how to use semicolon in creative writing

How to Use Semicolons in Fiction

What is it about the semicolon that is so alluring to writers?

Is it because it feels like a sophisticated punctuation mark – more advanced than a full stop or a comma – and therefore the mark of a sophisticated writer?

It’s surprisingly easy to fall victim to the semicolon’s charm … until they insidiously infiltrate your writing to the point readers can’t help but get distracted by them. There is such a thing as too many semicolons.

There’s something worse than having too many semicolons in your writing, though, and that’s using semicolons incorrectly. God forbid you do this, because no one will ever forgive you. You’ll forever be branded as a terrible, terrible writer. Everyone will point and laugh, saying: ‘Look at this guy, trying to be all superior and literary and getting it wrong !’ Oh, the sheer audacity! The horror! *swoons in outrageous indignation*

Yes, it’s true that too many semicolons can be distracting, and it’s true that incorrectly used semicolons can irk some readers, but don’t get too hung up on the minutia of punctuation. I’m a professional editor and it’s my job to pay attention to these things, but even I know there’s more to a piece of writing than a correctly placed comma (or a correctly used semicolon).

Even so, it doesn’t hurt to consider the most effective ways to use any punctuation mark. Doing so will make you a better writer, enabling you to bring deliberate clarity, rhythm and emphasis to your writing.

With that in mind, here’s how to use the semicolon.

1. Use a semicolon to divide two closely related sentences

Butcher’s Copyediting , the  Penguin Guide to Punctuation and New Hart’s Rules all say the same thing about semicolons: ‘It divides two or more main clauses that are closely related or parallel to each other, and that could stand as sentences in their own right.’ ( New Hart’s Rules )

This is the most fundamental rule around semicolons.

Whatever is either side of the semicolon must make sense as its own sentence. And you only want to use a semicolon to connect sentences that are closely related, to draw attention to the relationship between the sentences.

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. LP Hartley, The Go-Between

She plants a fierce kick against the door; it leaves a dirty boot print but barely vibrates the heavy hinges. Isaac Marion,  The Burning World

If you follow this rule, you can’t go too wrong. Yet there’s a bit more to the semicolon than this.

You may have noticed when reading the examples above that when you came to the semicolon in the sentence, you naturally paused a little longer than you would have for a comma yet a little less than you would have for a full stop. In this way, a semicolon can alter the rhythm of a sentence.

That’s something to keep in mind.

2. Use a semicolon to bring clarity to a convoluted sentence (as the ‘super-comma’)

The first usage is mostly about suggesting meaning and creating rhythm, but the semicolon can also be used to bring much-needed clarity to a long or complicated sentence.

According to the Penguin Guide to Punctuation, this is the ‘one special circumstance in which a semicolon may be used to separate sequences which are not complete sentences.’

New Hart’s Rules says, ‘In a sentence already subdivided by commas, use a semicolon instead of a comma to indicate a stronger division.’

Compare the following examples:

In East London, where the zombie infestation is at a critical level, the army, in spite of its most coordinated efforts, has been unable to extract the remaining citizens, and the people, starving, terrified and desperate, are themselves turning to cannibalism to survive.

Using a semicolon in place of the comma that marks the biggest break in the sentence would allow readers to catch their breath and more easily separate the different points expressed in this sentence.

In East London, where the zombie infestation is at a critical level, the army, in spite of its most coordinated efforts, has been unable to extract the remaining citizens; and the people, starving, terrified and desperate, are themselves turning to cannibalism to survive.

The Penguin Guide  goes on to say that this use of the semicolon as a ‘super-comma’ is pretty clunky and should be avoided if possible. If you end up writing a sentence like the one above, recasting the sentence might be the more elegant solution.

In East London, where the zombie infestation is at a critical level, the army has been unable to extract the remaining citizens, in spite of its most coordinated efforts. Meanwhile, the people – starving, terrified and desperate – are themselves turning to cannibalism to survive.

If you find you’re using lots of semicolons as ‘super-commas’ to try to break up your sentences, it’s probably a sign that you’re writing too many convoluted sentences.

3. Use a semicolon to separate elements in a list where each element contains commas

This is another way semicolons are used for clarity. ‘In a list where any of the elements themselves contain commas, use a semicolon to clarify the relationship of the components,’ says New Hart’s Rules.

The most effective way to kill a vampire is by drenching them in holy water, water infused with garlic or petrol (and setting them alight); piercing their heart with a wooden stake made of oak, beech or yew; exposing them to sunlight, fire or holy images; or starving them of blood until they turn to dust.

The Flexibility of Fiction (or How to Bend the Rules)

One of the best things about fiction is that we can sometimes disregard the rules in the name of style and effect. Fragment sentences? Why not. Sentences starting with a connecting word? Throw them in. They all have their place.

