Velvet Verbosity

Someone pointed out to me that my use of commas and semicolons needs some work. The person was an English major so I could hardly argue. They also complimented my writing in general. This also wasn’t the first time someone had pointed this out to me. In college I took a creative writing class. The professor really liked my writing and would often tell me that I was quite talented.

“If only you would get this punctuation thing down”, she would say in exasperation.

I would respond with a sheepish look and a smile. The truth was, I didn’t want to go back and learn how to properly use a comma or a semicolon. Those were the mechanical details of the craft, and I’ve always been resistant to mechanical details. Mind you, this is not because I can’t understand the mechanical details. I can, and very well. If you gave me a list of 100 sentences with instructions to place the commas in the right places, I would score a 95 or better. I know this because this is how I’ve always scored on such tests.

No, the problem is that once I’m into the artistic vision, I can’t merge it with mechanical details. I’m the same way with my camera. I got my first 35mm SLR upon graduation from high school. It was a Pentax K1000, and I still have it and use it. Even with the advent of digital cameras, this camera holds a special place in my heart. I am familiar with it’s heft and it’s basic mechanics. When I got it, I immediately sat down and read the manual. I learned about the light meter, the focus, and a few of the settings. Then I immediately set out to begin taking photographs. Once I started taking photographs, I was taken with the art of the photos. I took very good photos almost immediately and was satisfied. I never returned to the manual again. I could probably advance my art significantly if I did, but it would slow down my picture taking and I’m too far into that now.

Thus it is with my writing. I’ve been writing for so long now, and even though I aced those high school punctuation exams way back then, somewhere I went astray with my commas and I’ve never been able to go back and revisit the rules. Yet, having yet another person tell me that it detracts from my writing has compelled me to finally, grudgingly, return to some simple grammar rules. I Googled it and found these two good explanations. Sigh. I will be reading the rules now and then over the next few weeks so that I can try to get it right. I know I’ll be glad I did.

Commas Vs. Semicolons in Compound Sentences

English Punctuation: Commas, Semicolons, and Colons