I just finished judging a short story contest for teen writers on Writing.com. The project is going on hiatus until the fall, since the weeks between Spring Break and end-of-term exams are busy enough for kids and typically lead to poor turnout. I designed the contest as a platform for teens to showcase their work, and I offer in-depth critiques of every entry, in the mentoring spirit of helping young writers hone their fledgling crafts.
The payoff is I develop a deeper sense of my own craft, as I include in my reviews discussions on basic elements of storytelling and grammar.
One thing I see time and again in teen writing is the overuse of the exclamation point. This powerful little punctuation mark raises the tension of a sentence. Used too often, readers will feel like they're shouting the story. Exclamation points are a lot like Habanero sauce: A couple drops can bring out the flavor of the food, too much will overpower the diner's palette and ruin the dish.
I advise writers of these do's and don'ts of exclamation point usage:
Do use an exclamation point in dialog, when the speaker is extremely angry, shocked, frightened, or joyful. Always use it with dialog tags like "he shouted" or "she shrieked." However, if the speaker hasn't raised his or her voice, don't use an exclamation point.
Do use an exclamation point in non-question sentences that begin with "What" or "How":
What an idiot I was!
How gorgeous was that wedding!
Do use an exclamation point, if you wish, after an onomatopoeia:
The sudden screech! of the back door hinges startled me from my reverie.
Don't use an exclamation point in any other situation in formal writing. (I always qualify to my teen contest entrants that this is my own personal rule. Some writers will argue that there must be other times an exclamatory sentence pops up in formal writing. My answer is sure, you could use them, but if you aren't picky and careful to use them sparingly, you risk giving your writing a parochial, unpolished sound.)
Don't use more than one exclamation point in a row. Seriously, don't do it. Not in dialog. Not if something totally freaky and heart-stopping happens in your novel. Don't.Use.More.Than.One. Ever!
Now, anyone who's received a comment by me on their blog knows that I'm an exclamation point abuser in real life. Emails, blog comments, FaceBook and Twitter are perfect places to let loose your crazy, hilarious, fun-loving, over-the-top, exclamation point-needing voice. Show the love! Shout out loud!! Go for it and express yourself! So that, when you sit down to write your novel, you have all those compulsions for exclamation points out of your system. Your prose will sound refined and dynamic without them, because of the natural strength of your talent and through the creativity in your word choices.
What's your take on exclamation point usage? Do you agree? Have anything to add?
38 comments:
I'm in full agreement with you! I love how much time you took to create this post because it is very important to know when to use certain punctuation! Haha I love the exclamantion mark can you tell? Only because I do get really excited when blogging but when it comes to my writing they are hardly used, only when making a point!
Great post!
I agree with everything you said. I, too, use a lot of exclamation points (and ellipses) in emails and comments etc. But not in my writing.
I'm a high school English teacher, and I think your advice is absolutely correct. Do you mind if I copy this post for my students?
I think it's funny that you talk about your use of exclamation points. I've noticed that I tend to overuse them in blog comments too (except that I tried really hard not to use them in this comment, and now it lacks emotion). :)
Exclamation points are great fun in casual writing, such as this comment, by god!
In prose I would go even further than you: in dialog they're fine but can be overused, in narration I try to avoid them altogether. If I can't illustrate emphasis through the language alone then the punctuation probably won't do it either.
Thanks for sharing Nicole!
I think I've used exclamation points a few times in my manuscripts but VERY sparingly. I think the same point can be derived from the description of how it was said or in how the character behaves next.
Perfect Post! And like you I only use them in blog posts. I don't think I've ever used one in any of my work.
I very rarely use exclamation points in my writing. And I mean almost maybe never. And I tend not to use dialogue tags much either. I wonder if there's a connection? Anyway, I think your advice was right on.
This made me laugh, cuz my beta is always harping on my for over using !!!!! ????? ?!?!. I like it, but I'm cutting back. Thanks for the tips!
~JD
This is a great post! I always have to edit out my exclamation points. Even in emails. I find that when I don't use them I appear much more older and more professional.
Very good post. It is true that we learn a lot about our own writing when we critique others.
I use a lot of exclamation marks on the blog and blog comments (sometimes I can't resist!), but I use them pretty sparingly in my MS. I agree with your assessment-- too many exclamation marks make reading choppy. But I do have a place in my MS where I use more than one in a row. It's in dialogue and I think it works, but now I'm wondering if I should look at it again.
Great post. It made me think about how I use exclamation points in my own writing.
Most of the time, I avoid using them since they can be quite tricky.
I do all the 'don'ts'' in my comments and posts and emails. I over-use everything: punctuation, slang, ellipses, dashes...or even under-use them, being all lazy and crazy and stuff.
But, I don't believe I've ever used an exclamation point in any of my manuscripts. Maybe once in a yelling dialogue.
I love that graphic you found, yo!
Happy Humpday,
Lola
I have an link on my blog to an article by Elmore Leonard called Easy on the Hoopdedoodle. It's a great article on writing. He also addresses the exclamation point and says that one should aim to only use one for every 100,000 words. While this is a little extreme it definitely gets the point across that ! should be used sparingly. Great post! (ha ha)
Ha! This reminds me of a book I helped to write on punctuation for Purdue University. I dealt with the question mark and the exclamation point. Did you know that there is something called the interrobang? It's a cross between a question mark and an exclamation point. It's not readily accepted by the writing community, but I totally wish I had a key on my keyboard for it. I'd use it all the time.
Like, here:
Are you kidding me?!
See, wouldn't it be better to have punctuation that expresses a shouted question?
:)
What about the interrobang? Can we use the interrobang in our fiction? What?! We can't!? (Wait. What's the order of the marks in an interrobang? Er...)
