Link to WVU's Grammar Course lessons:
http://writersvillage.com/100/courses/business-courses/103/1.htm
Dashes
The most common dash is an em-dash. (The name describes its width, which
is the same as a capital M.) That's the dash that works as sort of an amplified
comma, in sentences like this:
My three brothers--Larry, Moe, and Curly--all skipped my wedding.
There was only one thing to do--find out who killed George.
"Oh, my God! The dead man looks just like--" A shot rang out. (Use a dash
in dialogue to indicate that the speech has broken off abruptly; if it
trails off, use an ellipsis: "Um, I don't really know...")
(It's kind of fun writing really bad prose to serve as examples. LOL.)
Most word processors can do em-dashes; in Word, just type two hyphens between
two words (no spaces) and it should be set to change them to a dash
automatically.
If your word processor doesn't do that, you can also indicate an em-dash
by using two hyphens. That's how they did it back in the typewriter days.
I wonder if you were using hyphens instead of dashes (you do in your post).
A hyphen is the shortest "dash" and is only used to join certain compound
words (like em-dash or twenty-three) or to create compound adjectives in
front of a noun (like blue-green eyes). People often use hyphens when they
should be using dashes, but because they have different functions, this
substitution can be confusing to the reader. A hyphen is always part of
a word. A dash is always a mark of punctuation showing the relationship
between different elements in a sentence. One way to remember it is this:
a hyphen isn't big enough to do a dash's job.
(There's also a dash called an en-dash, which is halfway in length between
a hyphen and an em-dash. Those have a couple of uses, but the most common
is in number ranges, like 15-20. There are also "three-em dashes," a single
dash the length of three em-dashes put together, but you'll almost never
have a reason to use those in fiction, so I won't go on about them.)
The judge shouldn't have marked you off for using asterisks to mark a scene
or POV change. That's common practice; different publishers will have different
preferences, but it's not an issue of "right" or "wrong." Anyway, it's
a typesetting thing, not an issue when the book is in manuscript form,
for heaven's sake.
--Nancy
As the grammar aficionado that I am, I had to review the semi-colon rules
after you suggested I needed a semi-colon where I had none several weeks
running.
I learned something, but it's not quite what you might think. (The thing
that's cool to me about looking up grammar rules is that every time I dive
into the book, I learn something new that I can use to make my sentences
more interesting and varied.)
So, an interesting FYI that (I hope) will be helpful to all of us:
The uses of one of my favorite punctuation marks, the semi-colon::
1: To join two independent clauses (i.e., complete sentences).
I ate the entire pizza; my stomach was about to burst.
2: To separate two INDEPENDENT clauses that are joined by a "pseudo" conjunction--a
word that is "like" a conjunction, but not a real conjunction. "Common
examples are otherwise, then, however, also, next, eventually...
She ran to the market; then she went to the library.
NOTE: Without the "she" in front of the second clause, you would NOT use
the semi-colon.
3: In place of a comma, if a comma would be confusing.
Part A attaches to B; C and D attaches to E; and F attaches to G. (Wouldn't
the sentence be confusing if it read: "Part A attaches to B, C and D attaches
to E, and F attaches to G"?) In this case, if you use a semi-colon in one
instance in the sentence, you have to use them in them all.
4: If you feel a comma is not strong enough. This is a matter of personal
style. NOTE: For long sentences, this can give the reader a chance to catch
his/her breath.
5: In place of a conjunction.
She longed to stay; she had to leave.
CAUTION: Make sure the missing conjunction is obvious--don't leave the
reader guessing.
6: To link related sentences--they MUST be related. It wouldn't make sense
to write: I'm craving fudgy brownies; tomorrow is Thursday. (Unless of
course, I'd earlier written that Thursday was fudgy brownie day and the
reader would remember that.)
When two sentences are linked, however, and words are omitted, this is
called "elliptical construction" (I had to look that up), and a comma takes
the place of the omitted words.
"I thought she was an orphan [,] or [; I thought] or [. I thought] that
her family died in a fire."
Gay
-------------------------
Hi Gay,
Great list, nicely explained. Semicolons do tend to give writers a lot
of trouble. In fact, a lot of writers would be better off forgetting they
exist. (I'm not serious, but almost.)