And because fiction uses fragment sentences and sentences starting with connecting words (‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so’, ‘yet’, ‘or’, ‘nor’ and ‘for’), it makes sense that semicolons can be used to connect these kinds of sentences. It’s a kind of meta-logic. Broken rules within broken rules.

A pause; it ended horribly. F Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Fog in the eyes and throats of ancient Greenwich pensioners, wheezing by the firesides of the wards; fog in the stem and bowl of the afternoon pipe of the wrathful skipper, down in his close cabin; fog cruelly pinching the toes and fingers of his shivering little ’prentice boy on deck. Charles Dickens, Bleak House

Where I would have been happily confined to my office, deep in the School of English with a view to the red brick wall of the window well, content to grub about in dusty corners, there is now this breadth of vision, this depth and freshness to each breath, this widening space; only her and the horizon. Amy Sackville,  Orkney

The key, as with any time you break a grammar rule, is knowing that you’re doing it and doing it with purposeful deliberation. As always, keep in mind clarity, rhythm and emphasis when playing with punctuation.

Semicolons in Dialogue

Some people break into a sweat just thinking about whether it’s okay to use semicolons in dialogue. I used to lay awake at night worrying about this, until I realised it’s okay to be chilled out about these things. (I’m kidding – I’m never chilled out.)

The argument against using semicolons in dialogue is that no one actually tries to deliberately convey a semicolon when they speak. That would be a bit weird. As well as that, a semicolon is more of a visual marker than an audible one. The cherry on top is that it can look a bit pretentious.

Even if you aren’t deliberately trying to convey a semicolon when you talk, the rhythm of speech still might be best represented by a semicolon over a comma or a full stop. (The length of the pause created by a semicolon is somewhere between these two punctuation marks, remember?)

As well as that, you – as the author – might want to highlight the connection  between two spoken sentences. And as for that cherry, well, maybe you want your character to seem a little pretentious (or educated or intellectual or …).

Here’s a line of dialogue spoken by Dumbledore, for instance:

Lord Voldemort liked to collect trophies, and he preferred objects with a powerful magical history. His pride, his belief in his own superiority, his determination to carve for himself a startling place in magical history; these things suggest to me that Voldemort would have chosen his Horcruxes with some care, favouring objects worthy of the honour. JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

When to Use a Semicolon and When to Use a Colon

Because of the flexible nature of fiction, some writers end up using a semicolon when a colon would be a more logical choice.

‘A colon is used to indicate that what follows it is an explanation of elaboration of what precedes it,’ says the Penguin Guide to Punctuation. ‘A colon is nearly always preceded by a complete sentence; what follows the colon may or may not be a complete sentence, and it may be a mere list or even a single word.’

New Hart’s Rules summarises that the colon ‘points forward: from a premise to a conclusion, from a cause to an effect, from an introduction to a main point, from a general statement to an example.’ And that sentence perfectly illustrates its own point.

My loathings are simple: stupidity, oppression, crime, cruelty, soft music. Vladimir Nabokov,  Strong Opinions

These were rituals that were right and lasting: the lighting of pipes, the pale hands that moved knitting needles in the dimness, the eating of foil-wrapped, chill Eskimo Pies, the coming and going of all the people. Ray Bradbury,  Dandelion Wine

If I loosed my eyes from my shoes, the gravel at my feet, or the chaos of ice at the shore, I saw what newborn babies must see: nothing but senseless variations of light on the retinas. Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk

There’s even more to the colon, but for now I just want to highlight the basic difference between semicolons and colons. In general, the semicolon links two closely related sentences whereas the colon indicates a deepening in meaning (in the ways New Hart’s Rules lists above).

If in Doubt, Use Sparingly … and Leave it to Your Editor

Semicolons can trip up a lot of writers, but I hope this post has shed some light on the rules around their usage – and when and how you can break those rules.

I want to reiterate that semicolons (and colons) should be used sparingly in your fiction because if there are lots of them, they stand out to the reader and pull their attention away from the story. Obviously, that’s a bad thing.

If you’re still not sure whether you’re using semicolons right, don’t worry too much. You could choose to not use them at all (lots of novels don’t contain a single semicolon). But, as always, your editor will help you out.

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Posted on May 26, 2023

When to Use Semicolons: 4 Rules and Examples

Let’s kick things off with a definition. Semicolons (;) are a type of punctuation used to link two complete and related sentences or clauses together. They can also replace coordinating conjunctions (and, or, but, etc.); they can separate list items, especially if the items on the list contain commas; moreover, they can be used together with conjunctive adverbs or transitional phrases such as “moreover,” and “in conclusion.” 

Many people pause mid-sentence to wonder when to use semicolons. In this article, we’ll break down the grammatical role of the semicolon and show you how to decide when you should (or shouldn’t) use it in your own writing. 

