Basic Grammar & Punctuation (this is NOT boring) . . .

It would take countless pages of text to cover all there is to say about grammar and punctuation. But as you may have noticed by now, I keep posts here relatively brief. This one shall be no exception.

First, listen to the words you write. When you write "you're," can you hear that what you're doing is writing a contraction for "you are"? You should. And if you don't hear "you are" in the word "your" -- and you shouldn't -- that's because "your" is possessive, as in "Your taxi has arrived."

If I had even a penny for every person I come across who cannot get "you're" and "your" straight, I'd be summoning Donald Trump to make me breakfast.

Listen to your writing. Ever see (or make the mistake of writing) "of" when it should have been "have"? Example: I would of come yesterday, but something came up. No, no, no! Of course it should be, I would have come yesterday...

You'd catch that ridiculous mistake if you read your work aloud and listened to your writing. We indeed read with our ears as well as our eyes.

There'll be lots more on this blog about punctuation and grammar. But let's end with this tid-bit: resist the use of exclamation marks. People use them way too frequently. They're usually-- though not always -- unnecessary.

They call way too much attention to themselves, and make things sound more exciting or important than is warranted. (If I had just now ended the preceding sentence with an exclamation mark -- as many would do to emphasize the point -- that would have been an example of where the device is simply not needed or desired.)

On the other hand, guess what: if you never use an exclamation point -- I mean never -- you just might be crazy!

See? There, I think, it works better. If nothing else, it sort of serves to make it clear that I'm making a bit of an overstatement -- and that I know I'm making an overstatement. (Likewise, the "No, no, no!" statement in the fourth paragraph, above.)

Of course, in certain promotional writing -- such as crafting brochures, flyers and ads -- there are typically more occasions, and better reasons, for using the exclamation mark with impunity.

On balance, though, even if you're tempted to use them, ask yourself if they're really needed. Ask yourself if they improve what you've written, or detract from it. Usually it's the latter.