You can write as you please. Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" continues to be a bestseller. Have you ever tried to read it?
I rest my case.
It's on my list of books to read, but I have yet to read it! Now I'm excited! LOL
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Comma Confusion (Or not)
- Thread starter Fino
- Start date
It's on my list of books to read, but I have yet to read it! Now I'm excited! LOL
Jack Kerouac's 'On the road' drove me close to insanity.
The Beat Patrol
Jack Kerouac – “On the Road” (1951 – excerpts)
I’d been poring over maps of the United States in Paterson for months, even reading books about the pioneers and savoring names like Platte and Cimarron and so on, and on the road-map was one long red line called Route 6 that led from the tip of Cape Cod clear to Ely, Nevada, and there dipped down to Los Angeles. I’ll just stay on all the way to Ely, I said to myself and confidently started. To get to 6 I had to go up to Bear Mountain. Filled with dreams of what I’d do in Chicago, in Denver, and then finally in San Fran, I took the Seventh Avenue Subway to the end of the line at 242nd Street, and there took a trolley into Yonkers; in downtown Yonkers I transferred to an outgoing trolley and went to the city limits on the east bank of the Hudson River. If you drop a rose in the Hudson River at its mysterious source in the Adirondacks, think of all the places it journeys as it goes to sea forever — think of that wonderful Hudson Valley. I started hitching up the thing. Five scattered rides took me to the desired Bear Mountain Bridge, where Route 6 arched in from New England. It began to rain in torrents when I was let off there. It was mountainous. Route 6 came over the river, wound around a traffic circle, and disappeared into the wilderness. Not only was there no traffic but the rain come down in buckets and I had no shelter. I had to run under some pines to take cover; this did no good; I began crying and swearing and socking myself on the head for being such a damn fool. I was forty miles north of New York; all the way up I’d been worried about the fact that on this, my big opening day, I was only moving north instead of the so-longed for west. Now I was stuck on my northermost hangup. I ran a quarter-mile to an abandoned cute English-style filling station and stood under the dripping eaves. High up over my head the great hairy Bear Mountain sent down thunderclaps that put the fear of God in me. All I could see were smoky trees and dismal wilderness rising to the skies. “What am I doing up here?” I cursed, I cried for Chicago. “Even now they’re all having a big time, they’re doing this, I’m not there, when will I get there!” — and so on. Finally a car stopped at the empty filling station; the man and the two women in it wanted to study a map. I stepped right up and gestured in the rain; they consulted; I looked like a maniac, of course, with my hair all wet, my shoes sopping.
Please take a breath now. Phew
The Beat Patrol
Jack Kerouac – “On the Road” (1951 – excerpts)
I’d been poring over maps of the United States in Paterson for months, even reading books about the pioneers and savoring names like Platte and Cimarron and so on, and on the road-map was one long red line called Route 6 that led from the tip of Cape Cod clear to Ely, Nevada, and there dipped down to Los Angeles. I’ll just stay on all the way to Ely, I said to myself and confidently started. To get to 6 I had to go up to Bear Mountain. Filled with dreams of what I’d do in Chicago, in Denver, and then finally in San Fran, I took the Seventh Avenue Subway to the end of the line at 242nd Street, and there took a trolley into Yonkers; in downtown Yonkers I transferred to an outgoing trolley and went to the city limits on the east bank of the Hudson River. If you drop a rose in the Hudson River at its mysterious source in the Adirondacks, think of all the places it journeys as it goes to sea forever — think of that wonderful Hudson Valley. I started hitching up the thing. Five scattered rides took me to the desired Bear Mountain Bridge, where Route 6 arched in from New England. It began to rain in torrents when I was let off there. It was mountainous. Route 6 came over the river, wound around a traffic circle, and disappeared into the wilderness. Not only was there no traffic but the rain come down in buckets and I had no shelter. I had to run under some pines to take cover; this did no good; I began crying and swearing and socking myself on the head for being such a damn fool. I was forty miles north of New York; all the way up I’d been worried about the fact that on this, my big opening day, I was only moving north instead of the so-longed for west. Now I was stuck on my northermost hangup. I ran a quarter-mile to an abandoned cute English-style filling station and stood under the dripping eaves. High up over my head the great hairy Bear Mountain sent down thunderclaps that put the fear of God in me. All I could see were smoky trees and dismal wilderness rising to the skies. “What am I doing up here?” I cursed, I cried for Chicago. “Even now they’re all having a big time, they’re doing this, I’m not there, when will I get there!” — and so on. Finally a car stopped at the empty filling station; the man and the two women in it wanted to study a map. I stepped right up and gestured in the rain; they consulted; I looked like a maniac, of course, with my hair all wet, my shoes sopping.