Semicolons and colons serve distinct purposes

The semicolon often causes confusion among English speakers and writers. Typographically, it’s a combination of a period with a comma above it — resembling the regular colon. But that doesn’t mean you should pick at random, especially if you want to turn writing into a career or ace your academic work.

The reason that we have different punctuation marks is that they serve a distinct purpose in written communication.

The colon (:)

The regular colon consists of two periods on top of each other and is commonly used to give emphasis; introduce a point, a topic, or a list; present spoken text , especially in interview format; or to add an explanatory subtitle to a work or composition, like a book. For example:

Emphasis or definition: The hero had one goal in mind: defeat all evil.

Introduce a point, topic, or list: The hero’s success depended on three things: slaying the dragon, bringing down the corrupt ruler, and breaking the magic spell.

Present dialogue: Reporter: What made you set out on your quest? Hero: It was a matter of necessity and storytelling traditions.

Add a subtitle: You can read more about the hero’s adventures in “ The Hero’s Journey : An Age-old Battle Against Evil.”

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Colons are used when there’s a strong bond between what comes before and what comes after, and the two parts may be unable to stand on their own. You can consider them as two equally important parts of a sentence that complete each other.

🤔 Wondering how capitalization works when you’re using colons and semicolons? If what follows the colon is a fully-functioning, independent clause or part of a title, you should capitalize, whereas you shouldn’t capitalize if the two parts of the sentence are dependent on each other. With semicolons, capitalize the word that follows only if it’s a proper noun. Head over to our post on title capitalization rules if you want to learn more .

The semicolon (;)

The symbol for the semicolon combines a comma and a period, and is used when the former feels insufficient (or grammatically incorrect) and the latter too final. There are instances when a semicolon is strictly necessary, and others when it is optional. Most commonly, it has four main uses:

Independent clauses: Next summer, I’m going to the Mediterranean again; I crave sunshine and good food. 

Replacing coordinating conjunctions: I did my homework in time; ( but ) my sister did not finish hers. 

Serial lists: Some of my favorite places to visit in summer include Rome, Italy; Athens, Greece; and Barcelona, Spain.

With conjunctive adverbs/transitional phrases: She is very pretty; more importantly, she’s smart as hell.

Semicolons are used when two things are related to each other but could still stand on their own, or to separate complex lists. Let’s take a closer look at the four functions of the semicolon to get a better understanding:

1. Link related but independent clauses

Since one of the major uses for semicolons is to separate two independent clauses from each other, we need to start by clarifying what independent clauses are and how they differ from dependent clauses.

Distinguish between independent and dependent clauses

Independent clauses are clauses that could function on their own as complete sentences. In English, they need to contain at least a subject and a verb and express a complete thought. “I smile,” for instance, is a complete sentence which contains a subject (I) and a verb (smile), and can stand on its own.

To join up two independent clauses, you need to use a semicolon: 

Correct: I smile; I am happy.

Incorrect: I smile, I am happy.  

☝️ Note: Some people would argue that you could use a colon here, saying: “I smile: I am happy.” This isn’t grammatically incorrect, but it is more common in British English than American English. For easier decision-making, we suggest you just stick to semicolons when linking independent clauses.

Dependent clauses, on the other hand, depend on the other parts of the sentence to function. They also contain a subject and a verb of their own, but do not express a complete thought. “When I smile,” contains a subject and a verb, for instance, but is not complete on its own. 

To complete a dependent clause, use a comma, not a semicolon: 

Correct: When I smile, I am happy.

Incorrect: When I smile; I am happy.

If you’re not sure whether clauses are independent or not, we’ve got a hack for you.

Test clause dependency with a period

One simple way to check whether you’re dealing with two independent clauses and could use a semicolon is to check whether you can create two complete sentences by inserting a period.

Correct:  Next summer, I’m going to the Mediterranean again; I crave sunshine and good food.

Correct:   Next summer, I’m going to the Mediterranean again. I crave sunshine and good food.

This example works fine as two complete sentences, but using a semicolon highlights that they relate to each other. It is not so much a case of creating emphasis, but rather stacking two things on top of each other to provide further explanation or evidence. You could use a colon (though we don’t advise it), but remember that you cannot use a comma for independent clauses:

Incorrect: Next summer I’m going to the Mediterranean again, I crave sunshine and good food.

Consider the context

Let’s see how this works with another example we used earlier. The sentence “The hero had one goal in mind: defeat all evil” consists of two independent clauses too, so why did we use a colon and not a semicolon or period? The answer is context. Both “The hero had one goal in mind” and “Defeat all evil” could stand on their own as complete sentences, the latter being an imperative (issuing an order). However, since the author is trying to define and emphasize exactly what the goal of the hero is, a colon is the most appropriate punctuation in this situation.

The semicolon shows relation

Using a semicolon to combine two independent clauses suggests that two complete thoughts are related to each other — though not as closely as a colon would suggest — and of equal importance. It brings their meanings closer to each other in relation than if they were separated by a period, and also suggests that readers should insert a pause longer than a comma, but shorter than a period. 

