Punctuation Tips for Writers

It’s National Punctuation Day. Yes, that’s really a thing, and it’s today, September 24.

I thought I’d give a few punctuation tips for writers because I see a lot of ebooks with “clunky” punctuation. That’s my nice way of saying, “You’re doing it wrong.”

 What to Call Digital Books—ebooks or Ebooks if at beginning of a sentence. Not e-books, E-books, eBooks. (I’ve been guilty of using eBooks because that was what they were called in the beginning.)

These punctuation “rules” follow Chicago Manual of Style and the Modern Language Association aka MLA Style Manual, but they may differ from the APA, the style manual of the American Psychological Association which is used to format papers, list sources, and cite references.

It should also be noted that most style manuals refer to printed documents, but the Chicago Manual of Style and the MLA seem to be embracing online publications. The most important rule is to be consistent in whatever style you choose to use.

Titles: Book, Plays, Films, Periodicals, Newspapers, Databases, and Websites

Titles should be italicized. Yes, I know most people do not italicize websites, but it is proper to do so. Examples follow.

Newspapers—New York Times, Houston Chronicle 

Books—Heat Lightning by Joan Reeves, The Key To Kristina by Joan Reeves

Plays—Hamilton, The Lion King, Les Misérables 

Films—Casablanca, Romancing the Stone, Kiss the Ground, A Documentary

Periodicals—Time Magazine, Vogue, Elle

Databases—Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL Server, MongoDB

Websites—SlingWords, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Titles: A Part of a Larger Work

In punctuating something that is part of a larger work, titles are treated differently. The title of the section of the larger work is placed in quotation marks. Examples follow.

Articles—”Survival mode: Inflation falls hardest on low-income Americans” by Rachel Siegel and Andrew Van Dam from the Washington Post

Essays—”Lost in the Kitchen” by Dave Barry

Chapters—”Chapter 1, Hell Hath No Fury Blah Blah Blah” from Sex, Murder, and Mint Juleps

Poems—”Chase Henry” in Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters

Webpages—”Vintage Columns” by Dave Barry

Songs—”God Bless America” or “Take It Easy” by The Eagles or “Pour Me a Drink” by Blake Shelton 

Speeches—”The Gettysburg Address” by Abraham Lincoln or “Tear Down This Wall” by Ronald Regan

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

That’s it for today’s little lesson. I do have another post planned to discuss Ellipses, a quandary for many authors.

Joan Reeves aka SlingWords: The Word Slinging Adventures of Joan Reeves