Today's Writing Tip Is on Using Commas with the Word But

When should you use a comma with the word but? You can use commas whenever they don't break up the sentence and interfere with the meaning.

Here's an example: "Everybody but Jason stopped eating." It wouldn't make sense to put a comma after the word everybody because then you have a sentence fragment that isn't telling us anything. And it would disrupt the meaning of the sentence.

But in the sentence, "I like ice cream, but not banana flavored," the comma is well-placed. That's because you have a whole clause that is not broken and it contains a pronoun, a verb, and the direct object.

What about "He chose not one but two tuxedos"? You tell me.

Sigrid Macdonald is the author of three books, including Be Your Own Editor http://tinyurl.com/7wnk5se and two erotic short stories, which she wrote under the pen name Tiffanie Good. Silver Publishing has released "The Pink Triangle," a tale of friendship, lust, and betrayal. You can view her story here: http://tinyurl.com/6v65rgr 

 

Today's Writing Tip Is on Contradicting Yourself

An important part of writing is making sure that what you say is accurate and consistent. You don't want to say one thing when you mean another.

Here's an example: "I don't plan on coming back," Jonathan said aloud, thinking to himself silently. That's an obvious no-no. It’s either one or the other – you say something out loud or you think it to yourself; you don't do both.

What other problems are there with that sentence? Redundancy. Two redundancies, in fact. It's not necessary to say, "thinking to himself" because who else was he thinking to? You could just say, "Jonathan thought." And there is no need to say, "Thinking to himself silently" because all thoughts are silent.

Usually when we make these kinds of boneheaded mistakes, it's when we're writing our first or second draft. Don't worry about them when you're getting your story down. It's when you go back to refine your blog post, article, or manuscript that you want to keep a keen eye for contradictions and redundancies.

Sigrid Macdonald is the author of three books, including Be Your Own Editor http://tinyurl.com/7wnk5se and two erotic short stories, which she wrote under the pen name Tiffanie Good. Silver Publishing just released "The Pink Triangle," a tale of friendship, lust, and betrayal. You can view her story here: http://tinyurl.com/6v65rgr