Please take a breath now. Phew
Fair warning. The writing style is as bad if not worse than the incendiary content of the book itself.
No, I don't mean it as a joke. I don't think I'm the only one who enjoys simple discussions like this.I feel like this is a joke somehow, but I don't get it. Or is it not a joke, and it really does just bring out our desire for discussions?
Agreed. Sometimes it's amazing how much one can articulate on over those "simple" things.
Especially if it's something seldom spoken of, for whatever reasons.
Oh! Whoops! I guess I got used to people joking about things like that! Not here, though!
Jack Kerouac's 'On the road' drove me close to insanity.
The Beat Patrol
Jack Kerouac – “On the Road” (1951 – excerpts)
I’d been poring over maps of the United States in Paterson for months, even reading books about the pioneers and savoring names like Platte and Cimarron and so on, and on the road-map was one long red line called Route 6 that led from the tip of Cape Cod clear to Ely, Nevada, and there dipped down to Los Angeles. I’ll just stay on all the way to Ely, I said to myself and confidently started. To get to 6 I had to go up to Bear Mountain. Filled with dreams of what I’d do in Chicago, in Denver, and then finally in San Fran, I took the Seventh Avenue Subway to the end of the line at 242nd Street, and there took a trolley into Yonkers; in downtown Yonkers I transferred to an outgoing trolley and went to the city limits on the east bank of the Hudson River. If you drop a rose in the Hudson River at its mysterious source in the Adirondacks, think of all the places it journeys as it goes to sea forever — think of that wonderful Hudson Valley. I started hitching up the thing. Five scattered rides took me to the desired Bear Mountain Bridge, where Route 6 arched in from New England. It began to rain in torrents when I was let off there. It was mountainous. Route 6 came over the river, wound around a traffic circle, and disappeared into the wilderness. Not only was there no traffic but the rain come down in buckets and I had no shelter. I had to run under some pines to take cover; this did no good; I began crying and swearing and socking myself on the head for being such a damn fool. I was forty miles north of New York; all the way up I’d been worried about the fact that on this, my big opening day, I was only moving north instead of the so-longed for west. Now I was stuck on my northermost hangup. I ran a quarter-mile to an abandoned cute English-style filling station and stood under the dripping eaves. High up over my head the great hairy Bear Mountain sent down thunderclaps that put the fear of God in me. All I could see were smoky trees and dismal wilderness rising to the skies. “What am I doing up here?” I cursed, I cried for Chicago. “Even now they’re all having a big time, they’re doing this, I’m not there, when will I get there!” — and so on. Finally a car stopped at the empty filling station; the man and the two women in it wanted to study a map. I stepped right up and gestured in the rain; they consulted; I looked like a maniac, of course, with my hair all wet, my shoes sopping.
Please take a breath now. Phew
I like it! It's like driving on a freeway, as opposed to a street next to a school that has so many stop signs! It fits how I think! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
One thing I've noticed is that the publisher/editor will make many changes to a new author's books, but if the author is wildly successful, their work will no longer receive the same scrutiny and they can do whatever they want. Then their work is worse. If they become wildly successful with the help of an editor, why not continue that?
In the last couple of Wolfenstein games, there are moments when if you stop in the right place at the right time, you will hear actual (fictional) Nazis correcting people on their grammar.
As to commas. I like rules - they help me get through the social maze and they make written communication much easier. I've realised I have to relax a bit though, especially on this forum.
I have to accept that Americans spell many words differently to me, that there are people who's first language is not English and they have varying levels of fluency, there's dyslexic people and people who use Google Translate, not to mention the bizarre things that come out of autocorrect these days
I do bend the rules myself from time to time, mainly for effect. I'm a visual thinker in most things, but very verbal when I write. My vocabulary and sentence structure on "paper" is pretty much identical to my speech patterns and the punctuation I choose reflects that.