I very often leave dialogue tags out of my work altogether, unless I want them for rhythm. In those cases, the exclamation point has to do all the work of showing that the speaker is shouting, or making an emphatic point. It's up to that, I think.
(Incidentally, I wrote my comment, like, an hour ago and only just pasted it in here. I am totally not copying Carol. Nope.)
I completely agree! What a wonderful post!! I can't contain how excited I am to have read it!!!
You make some very good points here, and the rules you've defined are spot on. I tend to pull back even more than what your rules allow, but I still agree with those limitations. Great advice.
How do you feel about double punctuation!?
Good advice for those true writing moments. But when I'm writing informally - like leaving a comment on your blog - I love exclamation points! And smiling, winking emoticons ;-) And what about those question mark/exclamation point combos... Don't you just love 'em?! I do! What I really hate is people who write in all caps. NOW THAT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I'M BEING YELLED AT!
Great post! (Tee, hee, sorry, I couldn't resist using *one*, but I'll try to keep it to one.)
I couldn't agree more. Just out of curiosity, I searched my first manuscript. Out of about 400 pages, there were 24 exclamation points. Not horrible, but I'm trying to decide if that's too many ... Interesting food for thought.
In reading other people comments I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who overuses the exclamation point when leaving comments! Seriously!! Whats that all about? I rarely use them in my book, but for comments I can stop the bleeding!!!!!!!!!!!! Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree with you.
I try to use exclamation points rarely. There are moments when they're necessary but overusing them takes away their power.
Jai
I've always heard that overuse of exclamation points is like shouting - constantly.
I cringe when I get on Facebook and see a million exclamation points following someone's status or wall message. (Um, yeah, I did this yesterday but I had a good reason!) I try not to use exclamation points at all, unless I find it absolutely necessary.
In real life, miiiiiight be a bit of an e.p. junkie. Might. I'm a little over-excitable.
I'm a huge user of these ghastly things in every day written word. I think I overdose on them !!!!!! ;)
But rule of thumb for novels is , not many more than 3 in the whole book. Can you believe that? So, I was informed by my mentor. I suppose if we are good writers, we should be able to 'show' when someone is raising their voice etc, without using it :)
Great post. SO useful.
I loved your hot sauce metaphor. Yes, just a few drops brings out flavor. More and you ruin the dish.
I rarely use exclamation points in my writing. Out of curiosity I did a search for them in my 80,000 word MS and came up with less than 60 total. All of them were used in the manners you described - in dialogue, or with words like "Crash!"
Great tips.
I've been writing today...if I could just turn off my internal editor I'd have more to show for it!...but I've enjoyed everyone's comments! Did you feel like me when you commented? Like you didn't want to use an E.P. here?!! LOL!!!!!!!
And I to Carolina and Simon, I'd never seen the interrobang before today. I came across an image for it when I searched my graphic, and I thought it was just someone's idea of a joke. It's a real thing? I want one on my keyboard!
I hope to visit all your blogs in the next 24 hours!!
I use it waaaay too much in normal writing (i.e., emails, blogs). But the funny thing is, I rarely use it in writing.
Cool that you're judging a writing contest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love your blog!!!!!
Seriously.
I don't know as I ever use exclamation points in my ms. I worked as a journalist for a while and they were verboten. After I left that biz though, I use them madly in casual emails and comments. A case of forbidden fruit being ever so sweet!
I definitely agree. That's why I had a hard time reading Brian Jacques, because he uses exclamation points EVERYWHERE. I felt like I was gagging on them.
I love an exclamation point after an onomatopoeia.
I can't quite explain why -- I just think it's chic, eloquent, a little racy, even.
Fun post! (I typed about 4 of them in a row: !!!! but just couldn't keep them. More than one at once is just too much to swallow.)
In informal writing I use a lot of exclamation points. But I find nothing more annoying than reading a book where I picture the characters screaming at me all the time or being really dramatic. I completely agree with your Do's and Don'ts for exclamation points.
Thanks for this post! I don't think I have anything to add that hasn't been said, but I just want to echo that yes -- I try not to overuse the e.p. in my actual manuscripts -- but on my blog, facebook, emails, etc.? Oh, I'm always going like this !!! It's too fun not to!
I'm always amazed by how many exclamation points I use in blog comments. I've been trying to break that habit, but they still come out all the time.
But, as far as books, I couldn't agree more that they need serious limits. I love James Patterson's Maximum Ride series (LOVE it), so I was really surprised when I read one of his earlier books at how many exclamation points he used in the text. It was very annoying to me as a reader.
Cody here. I love this post, I will never use more then one exclamation point in a row ever!!! Starting tomorrow.
I'm another who will use it on my blog/when giving comments; however, they rarely see the light of day in my manuscript.
I use !!!! a lot in my blogs and comments - usually not that many in a row, but you get the idea :)
I found one in my ms when I was revising on the weekend. One. And I kind of freaked out a little. It's in dialogue. It's a Wow kind of moment. I re-read it and re-read it. And finally deleted it. Then put it back. Still not sure. I have the line highlighted so I can decide next round. Don't know if it will make it or not.
While I rarely use exclamation points in my fiction writing (other than in dialogue, and even then quite sparely), I tend to use them liberally when commenting on blogs and social networking sites! :-D
Yes, this is good to know because it can look very amateurish to include exclamation points in non-dialogue writing. I was guilty of it, and while editing, noticed how silly it sounded for my narrator to be shouting her descriptions. It's another example of show, don't tell. You can show the reader your MC is excited with words, and withhold the exclamations.
However in chat rooms and postings it's on like Donkey Kong baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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