Authors can use this to achieve a neutral tone or make implicit suggestions about how two things relate to each other. As mentioned earlier, you can also use the semicolon to provide more information , explanation, or evidence of what you said in the first clause. Take this example from The Fellowship of the Ring :

“All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

Here, Tolkien is stacking separate imagery, suggesting that they relate to each other. This allows him to elaborate on the idea that things are not always as they seem, without having to explicitly state how the statements relate to each other, leaving it up to the reader to interpret. 

Of course, the format of poetry is a bit of an outlier because of how it plays with language and meaning, so here’s another example:

“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.” ― Albert Einstein

Here, Einstein is implying that there’s a contrast between logic and imagination and what results you’ll get from applying them. By juxtaposing them with the semicolon, he’s insinuating that both are valid, though imagination is perhaps the most important of all.

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2. Replace coordinating conjunctions

Another use for the semicolon is to replace coordinating conjunctions — the glue that otherwise keeps independent clauses together and shows causality, contrast, or relation. Some common ones are “and,” “but,” “or,” “so,” “yet,” “for,” and “nor,” and these little words tell readers or listeners how to order — or coordinate — sentences and clauses in relation to each other.

When you replace a coordinating conjunction with a semicolon, the connection generally needs to be clear and immediately obvious to the reader, especially if you’re writing factual works like academic essays or nonfiction books. You cannot use a semicolon and a coordinating conjunction together in this type of situation.

Correct: I saw your sister in town yesterday, but she didn’t notice me.

Correct: I saw your sister in town yesterday; she didn’t notice me.

Incorrect: I saw your sister in town yesterday; but she didn’t notice me.

From the context of the sentence, we can already tell that there’s a contrast between seeing the sister and being noticed, so we can safely remove the “but” and use a semicolon instead. 

Of course, if you want to write a more poetic piece and embrace ambiguity, you can also strategically place a semicolon between two independent clauses and let your readers reach their own conclusions about how they relate to each other. 

Spring came early this year; tears kept filling my eyes.

Is the author sad because of or despite the fact that spring came early? Perhaps they associate spring with something tragic or are missing someone who could not join them to appreciate its bloom. Or maybe the author is simply suffering from pollen allergies. It’s up to the reader to interpret.

Next, let’s look at a situation when you can use semicolons and coordinating conjunctions together.

3. Separate complex serial lists and improve readability

Normally, you cannot use a semicolon and a coordinating conjunction together. The exception to this rule is if the semicolon makes the sentence easier to read, like if you’re writing serial lists with many commas:

You can use a semicolon to separate independent clauses; replace coordinating conjunctions, such as “and,” for similarity, “but,” for contrast, and “so,” for causality; and to separate long, complicated lists which contain many commas.

Notice how there’s an “and” after the last semicolon in this long, complicated sentence. In this case, we’re not really dealing with independent clauses so keeping the coordinating conjunction is necessary. Here, the semicolon is not introducing anything, so cannot be replaced by a colon. Instead, it serves to clearly demark each entity in the list and make it more readable at a glance. 

Semicolons can also be used to link independent clauses that already contain a comma . For instance: 

Correct: My brother is very clumsy. He often stumbles over roots, breaks things, and won’t look where he’s going; nor will he consider other people’s feelings when he speaks.

Incorrect: My brother is very clumsy. He often stumbles over roots, breaks things, and won’t look where he’s going, nor will he consider other people’s feelings when he speaks.

Using a comma in this case makes the sentence a bit more difficult to understand, so a semicolon, combined with the coordinating conjunction “nor”, is necessary to provide clarity.

In addition to making lists more readable, semicolons can also make sentences flow better when they’re combined with conjunctive adverbs. 

4. Combine with conjunctive adverbs

You can use semicolons in front of conjunctive adverbs (also known as transitional phrases), replacing a period. These are words or phrases that make the text move along or transition smoothly. They are very common in argumentative or rhetorical texts, such as essays, where you’re trying to show a conclusion. Here are some common examples:

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Semicolons are optional when you use conjunctive adverbs, and it’s up to you if you want to join up the two independent clauses or leave them as separate sentences. Note that a comma cannot be used, since these are independent clauses. 

Incorrect: Katy always had the best of intentions, nevertheless, she often ended up causing drama.

Incorrect: Paul dreamed of becoming a nurse, in contrast, Sara dreamed of becoming a surgeon. 

As with other independent clauses combined with a semicolon, this suggests that the two sentences are closer to each other than if they were separated by a comma, but the difference is often minimal.

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Use semicolons when needed, not to look smart

So, now that you know in what situations you could use a semicolon to stay on good terms with the grammar police, the question is whether you should . As a rule of thumb, remember to consider the context and use a semicolon only when it adds more clarity to your sentence and helps you better communicate what you’re trying to say. 

