Wednesday, December 3, 2014

IWSG

First Wednesday of the Month

Today is the first Wednesday of December, which makes it IWSG time. Thanks to Alex and friends for putting this on each month. If you want to join in on the fun, you can link to it  here

Let’s eat Grandma.  Let’s eat, Grandma.

Commas save lives. 

I saw that saying on a t-shirt once and I burst out laughing. I wanted to buy one for me, and my editor, and my high school English teacher and…

Because they’ve all said one thing about my writing: I love commas. And I do, but I also hate them. Every time I have to do an edit on my work, I will inevitably be removing a few (hundred) commas. I have no idea how they make it in there, but they do. They are the bane of my existence. They are my disease.

But, at least they’ve made a shirt for me.

What is the bane of your existence, writing or otherwise?

17 comments:

  1. My CP gave me a clever saying very similar to your Grandma one. It helps me remember but, I'm notorious for putting commas everywhere they don't belong. I have to go back and take out (what feels like) hundreds too.

    Elsie

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  2. That's a cute way to remember about commas! I tend to overuse them, too. Just when I think they're exactly right, I find out there are too many! It's always a dilemma.

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  3. That's a funny saying.
    I wonder if there is one for exclamation points?

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  4. I have the same love-hate relationship with commas that you do, Melanie. I tend to overuse them, too. And it's funny that Alex mentioned if there was a saying like that about exclamation points since I blogged about an exclamation rule last week. haha

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  5. I don't curse at commas as much as I used to but they are pesky in their presence and their absence.

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  6. I don't have too much of a problem with commas but there are definitely certain words that I overused in my MS. I guess that's what Ctrl+F is for...

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  7. I find that a lot of writers I edit (largely English profs and PhD students) are either comma maximalists who go overboard and introduce choppiness, or minimalists who leave out needed pauses that enable you to follow what they are saying. Everything in moderation, as Aristotle wisely said!

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  8. I'm okay with commas, but I overuse "was" to death.

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  9. I use "that" way too much. Every time I go back through my manuscript I find a few more to toss out.

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  10. You're not the only they visit. Funny how they multiply between the words completely unnoticed until the big revision. :-)

    Anna from Shout with Emaginette

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  11. I love this post and that t-shirt! I have an issue with my commas, too. Sigh. I'm getting better. Hope you have a happy holiday and thanks for participating. Eva, IWSG Co-host

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  12. I think I have that comma thing, but with single or double quotation marks. If I counted right, there are only 7 commas in your IWSG post. :O)

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  13. I abuse commas as well. It took me a long to figure out why they kept showing up in my writing. I realized every time I pause the narrative in my head, a comma goes in. Completely unnoticeable on first glance, glaringly obvious upon reread.

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  14. Same here. I'm wondering where that obsession with commas comes from ;-)

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  15. I hate it when I see a sentence that begins with "which", because that means the sentence will be a fragment.

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  16. I am more of an "and" kind of a gal, but indeed, commas are necessary.

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  17. Just finished reading Erron and now processing *grin* Will post a review, FB, and Tweet when done reeling. *bigger grin*

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