As to commas. I like rules - they help me get through the social maze and they make written communication much easier. I've realised I have to relax a bit though, especially on this forum.
I have to accept that Americans spell many words differently to me, that there are people who's first language is not English and they have varying levels of fluency, there's dyslexic people and people who use Google Translate, not to mention the bizarre things that come out of autocorrect these days
I do bend the rules myself from time to time, mainly for effect. I'm a visual thinker in most things, but very verbal when I write. My vocabulary and sentence structure on "paper" is pretty much identical to my speech patterns and the punctuation I choose reflects that.
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TempeFan
Well-Known Member
As someone raised by an English teacher with a PhD, who was more abusive than a nun with a ruler, failure to use perfect grammar and punctation was not an option. She couldn't have cared less about a word I said, as far as meaning and content, but to misplace a comma, well, I'd never hear the end of it. Now that you kind people are actually listening to my words, I fear near not. I've been typing out all sorts of big long sentences. All the commas are just me, pausing to breathe.
But since there are factually established rules on when to use commas, do you mean that we pick and choose when to ignore the rules based on the factors you described? And it's not wrong? Or it is wrong but okay? So it's more artistic than scientific?
I mean this, what Judge says here. Poetic licence. There are some words, some places in a sentence where you can not put a comma, and other places where you absolutely must, and other cases where is is optional. Some people use an Oxford comma, some don't.
The cat chased the dog, and the dog ran away.
Here, strictly speaking, one should introduce a comma after "and" because it seperates two clauses with two different subjects, but many don't, and it's acceptable to write the sentence without a comma, so it is really at the author's discretion whether to use a comma or not. Personally, I would prefer to place a comma here, because it separates action from consequence, and allows me to emphasise the consequence, adding drama. Without the comma, it would just read like two consequence actions and would be boring. However, one can not put a comma after the word "cat" - it would force the reader to read it like a list and not a sentence, and wouldn't make much sense.
Edited to place a comma.
The Silly Farmer
Member
Surely commas are there to break up long sentences and allow the reader a chance to pause and take a breath in the absence of a full stop or other such marks of punctuation such as question marks or exclamation marks or colons because otherwise the whole sentence can be just one long mouthful that never appears to have an end or some sort of meaningful point to it with its steadfast persistency which will invariably annoy the reader whos brain may just start to wane and drift into a state of trance like malaise or even in severe cases an almost hypnotic state all of which created by the selfish writers unwillingness to add these punctuation breaks to assist with the reading and as you can see I am guilty as charged when it comes to these long sentences and often have to go back over what I have previously written to break them up and rephrase and restructure many of them for which I am sure many a reader will appreciate but then again I am clearly in no position to judge since I am no expert when it comes to constructing grammatically correct sentences because I tend to just throw my thoughts straight into the text without any prior thinking to sentence structure which invariably ends up reading like a long meandering pile of gibberish as I convey to the reader the rambling thought process in my mind.
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LOL
Hey - I noticed at least one capital letter and a full-stop in that post, so it makes more grammatical sense than some
I liked reading this! But I'm the one who made this topic about how everyone should always use commas correctly! Now I'm confused!
One day, my husband asked me ( we were newly married). Do you not think it is important to use punctuation in a letter? I said something like. I don't see the need for them. My excuse, because in fact, I did not understand them.
So, my husband rewrote my letter, but added punctuation and asked me to compare the two and I had no choice, but admit, that his version was far superior to my version and from that time on, somehow I got so much better, but when I read back on what I have typed, I notice I am rather liberal with my commas lol
The one that got me confused was the semi colon. But I finally got it whilst reading. In fact, since I am a reader, it defies reasoning why I was not bothered with punctuation in the first place.
Commas are very important, because they change the structure of a sentance.
ps. As I thought. Even liberal in this answer lol. Good thing I checked.
So, my husband rewrote my letter, but added punctuation and asked me to compare the two and I had no choice, but admit, that his version was far superior to my version and from that time on, somehow I got so much better, but when I read back on what I have typed, I notice I am rather liberal with my commas lol
The one that got me confused was the semi colon. But I finally got it whilst reading. In fact, since I am a reader, it defies reasoning why I was not bothered with punctuation in the first place.
Commas are very important, because they change the structure of a sentance.
ps. As I thought. Even liberal in this answer lol. Good thing I checked.
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