I taught grammar/punctuation in college-level writing courses for a lot
of years. I used to teach that a semicolon shows a period over a comma,
which is a good way to remember that it represents a pause or break that's
greater than a comma but less than a period. If you use semicolons well,
they provide a touch more control over a reader's experience of your writing
by communicating the kind of break you want. So you're absolutely right
that the semicolon can make sentences more interesting and varied; it's
another instrument in your orchestra, so to speak.
Speaking as a former English prof and an editor, I'd say there are really
only two times to use a semicolon:
1. To join two independent clauses when (a) they're not already linked
by a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) and (b)
they require a closer connection than a period implies.
2. To separate items on a list when the list items already contain commas:
On our vacation, we went to Boston, Massachusetts; Portsmouth, New Hampshire;
and Portland, Maine.
These two situations sum up everything presented on the list you found
and, I hope, simplifies it a bit.
Note: A good way to remember the coordinating conjunctions is the acronym
FANBOYS.
Another note: If the independent clauses are short, you can also use a
comma, which may be preferable: I came, I saw, I conquered.
Thanks for bringing this up. Believe me, editors everywhere appreciate
authors who know how to use a semicolon. :)
--Nancy
Below are some basic HTML codes (provided by Mary and Joan)
bold italics underline
You use these "brackets:" and inside, you put b, i, and u. You open with
the brackets and the letter, and you close with a bracket and a diagonal
slash / followed by the letter, followed by a bracket. I hope that makes
sense. I can't demonstrate or the signal will just make my word bold, italicized
or underlined.
Bold
Italic
Underline
This blue bold italic is underlined
You will have to remove the spaces between > this character to make it
come out and all you have to do is highligt the above ctrl c to copy it
and save it for future use. I hope this helps if not let me know and I'll
send you a word document giving you all the steps.
From WVU:
What those assignments have used is HTML coding, the "language" for use on the Web. HTML codes surround the words that you want to make appear differently. HTML code appears within the greater-than and less-than signs (a.k.a. pointy brackets) that appear on your keyboard on the comma and period keys. Because the HTML tags will disappear and leave only the formatting, for these examples, I am leaving extra white space within the code. Actual code will not have these extra spaces.
< i >this is italic< /i >
appears as this is italic
< b >this is bold< /b >
appears as this is bold
< u >this is underlined< /u >
appears as this is underlined
< h3 >this makes a nice heading for a chapter < /h3 >
appears as
Remember to use a tag right before and immediately after the word(s) you want to format. Use the forward slash (question mark/slash key) to turn off the code. If you don't do this, your entire post could be bold/italicized, etc. Use Preview Post to make sure that the formatting is the way you want it.
(With thanks to Charity Tahmaseb)
Different members have mentioned losing their feedback halfway through
before posting and having to start all over again. What I usually do is
to copy and paste my fellow members' work to a file in Microsoft Windows
under the name "Critiques." Then, I can work off line any time I want to.
I save the file as I critique, too, so I won't lose anything. Then, when
each chapter is finished, I cut and paste what I've done back onto the
board. That way, even if the board loses it for some reason, I can go back
in my "Critiques" file and get it again. I haven't lost anything. When
I'm sure the critique is posted, I delete that critique.
Just a thought. I hate to see anyone losing hours of work!
Mary M.
**
I copy the post and paste it into a Microsoft Word file, then I edit it
there.
(I use "Track Changes" and have it do my changes in color, and I have a
cool program called "Typinator" that will add the HTML code for me with
some shorthand strokes so it's easy for me to make the bold, italics and
color--by having it do color where I do the changes, I can see if I've
forgotten to "close" any of my HTML tags before I send my post back).
When I'm done, I select it all and copy, then paste it into the message
window... hit preview for one last check and if all is good, I post the
message. Once it's safely posted, I delete the work file from my computer
and move on to the next file I have to critique.
It does save you from losing work, and the color change so you can see
where you've commented helps A LOT (as does the ability to see a larger
section of page, enlarge the type, and do all the other things you can
do in a word processor that you can't do onscreen).
When I travel, I'll even load the files into my little AlphaSmart (if I'm
somewhere where I don't feel comfortable dragging along my computer) and
edit them there, then transfer them back to my computer to upload. The
only thing is that you sometimes have to check that you leave an extra
carriage return between paragraphs for readability because you'll lose
all of your tabs, so otherwise the paragraphs can run together if the lines
don't end somewhere that makes it obvious that the next line isn't a continuation.
Gay