Writing Advisory: Punctuation

It’s no secret that you need to have correct English grammar and spelling in your writing; without these parts of language, people wouldn’t understand what you’re saying.  But what about punctuation?  A comma here, hyphen there, or question mark at the end of a sentence may not seem important, but indeed, punctuation marks can change the whole meaning of your writing!  Take a look at this letter from “Jane” to “John” to see for yourself.  This well-known letter contains the exact same text in both versions, just different sentence punctuation:Letter 1Dear John: I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy -- will you let me be yours? JaneLetter 2Dear John: I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be? Yours, JaneWhat’s Jane’s message in the first letter?  Love!  She wants to be John’s forever.

But the punctuation marks used in the second letter send the opposite message.  Here, the English punctuation turns the letter into a nasty one.  Jane accuses John of ruining her, and wants to get rid of him forever.The two ways of punctuating this “love” letter from Jane demonstrate the power of punctuation in your English writing.  Jane follows punctuation rules in both letters, but sends opposite messages. 

Make sure that you send the message you need in your essay, medical report, legal document, business plan, or creative story by using proper punctuation.  Edit and proofread for punctuation marks with WhiteSmoke online writing software, the all-in-one writing tool.  Then use the rest of WhiteSmoke’s innovative tools like the online dictionary with translation and the enrichment feature to raise the level of your writing.  All of this, in one easy click.

Enhance your best ideas with the best writing software.  WhiteSmoke is the revolutionary writing solution that contains every proofreading tool for all writing styles.  The smart algorithm checks and corrects your writing for correct English grammar and proper punctuation, plus spelling rules.  And besides this, from the same single click, WhiteSmoke will enrich your English writing with adjectives, adverbs, and synonyms from its online dictionary and thesaurus.  This is the comprehensive online software that raises the level of your writing instantly.