Re: Semicolon Survey

Subject: Re: Semicolon Survey
From: "Jo Francis Byrd" <jbyrd -at- byrdwrites -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 11:17:42 -0500

Didja also check for superfluous (and unnecessary) use of passive voice and
adjectives?

Goes without saying you didn't do a check for plot reality or
characterization....


Jo Byrd
(running for cover....)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Plamondon" <robert -at- plamondon -dot- com>
Subject: Semicolon Survey



A lot of the talk about semicolons has been pretty high-falutin', so I
decided to make a quick survey of industry practices among publishers whose
aim is to appeal to a mass audience with a none-too-high reading level.

Because I allotted myself only fifteen minutes for this task, I chose to
focus on the excerpts put up by romance publishers for their new releases.

The results:

HARLEQUIN ROMANCES: Out of five excerpts, not one used a single semicolon.

AVON ROMANCES: Two of four excerpts used semicolons in profusion; the other
two used none.

In both cases, I was taken by the wide use of typographical devices in the
excerpts: ellipses, em dashes, italics, quotations, and three asterisks
indicating breaks in the action. This certainly doesn't support the "commas
and periods only" school of punctuation.






References:
Semicolon Survey: From: Robert Plamondon

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