by Lucy E. Zahnle

Created on: November 03, 2009   Last Updated: November 06, 2009

Once a writer completes a manuscript and sends it out into the world, he or she loses control over how an audience will read and interpret the text. Since every reader's mind works differently, writers must hope that the only tools they have, words and punctuation, will guide the reader's understanding of the work.

Words are the actors in any piece of writing. They convey content, meaning, and emotion to readers. However, the impact of a writer's words would be lost in confusion without the proper punctuation.

Punctuation marks are stage directions for words. Punctuation marks show readers when to pause and linger over words of deep philosophical importance, when to speed up and enjoy that car chase, and when to pay attention because a pivotal character is saying something vital to the story.

When readers see a period, question mark, or exclamation point, they know that the writer or a character, if one is speaking or thinking, has reached the end of a thought. However, each sentence ending punctuation mark indicates a different type of thought and elicits a different reaction from the reader. A period says, "There! I'm done. I have declared what's on my mind."

A question mark suggests confusion or a questing mood. It can lead the story to the next mystery that must be solved. It can lead a character to further introspection. It can lead to argument, battle, and disaster or discovery, wonder, and revelation. The open-endedness of the question mark is a great plot mover for any writer.

The exclamation point can create excitement, sarcasm, shock, joy, or horror. Its character is determined by its context. Writers can use its versatility to provoke different emotions from readers, depending on the circumstances in which the character makes the exclamation. For instance, "Happy birthday!" shouted over a candlelit cake creates excitement while "Happy birthday!" shouted by a despondent, bitter, drunken birthday boy at a bar at three o'clock in the morning suggests sarcasm and despair.

Less used than the period, question mark, and exclamation point, but just as important is the semi-colon. Semi-colons let readers know that although the writer or character has presented one complete thought, he or she is still thinking and more good stuff is coming. Writers use semi-colons to tie two closely related complete thoughts together. Here is an example:

Television is not like your teen-aged cousin Betsy; it is not a good babysitter.

When readers see periods, they stop, understanding

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