You’ll often find semicolons sprinkled throughout academic papers and nonfiction writing, as authors try to demonstrate how two statements or arguments relate to each other — or try to avoid run-on sentences when things get a bit more complicated. As a bonus, since the semicolon allows you to remove coordinating conjunctions while keeping the meaning intact, it can help you meet a tight word count.

The issue is that the semicolon can provide clarity, but it can also make a text look a bit typographically busy and clunky — sometimes even counteracting its original purpose. For that reason, you’ll see fewer semicolons in creative writing, where it can seem a bit heavy-handed to use them too often. Some even argue that semicolons are a sign that you’re trying to do too much, resulting in overwritten and overwrought writing . Even if a semicolon might be grammatically correct or necessary, if there’s an easier way to say what you’re trying to say, that might be preferable. Compare:

Both of these sentences are correct, so if you don’t have a pressing word limit, choosing to use a semicolon or rearrange the sentence comes down to author preference when you’re revising your draft . 

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It’s easy to get bogged down in grammar and forget that the main purpose of writing is to get what you’re trying to say across in the best way possible. Sometimes, the semicolon can help you achieve that. When it doesn’t, you might need to look at the sentence from a new angle. Happy writing! ;)

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How to Use a Semicolon in Writing: Examples and Semicolon Rules

by Fija Callaghan

Sometimes it seems like everywhere you turn, there’s a new punctuation mark or grammar rule to be aware of as you assemble your next work of literary genius. The semicolon—this weird looking thing: ; —is something that can be a bit confusing and intimidating to new writers.

Never fear, writerly friends! We’ll break down exactly what a semicolon is, how it compares to other punctuation marks, and how to use it in your own writing with some helpful examples.

What is a semicolon?

A semicolon is a punctuation mark that looks like a period suspended over a comma. It indicates a pause that’s more substantial than a comma, but not as emphatic as a period. Semicolons are useful when you want to complete a thought, but want the reader to know that it’s connected to the next thought in some way.

When to use a semicolon

A semicolon is used to indicate a pause in a sentence between two or more connected concepts. You can use a semicolon in place of a coordinating conjunction to separate two closely related independent clauses, to separate longer items in a narrative list, or to lead into a new sentence that begins with a transitional phrase.

Let’s look at each of these uses a little bit closer.

Use a semicolon to connect two related ideas

The main purpose of a semicolon is to link independent clauses together without the need for a pesky coordinating conjunction like and , but , so , and so forth.

If you need a grammar refresh, independent clauses are complete sentences that don’t need anything added to them to make sense. If your two independent clauses aren’t closely related, you should separate them with a period. If the ideas are connected, you can use a semicolon.

For example:

Don’t forget your jacket. It’s supposed to rain later.

Don’t forget your jacket; it’s supposed to rain later.

Because these two sentences are connected, you can join them together with a semicolon. Note how after the semicolon, the second independent clause begins with a lowercase letter instead of a capital. You’ll only capitalize the word after a semicolon if its a proper noun.

Use a semicolon in list paragraphs

When you’re listing things in a prose narrative (rather than in bullet points, like a shopping list), you’ll usually separate items in a list with commas. For example, “My favorite activities are painting, beachcombing, and reading Agatha Christie.” Sometimes, however, your list items will have commas in them already. This can get pretty confusing on the page. For example:

Her past credits include The Dead Man, for which she was nominated for a Reader’s Choice award, Lollipop Sundays, which was shortlisted for the Emerging 40-Under-40 award, and My Grandma’s Old Ballet Shoes, which has been optioned for film and TV.

There’s a lot of comma action going on in that sentence. To keep it from feeling erratic and disjointed, you can separate the list items with semicolons instead:

Her past credits include The Dead Man, for which she was nominated for a Reader’s Choice award; Lollipop Sundays, which was shortlisted for the emerging 40-Under-40 award; and My Grandma’s Old Ballet Shoes, which has been optioned for film and TV.

Use a semicolon before transitional phrases

You can use a semicolon to introduce a clause that starts with transitional expressions or conjunctive adverbs. These are words or phrases that suggest a connection between the two ideas.

Transitional phrases are things like:

As a result

Because of that

For instance

For example

By contrast

A conjunctive adverb is similar, but it’s only one word. This might be something like:

Nevertheless

You can use a semicolon after your first independent clause right before your joining phrase, like this:

Sarah is a daredevil; by contrast, her sister is afraid to even leave the house.

Sarah’s sister is afraid of everything; nevertheless, she was able to be brave when it mattered most.

Semicolons vs. other punctuation

Semicolons have a lot in common with other punctuation marks like colons, commas, and em-dashes. In some cases, they look a little bit similar; in others, they perform similar grammatical functions.

Here are the key differences you need to know between using semicolons and using other punctuation marks in grammar.

