Friday, August 29, 2008

A little goes a long way


Call me Ishmael. What a great opening. I was reading a book that discussed this very line. It delved into the idea of changing the punctuation of the line and how a single comma could irrevocably and completely destroy this thing of beauty. For example, "Call me, Ishmael." Could imply that the author wanted a dude named Ishmael to return his call. Or if you put the comma in a different place, "Call, me Ishmael." makes it sound that the author is a caveman introducing himself to another named Call. Which makes no sense whatsoever.

Even though this wasn't the point of the book, it brought up a good point: Punctuation is important. It can ruin an amazing book or it can launch an illustrious career in novel writing. So, watch your punctuation, you never know who's reading your writing,













Just kidding, I put that comma there on purpose just to throw you off.

No comments: