Your Guide to Writing the Perfect Story

End Punctuation

Looking at this story, I can only imagine what my readers must be thinking. Why did I even open this story? She's just talking about first-grade writing. Yeah, I get that. I can only begin to imagine how boring it must be to go over capitals and exclamation points. . . . Believe me, it's just as boring to talk about it. All of that is beside the point. The reason I go through it is because it stresses me out when I see that a large percentage of Wattpad-users don't punctuate their sentences properly.

        So allow me to teach the "do's" and don'ts" of end punctuation! 

1. Periods

I can just tell you are going to be so amazed by the wondrous tips I'm about to drill into your brain. A period, my friends (we're talking about punctuation here), is the way that you mark the ending of a sentence. I know, it's pretty unbelievable, right? There is absolutely nothing spectacular about a period, except, perhaps, that without one I have no idea what the heck you are trying to tell me. Think about it, lazy-people-who-don't-punctuate-their-sentences (not everyone). If you don't put a period at the end of your sentence, I'm not reading your story, sorry.

2. Exclamation Points

Ah, the exclamation point. It is incredible the amount of people who don't know how to use the said form of end-punctuation. It's pretty basic. Try to avoid using an exclamation point repeatedly in narration. Let me show you why.

Example: I walk to school and look for my friends! I open my locker and grab my binders! After, I trudge to class! My teacher is writing something on the board! I have a test tomorrow! I love tests! Yes, everything I say is super upbeat and over-enthusiastic! There is my friend! I like her too! For breakfast I had cupcakes! Can you tell?!

        That, dear readers, was an example that I like to call the hyperactive cupcake lover. I don't know about you, but I don't talk super excitedly about everything... especially things that I don't like. The point is, don't overuse exclamation points.

        Another thing that people do that makes me want to cry is when they use more than one exclamation mark at the end of a sentence. One is fine, thank you. If you have three, or even two, you look unsophisticated, period. (See what I did there?) Not to mention that it is grammatically incorrect. This is also another way of seeming like a hyperactive cupcake lover.

3. Question Marks

One thing about question marks is that a lot of the time, people will write out a question... and put a period at the end. I've done it too, but I make an effort to pay special attention to what I'm writing and putting the proper punctuation mark at the end. Question marks are there to let us know that an inquiry or question is at work. When you forget to use one, it can be confusing.

        Another thing to be aware of is using a question mark on a statement. Well, here's my question to you: why? It concerns me that so many people randomly decide to put a question mark at the end of a sentence that is in absolutely no way a question! It sounds like the person is questioning themselves.

Example: I love dogs?

        That one made sense, but maybe the person saying it didn't actually mean to make it sound like they were questioning whether or not they like dogs. Still, why would anyone ask someone else if they, them self, liked dogs? They wouldn't. It's plain and simple. 

4. Ellipsis

An ellipses is simply . . . dot, dot, dot (but don't forget the spaces between your dots).There are four cases when you would use an ellipses.

a) The first case you would use an ellipses is most commonly used in dialogue (but is also possible in narration). This is where you simply trail off mid-way through your sentence and never finish your sentence. There can be two reasons why your character would do this. First, if something occurred to them while they were speaking and what they were about to say was no longer valid. The second, they realized that they were about to divulge something they didn't want the other person to know.

Example: "Hey! I just found . . ." Andy stopped. "Oh, it's you."

b) In the second scenario, an ellipses could signify an awkward pause. At this point, they have finished their sentence, but a pause follows and it is often shown with an ellipses.

Example: "I like you, Bridget. I can't help it. . . ." he finally confessed.

Notice how there were four dots in this case? That's because he finished his sentence and you still have to add a period at the end. Or a question mark. Or an exclamation mark (which is extremely rare because they kind of cancel each other out so . . . yeah, don't do it).

c) When there is a lot of things written down on a piece of paper, your character might skip pieces or only catch pieces of the announcement on the radio, etc.

Example: The old radio announced, "There has been a . . . disastrous results . . . no way out . . ."

d) I highly, highly, suggest that you do not use this in your story. You can show a pause simply by having a random ellipses, no dialogue or narration attached. You can, but it is extraordinarily ineffective. Just don't do it.

Remember that if it is a complete sentence, there needs to be a question mark or period at the end of the ellipses, depending. If it isn't, simply put three dots.

Another thing that I sort of covered under "Exclamation Points" is that you should never double-punctuate. It's pointless, looks bad, and doesn't make grammatical sense. I understand when you are trying to decide whether to put an exclamation or a question at the end so here's a tip to prevent it from happening.

You always choose the more dominant form of punctuation. That means that it goes (from least dominant to most) period, exclamation point, and then question mark. A question always has a question mark, as I've said. An exclamation point is more important than a period but not so as a question mark. Basically, a period is only in use when nothing else is required.

That would conclude my little talk on end punctuation. I hope that it answered any of your possible questions surrounding the topic.