Will Too Many Commas Spoil Your Sale?by Doreen Ciappa For months you have labored over your manuscript. Polishing it left you bald in a few spots, sent your husband into the arms of another woman, and your children into the kitchens of other mothers, but your manuscript is finally perfect. Just as you're slipping your baby into the envelope, a comma on the first page catches your eye, one you're sure doesn't belong. Ten minutes later, you're still frowning at that comma. You have deleted it, retyped it, and deleted it, again. You break out in a sweat. You have an English degree, own an old, dog-eared Strunk and White's ELEMENTS OF STYLE, and have been writing longer than you have been dying your hair. You know a comma belongs there. Doesn't it? Poetic license will not justify misplaced commas. The classes you took ten--fifteen, twenty?--years ago will not help. Grammar rules are not set in stone. Like wearing white after Labor Day, certain punctuation taboos are now acceptable. Read a George Elliot book. Her sentences are loaded with commas. In her time, they were told to put a comma with every breath. If, like most writers, you're an avid reader, you have absorbed some of the new rules with each book written by someone savvy to them. Your mind tells you to keep that comma; however, your recollection of the old rules tells you to delete it. Be honest with yourself. Do you know when to put a comma before the word "but" and when not? Do you know why? And what about before "and" in a series? According to Strunk and White, a comma should not precede the "and". They're wrong. My lack of comma confidence sent me back to school. I signed up for three night classes at Hofstra University UCCE: The Structure of Grammar, Writing the Novel, and Writing the Scene. Some were taught by published authors, others by professors. My writing excelled within weeks. I am more confident when it comes to deciding if a space between two words is comma-worthy. Too many commas won't land my manuscript in the "Reject" pile. The other classes helped refine my skills in POV, exposition, characterization, and setting. I learned how to read like a writer; bestsellers were critiqued as if they had yet to be published. My own writing was critiqued by professors and students. My fellow students were young and old, rich and poor, male and female. Where else can you find such a diverse test group for your story? Also, nothing boosts your ego better than praise from a professor or published author. I don't know about you, but I can always use a boost. So, check out your local community colleges and universities. Besides the courses I've already mentioned, you'll find some on screenwriting, children's fiction, and journalism. If, however, you feel your writing is polished enough, there are courses to prepare you for that phone call we all dream about: The Legal Aspects of Publishing, The Art of Negotiating a Publishing Contract, and What Every Writer Needs to Know About Publishing. For those of you who don't have the time to take any courses, the college bookstores are stocked with all the latest books. Spread out those bookends and make room next to that copy of Strunk and White's ELEMENTS OF STYLE. THE BORZOI HANDBOOK FOR WRITERS by Frederick Crews and A WRITER'S REFERENCE by Diana Hacker are invaluable. But try to take a class or two. Words will flow, characters will come to life, and punctuation will no longer make you break out in a sweat. You'll mail your manuscript confident that your story and eloquent writing will catch the editor's attention, not your faulty punctuation. Plus, class gives you another excuse to order take-out! ** Doreen Ciappa is now a multi-published author and writes under name Doreen Orsini.
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