest impression are:

What your character does
What his or her motives are
What they’ve done in the past

Let’s look at these and a few other ways of getting to know your characters.

Exclamation Points Don’t Have to be Useless!

by Benjamin More Dec 07, 2017

Cursed exclamation points! What purpose do they serve in modern literature? They’re still taught as basic punctuation, but their existence is frowned upon. Last I heard, no more than two should be used in an entire novel. Two? That’s it? Even for thrillers and horror?! This topic outrages me to the point of using them after every sentence, even the questions.

7 Grammar Rules Your Editor Wants You to Know

by ProWritingAid Sep 18, 2017

You don't want to send an overworked and underpaid editor a manuscript with glaring grammar and punctuation errors. Especially if the editor decides whether your piece runs or not. Send in a poorly edited piece, and you will end up in the slush pile. No editor has time for drastic rewrites.

Gender Neutral Pronoun Consistency—Is This Still a Thing?

by ProWritingAid Apr 10, 2017

How many times have you written a sentence using a gender-neutral antecedent (the word a pronoun replaces) and stumbled? Which pronoun do you use—he or she?The student may borrow whichever book he (or she?) needs. The Traditional Solution

Hyphenation: When Nouns Become Adjectives

by ProWritingAid Feb 20, 2017

Compound adjectives are made up of a combination of noun plus adjective, noun plus participle, or adjective plus participle. More often than not, these are hyphenated. Let’s look at a few.

Should Dialogue Stand Alone?

by ProWritingAid Dec 27, 2016

How you format dialogue is a matter of style rather than a rule. There are a few guidelines, however, that make dialogue easier for your reader to follow. And we want our work to be easy to read.

Some novelists like Cormac McCarthy do their own thing with dialogue. For example, McCarthy doesn’t use quotation marks, which is his style of choice. Most of us need to follow our publishing house’s rules, or at least accepted standards. Here are 3 unequivocal standards for starting new paragraphs in dialogue.

Writing for a British Audience

by Heather Baker Nov 16, 2016

As someone who lives and runs a business in the UK and has travelled extensively in the US, I can tell you from first-hand experience that there’s a world of difference between the way Americans and Britons do things.

And I’m not just talking about the fact that we drive on the ‘wrong’ side of the road (though, you know, obviously remember that if you decide to visit).

There’s the whole ‘s’ versus ‘z’ argument, the fact that we prefer spelling colour with a ‘u’ and grey with an ‘e’. And of course, let’s not forget about our penchant for the imperial system.

Grammar and measurements aside though, when it comes to marketing across the pond the differences are both vast and nuanced. We’re all speaking English, but that doesn’t mean it’s the same language.

How to Punctuate and Format Inner Dialogue

by ProWritingAid Oct 07, 2016

Inner dialogue is an excellent way to give your readers a peek inside the heart and mind of your characters. Readers can’t get this depth of character strictly from the actions you include in your story. You should give them inner thoughts to create 3-D characters with which your readers will fall in love.

The bad news is that there is no hard and fast rule about formatting inner dialogue. Depending on which author, editor, or publisher you talk to, there are as many ways to handle inner dialogue as there are people writing it.

Hyphen, En Dash & Em Dash: Do You Know the Difference?

by ProWritingAid Sep 28, 2016

Are you aware of these three little lines and how they’re used in punctuation?

-Hyphen

⎻En Dash

—Em Dash

Let’s talk a little more about each.

When Do I Need to Hyphenate?

by ProWritingAid Jul 06, 2016

Depending on who you subscribe to, you may hear some very different ideas concerning when and how to hyphenate. We’re here to set the record straight:

When in doubt, look it up.

Yep. This is the one form of punctuation that you’re best off looking up if you’re unsure. And another complication is that various style manuals conform to different rules. Add to that the state of fluctuation around certain words that can either be hyphenated, two separate words, or written together as one. Click through for some practical examples.

Where Does Punctuation Go in Dialogue?

by ProWritingAid Jun 08, 2016

Dialogue is a fantastic way to bring your readers into the midst of the action. They can picture the main character talking to someone in their mind’s eye, and it gives them a glimpse into how your character interacts with others.

That said, dialogue is hard to punctuate, especially since there are different rules for different punctuation marks—because nothing in English grammar is ever easy, right? We’re going to try to make this as easy as possible.

Why We Love the Oxford Comma

by ProWritingAid May 09, 2016

What is the Oxford comma? And why is there so much debate around whether it should be used? ProWritingAid advocates a nuanced approach to the Oxford comma depending on the clarity of the sentence.