You may have heard it before, but I think it is important to stress the importance of proper usage of punctuation in all your writing. There are those who use them incorrectly and those who use none at all. Just think about reading an article without a comma or full stop. Let’s tackle the latter for a second. The following is a paragraph of a previously submitted article but this time with no punctuation but a full stop at the end:

I had to learn the rules I studied the meters and the rhyming schemes for my poetry I studied and practiced the various techniques and literary devices that would produce the right images realistic conflicts and plots for my books and it was all good it is important that these rules are appreciated but for me to be trapped by someone else’s norms was never the way to be creative I never forgot that piece of advice yes if you intend to finish something you do need to exercise discipline.

God! I feel exhausted just reading that. Not only do you feel as if you just spent a reluctant hour on the treadmill, but you have to read it over and over again to get its meaning. In that first line, what exactly am I am saying? Did I learn the rules I studied the meters? Or did the rules I studied the meters and the rhyming schemes…? Without the proper punctuation, you will have a hard time with interpretation. Let’s look at the same paragraph again but this time, let’s use some punctuation for clarity:

I had to learn the rules... I studied the meters and the rhyming schemes for my poetry. I studied and practiced the various techniques and literary devices that would produce the right images, and realistic conflicts and plots for my books. And it was all good. It is important that these rules are appreciated. But for me, to be trapped by someone else’s norms was never the way to be creative. I never forgot that piece of advice. Yes, if you intend to finish something, you do need to exercise discipline.

Big difference, right? Now let’s look at what happens with the incorrect use of punctuation. When my sister was in high school, I remember this story she told about one of her classmates reading a passage from a literature book. After the first sentence, the class had to end because no one could keep a straight face; certainly not long enough to concentrate on the remaining minutes of the literature class. It is a perfect example. The sentence was: “It was cold outside the hut, and I ran up and down to keep warm.” The girl however read: “It was cold outside, the hut and I ran up and down to keep warm.”

Need I say more? Like me, I know you are getting a visual. There goes interpretation again. Some may ask... "how do I know what punctuation to use and when to use them?" One very important rule when you are writing is to understand the relationship between words and phrases. You have to be clear about what the words in each sentence are doing, how are they working together, and what expression is to be conveyed. In other words, your sentence structure is key. With this understanding, you will be better able to punctuate. When you are able to construct the right sentence, you provide clarity to our readers by using the right punctuation.

Most people understand the period or full stop. It is used to indicate the end of an idea; it is used to abbreviate words. (Think of all the other ways to use it.) In the example paragraph earlier, you would note that I used it as three (3) dots … This usually suggest that something could have or should have been added.

I could go through the list of punctuations and tell you why each is necessary, but instead I challenge you to start giving more attention to this and by doing so, by being aware every time you use a comma, semi colon, exclamation mark, etc. You can do so by researching for yourself the reasons why you want to apply a given punctuation, and you will continue to improve your writing.