Semicolons vs. colons

While a semicolon looks like a hanging period atop a comma, a colon looks like a hanging period atop another period—two dots in a vertical row.

The biggest difference between a semicolon and a colon is that a colon implies a more direct relationship between two things. While a semicolon brings two separate sentences together, a colon expands on the first sentence’s idea. This might be through a modifying detail or a list.

There are three kinds of people in this world: those who can count, and those who can’t.

In this example, the second half of the sentence introduces new information that expands upon the first half. While the first half is an independent clause that could finish with a period and act as its own sentence, the colon tells the reader that more important information is coming.

(We also used a colon after “For example” to show you that we were about to give you more details!)

Semicolons vs. commas

Since a semicolon is just a comma with an extra dot hanging out on top, does that mean they can be used in the same way? Not quite. If you separate two independent clauses with a comma, you get what’s known as a comma splice. A comma splice is grammatically incorrect, looks funky on the page, and distracts your reader from your story.

For example, this is a comma splice:

I was exhausted when I got home, I slept for ten hours straight.

You could fix this either by substituting a semicolon, or by changing the words around a little bit so you have a dependent clause on one side and an independent clause on the other:

I was exhausted when I got home; I slept for ten hours straight.

After I got home, I was so exhausted I slept for ten hours straight.

A comma is used to link an independent clause with a dependent clause, or a complete sentence with an incomplete sentence. A semicolon is only used to separate two complete sentences.

Semicolons vs. em-dashes

Em-dashes are the Swiss army knives of grammar. You can use them to separate two ideas, like you would with a semicolon, or to interject a detail into a larger sentence.

Em-dashes are pretty great; you can use them in a lot of different ways.

Em-dashes are pretty great—you can use them in a lot of different ways.

Both are grammatically correct!

You can also use em-dashes to isolate part of a sentence, like this:

We were sitting by the lake—this was before we broke up, obviously—and this enormous otter came right up to us!

In general, it’s good practice to alternate between semicolons and em-dashes when separating two related independent clauses, so that neither one becomes distracting and overused.

(You can’t use an em-dash to make a winking emoticon, though. If you do that you’ll just look unimpressed.)

Use semicolons to level up your sentence structure

Semicolons may look a little scary, but they’re a useful and versatile grammar device. With these tips, you’ll never have to cower in fear from the dreaded semicolon again; you may even find this the start of a beautiful partnership!

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Semicolon: The 2 Ways to Use a ;

by Liz Bureman | 71 comments

Wait a second. Did you just hear that?

Pick meeeee . . .

There it is. You heard it, too. Don't try to tell me you didn't. That was the sound of a semicolon in the throes of a self-esteem battle.  Poor semicolon, the most misunderstood punctuation mark .

If you're not sure how to use semicolons in your writing, you're in the write place (oops, sorry, bad habit). Read on for:

• Semicolon definition
• Semicolon mistakes
• Semicolon examples
• The 2 places to use semicolons correctly
• Semicolon writing exercise

Semicolon Definition: What Is a ; (Also Known as the Super Comma)

Semicolon. A punctuation mark that is stronger than a comma, used either to separate two independent clauses or to separate items in a list when there are parenthetical commas present.

The semicolon is sometimes called a super comma, and rightly so, because it can act as a kind of upgrade when just one comma isn't enough or is confusing.

Why Most People Don't Know When to Use a Semicolon (;)

Sadly, many writers have a confusing relationship with the semicolon, not really sure how or when to use them in their lovely sentences.

Some have rejected it outright, including Kurt Vonnegut, who said that the only reason to use a semicolon would be “to show you've been to college.”

Don't worry, little semicolon. Your virtues will not be lost on this audience as long as I have a say in it.

Not sure you'll ever figure out how to use a semicolon correctly? That's cool! Consider using a grammar checking tool like ProWritingAid to tell you when you should and shouldn't use semicolons. Check out our review of ProWritingAid here to see how it works.

The 2 Times You Can Use Semicolons Correctly

In all seriousness, the semicolon is probably the most misunderstood button on a keyboard (except for maybe whatever the heck the little hat over the 6 is). When it's used properly, however, the semicolon can add beauty and sophistication to your writing.

There are two reasons you'll need to use a semicolon. Let's look at them both.

1. Use a semicolon to connect two independent clauses.

You know what an independent clause is, right? A clause has a subject and a verb, and if it's independent, it can stand alone as a sentence.

It can be easy to get caught up in the excitement of the semicolon, and you'll want to use it everywhere. Don't.

If you're going to use it, make sure that each clause can stand on its own as a fully formed sentence. If it helps, mentally separate the two clauses with a period to test their independence.

Justin didn't walk; he ran. Justin didn't walk. He ran.

Or another example:

Martin squinted as he read over his news brief; he was in need of a good pair of glasses. Martin squinted as he read over his news brief. He was in need of a good pair of glasses.

