I think they are forever going to the bane of my existence as a writer. You see, I trust my grammar check.
Well, I used to. 😛
If you’ve been following my blog then you know that bad grammar was the main complaints in my two RWA contest entries. All the judges have commented on the same thing. . .comma usage.
I get that I don’t use them enough, but after doing the interactive exercises here, that my cp Cece introduced me too, I can honestly say that a couple of those judges inserted way too many in my entries.
Here’s to hoping that my newly acquired knowledge, and lack of trust in grammar check, helps me sell my newly revised romance novel.
Ok . . .it’s only half revised, but I’m gettin there! :hehe:
Commas are really subjective – only few hard and fast rules for them. (and even those get broken all the time) When I taught, I’d tell the kids to read their stuff out loud. If they had to pause to breathe during a sentence, it meant the reader’s eyes would need a comma break too.
Then there’s my husband, who writes first and then goes back and sprinkles in the commas and other punctuation. Needless to say, everything he writes gets proofed by me. 😀
I actually found that site really helpful. Some of the explanations given were things I haven’t seen since high school. :-O I plan to bookmark the site so I can return to refresh my memory. Thanks for sharing. Jordan, who is equally comma challenged.
Believe it or not, I think commas are as subjective as everythign else. I’ve gotten reamed for them also. And tehy matter MUCH more to RWA contest judges than (they should) anyone else. 😉