Welcome to the 2013 A to Z Challenge!
This year, I’m
focusing on two themes: Emotions and
grammar,
depending on which
letter we’re on each day.
Today’s a grammar day!
__________
Q is for Question mark: the punctuation mark that replaces the full
stop period of an interrogative sentence, often used in place of missing or
unknown data. (?)
The question mark?
Really? What could I possibly
have to say about the question mark?
Well, not much, actually. Come
on, it’s Friday. I’ve had a long, tough
week, and there’s not much that begins with the letter Q, so I’ll keep this
brief.
There is one thing I sometimes see as an editor which really
bugs me. When writing dialogue, and the
character is excitedly asking a question, do NOT use both a question mark AND
an exclamation point. You think this
would be obvious, but I see it more often that I ever thought I would.
“You
do?!” she gasped.
Yes, I do.
Truth is, if your writing is strong, if you’re using the appropriate
verbs and nouns—notice I didn’t say adjectives or adverbs—to convey whatever
emotion your character is feeling, you don’t need an exclamation point, ever,
but especially after a question mark.
And honestly, that’s just poor grammar.
Use only ONE type of punctuation at the end of each
sentence. Always. No exceptions. Ever.
But wouldn't it be nice if we had one of these?