The semicolon in this sentence connects the two independent thoughts without bringing the narrative to a full stop in the way that a period would. A comma is completely inappropriate here because that would lead to a comma splice , and as we have previously discussed, comma splices are evil.

2. Use a semicolon in a list to separate objects that also have commas.

Semicolons can also be used as a kind of super comma, and should always be used in a list when separating objects that also have commas. Take the following sentence:

Diana included Athens, Greece; Paris, France; and Vienna, Austria, on her list of honeymoon cities that were not to be confused with their American counterparts in Ohio, Texas, or Virginia.

If Diana had included Athens, Greece, Paris, France, Vienna, and Austria on her list, her travel plans would be way more confusing. Using semicolons indicates that we can think of “Athens, Greece” as a single unit, even though there are more commas to come and more items in this list.

2 Essential Rules for Using Semicolons

In order to use semicolons properly when you're not making lists, it's important to remember a few things.

1. Each clause of the sentence needs to be an independent clause.

Let's look back at Martin and his lack of corrective eyewear.

Martin squinted as he read over his news brief; he was in need of a good pair of glasses.

We need a semicolon here because the first half and the second half of the sentence can both stand on their own. Independent of each other, they're both complete sentences in their own right.

What if we said this instead?

Martin squinted as he read over his news brief, wishing he had glasses.

“Wishing he had glasses” isn't an independent clause. It can't stand on its own without the first part of the sentence in front of it.

If you want to get technical about the grammar of this situation (and let's face it, I always want to get technical about the grammar of a situation), “wishing he had glasses” is a dependent clause. There's no subject in this clause, and so it needs the first clause, “Martin squinted as he read over his news brief,” to provide one (Martin).

In this case, where an independent clause and a dependent clause are connected, use a comma.

But if you do have two independent clauses (which you know, because you can split them apart into two separate, complete sentences), use a semicolon with confidence!

2. Use semicolons sparingly.

Okay, so this isn't exactly about being right . You can use a dozen semicolons on a single page of writing, and if they're all separating independent clauses or adding clarity to your comma-filled lists, they can all be correct .

But Kurt Vonnegut was on to something when he warned against the dangers of too many semicolons. I don't think you should cut them all out! But do use them with care.

It can get exhausting for your reader if there is too much going on in one sentence. If there is too much going on in each sentence for a full paragraph, that may result in reader mutiny, and you're going to have trouble bringing them back.

Use the semicolon to connect ideas that are related, but don't try to connect every single idea in a paragraph. Periods are your friends (at least in this context).

Ellie subtly flared her nostrils; the smell of lilac and lavender filled the air; it reminded her of her summers in the hills of Ohio; she and her cousins would make crowns of daisies and give them to their mothers.

For the love of God and the sanity of your readers, do not do this.

Ellie subtly flared her nostrils. The smell of lilac and lavender filled the air; it reminded her of her summers in the hills of Ohio. She and her cousins would make crowns of daisies and give them to their mothers.

Put the Semicolon to Use With a Creative Writing Exercise

Don't be afraid to experiment with semicolons. Sure, you might place a few incorrectly before you get the hang of it, but soon you'll be able to use them with ease. It takes some practice, but you'll start noticing places in your writing where a semicolon would add a welcome breath to the prose.

Do you like to use a well-placed semicolon, or do you agree with Vonnegut that they're unnecessary and pretentious? Let us know in the comments .

Need more grammar help?  My favorite tool that helps find grammar problems and even generates reports to help improve my writing is ProWritingAid . It works with Word, Scrivener, Google Docs, and web browsers. Be sure to use my coupon code to get 25 percent off: WritePractice2 0

Practice writing with semicolons. Use the following creative writing prompt , using as many semicolons as you can; you can even create a couple lists if you have to.

Prompt: Billy is going backpacking through Asia and needs to get vaccination shots.

Spend at least fifteen minutes on this. When you're done, share your practice in the practice box below, and be sure to leave feedback for your fellow writers!

Liz Bureman

Liz Bureman has a more-than-healthy interest in proper grammatical structure, accurate spelling, and the underappreciated semicolon. When she's not diagramming sentences and reading blogs about how terribly written the Twilight series is, she edits for the Write Practice, causes trouble in Denver, and plays guitar very slowly and poorly. You can follow her on Twitter (@epbure), where she tweets more about music of the mid-90s than writing.

71 Comments

This is why I could never finish reading the Anne of Green Gables series. LM Montgomery sure knew how to do SEMICOLON SPLICES after the first book. We’re talking four and five independent clauses PUT TOGETHER WITH SEMICOLONS.

It is extremely annoying to readers. Go Liz!

