Writing topics

Below is general information on some of the topics discussed in the Writing Specimen .

Commas

The purpose is to help the reader understand what's written, not to obey rules. Here are a few ways commas are used:

1.  After an introductory word or phrase.

        For the past year, she has worked in Chicago.
        In many ways, she had prepared years for that job.
        At the circus, an interesting thing happened.
        When it happened, everyone was astonished.

2.  Before and after a name or name substitute in dialogue. Speakers usually pause or use a different intonation when saying names.

        "Jean, could you help me?"
        "I know, baby, that it's very important to you."
        "Man, is it hot out today!"

3.  Before and after a participial phrase. Participial phrases begin with a participle or modified participle. There are two kinds of participles. Present participles are verb forms that end in -ing . Past participles are verb forms that often end in -ed or the equivalent for irregular verbs (e.g., wanted, looked, seen, made). Participles sometimes function as adjectives. For example, in the phrase an educated woman, the word educated is an adjective. Participles in participial phrases sometimes have properties of adjectives.

        Desire ripped through him, tempting him to follow her.
        Educated in Glasgow, she returned there every few years after.
        Strongly wanting to pursue a relationship, he offered to drive her there.

4.  Before a conjunction, especially and, but and or, when used to link independent clauses.

        I wanted to go before dark, but he wanted to wait as long as possible.
        She started studying English every day, and soon she knew a lot.
        There were many problems, so he gathered everyone for a meeting.

5.  After which when used as a relative pronoun modifying the whole phrase that comes before. In the sentences below, which is a relative pronoun.

        We found out where to go, which was a big help.
        They didn't know anything, which was not much help.

6.  Before and after the word too when used to mean also, not when used as in "The editor wrote too many long notes to the author."

        She, too, hoped that rain would come soon.

7.  Before and after a word, phrase or clause that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence.

        Mrs. Modigliani, her old finance prof, was in San Francisco for the weekend.
        John, who started the job two months ago, was late again.

In the first example, we know who was in San Francisco--Mrs. Modigliani--and the parenthetical words tell us more. In the second, we know that John was late, and the parenthetical phrase gives information about him without affecting the meaning.

If the word, phrase or clause is essential or adds something that restricts the meaning significantly, then no commas are used. If Jack has several sisters, you might refer to one of them as Jack's sister Jane . If Jack has only one sister, then it would be usual to use commas around Jane because stating her name does not affect the meaning.

Sometimes it's debatable whether a word or phrase should be surrounded by commas. In those cases, it's the writer's choice.

8.  After items in a series. When we write a series of three of more items, usually we place commas between items except between the last two, where we use and without a comma:

        John likes French, history and math equally.
        Next year, Mary wants to study French, read Shakespeare and play point guard.

In the first example the items are all things, while in the second they are all actions. It doesn't matter what the items are--we use the commas the same way.

This is a rule not to follow blindly. The sentence below has a series (punctuation, italicization, and dangling modifiers), but there is a comma between the last two items:

        Sometimes the rules of writing, such as the ones about punctuation, italicization, and dangling modifiers, are more stringent in theory than in practice.

The comma after italicization makes it clear that it's part of a series. Without that comma, the sentence would begin:

        Sometimes the rules of writing, such as the ones about punctuation, italicization and...

On first reading, it looks like such as the ones about punctuation is the complete phrase that expands on Sometimes the rules of writing, when in fact there is more to it. As soon as the reader gets farther in the sentence, it's obvious that punctuation is the beginning of a series, but it's possible that the reader will feel jolted and start the sentence again to understand it better.

The modern way is to use commas in all of the situations enumerated above. Not long ago, people more often omitted commas in 1, 4 and 6 above, and many educated writers still do in some situations.

Again, remember that you're trying to help the reader understand what you write. These are guidelines and judgment is required. For example, despite number 2, you might not put a comma in, "Watch out Chuck!"  In speech, it's common to pause when you say someone's name, but not when you yell at him to watch out.

Some people don't use commas for short sentences where a conjunction connects short, equal things, despite number 4.

        Roses are red and violets are blue.

Hyphenation

Compound adjectives are sometimes hyphenated. This is true especially when the final word in the adjective could not stand alone as a modifier.

        It was a hard-fought game.

It wouldn't make sense to say that it was a fought game, so the compound adjective is hyphenated. Similarly when a number is part of the modifier:

        We saw a ten-foot giant.

There is no hyphen when the number precedes a possessive:

        The chair will be ready after three week's work.

When a phrase acts as an adjective, the phrase but not what it modifies is hyphenated:

        He thought of himself as a rough-and-ready type of guy.

However, two or more adjectives that both modify the noun need not be hyphenated. Instead, a comma between the adjectives is usually right:

        He was a short, ruddy man.

Whether to put a comma between adjectives can be a matter of choice.

        He was a big fat man determined to get his way.

An adverb/adjective combination is generally not hyphenated when the adverb ends in -ly and unless the adverb/adjective combination is clearly a compound. There is no hyphen in:

        She was a supremely confident woman.

There is a hyphen in:

        It was a well-known ploy.

Passive voice

Most sentences are written in active voice. If the verb acts on something, it acts on the object rather than the subject. In a sentence written in passive voice, the verb acts on the subject rather than on an object, usually by using a form of to be along with a past participle.
        
This sentence is in active voice because gave acts on the book:

        She gave the book to her husband.

The next sentence is in passive voice because was given acts on the book:

        The book was given to her husband.

Both of these are good sentences. The difference between them is one of emphasis. The second emphasizes the book and what happened to it.

Passive voice is extremely useful. In the second example above, the writer might not know who gave the book. Maybe the writer knows who did, but wants to emphasize the book rather than who did the giving.

Reading sentences carefully

Do your sentences mean what you intend? Are they clear? Adverbs are especially tricky. Pay particular attention to the placement of not and only. An example of the difficulty with adverbs is shown in this sentence:

        The company's decision to cut staff soon changed employee morale.

Did the company decided to cut staff soon, or did its decision have an immediate effect on morale? The sentence should be recast.

Run-on sentences

Run-on sentences usually are two sentences in one, often separated by a comma. These can often be fixed easily, and there is almost never a reason to write a run-on sentence. Consider:

        Run-on sentences usually are two sentences in one, these can often be fixed easily.

The first part of this sentence, ending with one, is by itself a complete sentence. So is the part of the sentence after the comma. When two parts of a sentence are complete sentences themselves, separating them by a comma turns the whole thing into a run-on sentence. There are a few ways to fix this. One of the best ways to fix a run-on is to make it into two sentences:

        Run-on sentences usually are two sentences in one. These can often be fixed easily.

Another way is just to put a semicolon in place of the comma:

        Run-on sentences usually are two sentences in one; these can often be fixed easily.

When a semicolon separates a sentence of two parts, it's implied that the second part is closely related to the first part. It's not incorrect punctuation to make two unrelated sentences into one by separating them with a semicolon, but it makes no sense and misleads the reader.

Another way to fix a run-on sentence is to put a conjunction after the comma. (Note: it makes no more sense to connect unrelated things with a conjunction than with a semicolon.)

        Run-on sentences usually are two sentences in one, but these can often be fixed easily.

Sentence Fragments

A sentence fragment doesn't contain a verb showing action by the subject. Usually a fragment works best when it adds to something written in the previous sentence by giving an example or providing emphasis:

        They were always arguing about everything. Work, bridge club, men, where to eat. Everything.

A sentence fragment that doesn't logically expand on the previous sentence or lead to the next one is jarring to the reader.