You mean like this one?! “Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies’ eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in teh woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde’s Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run pass Mrs. Rachel Lynde’s door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out of the whys and wherefores thereof.” One sentence, people! Yes, I agree, the semicolon became the terror of those books. I think the reason she used semicolons with such rigorousness in this sentence is because Rachel Lynde thought in run-on sentences that just never ended. They connected, one to the next to the next. If she put a period in somewhere, someone else might actually get to say something. Fancy that! So she made her thoughts all one long sentence so that no one else could get a word in sideways or edgeways or any-other-ways. She practiced this, of course, by thinking in run-on sentences; her mind was one interconnected pot of spaghetti.

I agree, guys; L. M. Montgomery did use semicolons a little excessively. (I have trouble with that, too; I tend to use these “–” and these “…” too much.) But she uses an older style of writing– a different style of voice that is rarely seen nowadays. I think that’s why I love her writings so much– the way she constantly uses certain styles of piecing sentences. It’s unique. It reminds me a little of my own writer’s voice. My mind is one interconnected pot of spaghetti, too. 🙂

If you guys didn’t like Anne much, I would suggest reading some of the books Montgomery wrote later in life. (My favorite is “Emily’s Quest.”) You can tell her writing skills improved immensely over time.

Many people in some communities today still don’t have their lives back in order; many lost electricity and still don’t have it back; many lost everything—literally, no home to go to. Many find their lives in the midst of a pile of rubble; many are unable to salvage their lives from there. Many lives are shattered forever.

This excerpt came from one of my posts at http://msadaku.blogspot.com

How did I do?

Great post on my favorite punctuation mark! Can’t wait to share with our followers.

I’ve read other posts about these little buggers, but THIS explanation with stick with me. Thanks!

Such a good article. Semi-colons have been an enemy. Maybe now I can make peace with them.

The semi-colon been ‘berry, berry goot to me!’, but not sure I been berry goot to it. I am old enough to remember SNL when it was really funny. The above line was originally: Beezball been berry berry goot to me.

Billy threw the brochure on the desk and pounded on the desk with clinched fists. “I can stand to face down some cold-eyed snake; I can take down a gorilla with a pen knife, but I cannot stand even the thought of a hypodermic needle! Why do require these stupid vaccinations? Now I have to decide if I want to go to Asia more than I don’t want shots.” Billy had always wanted to hike in Asia; he had fallen in love with the area after seeing an IMAX movie about the area. He had set his goal for a two-month hike when he graduated with a degree in Asian Studies. His senior year he had begun the serious planning and saving funds. He set priorities; he needed air-fare; he needed clothing; he needed maps; he needed a really good camera; and he needed a passport and visa.He estimated the total cash he needed, and he divided each category of expense and started putting a portion of each paycheck from his part-time job into envelopes for each item. He left the passport and visa until spring. The passport was no problem; the visa was turning into a big problem. If he had counted correctly, he would have to have seven vaccination or booster shots. H was so frightened of a hypodermic that he had risked blood poison twice rather than get a Tetanus shot. He would gladly be sedated, but that would involve the placement of an IV in his arm. He did not want a shot to avoid a shot; he was smart enough to see the hole in that logic. What should he do?

My guess you are a male from the content of your article. I believe your use of semicolons is OK. The only one I question is the one between priorities and he needed. Correct me; should it not be a (:). Your main character is quite the organized fellow doling out his paycheck in such a systematic way.

Billy’s gut clenched thinking of needles; he’d had real trouble with needles. Four years clean now, and off with his buddies to Manchuria after finally raising sponsorship. Manchuria! Manchuria is the very image of tough people; how could they even start to convince these people of God’s love? That is the place; Steve, Kindra and Billy had known all along. Now they couldn’t get there soon enough, to meet ‘Bodu’, waiting with space in his family yurt. In his mind Billy imagined sweeping bare spaces and howling wind. Nervously he checked off the simple packing list, took a breath, then shouted, ” Yipe Yiii Yeow!, pretending to hear his voice echoing across vast Mongolian spaces.

This is a great post and I have to say I entirely agree. Semicolons are a fantastic tool for writers as long as they aren’t over used. Don’t be afraid of them! Semicolons can be beautiful too 🙂

Billy is going backpacking through Asia and needs to get vaccination shots.

Therese slumped onto the couch. “Come on Billy; be a man.” “I hate needles; they hurt. I’ve always hated them. Why do you have to have so many? Surely they can put it all into one super shot.” “Oh for goodness sake, toughen up you pussy.”

Therese smiled at Billy but she could feel her patience waning. She pulled herself up and grabbed her car keys off the coffee table. “Come on let’s go.” She pulled her raincoat off of the spindly Ikea stand and turned toward the front door. “Where are we going?” “We’re meeting Mum for lunch remember.”

Billy grunted, picked up his mobile from the small stand in the hallway and followed Therese out into the sleet and foreboding grey winter day.

“This weather is depressing,” he said. “Exactly. That’s why we’re going to the exotic tropics. Temples, and beaches and palms and disease. Ya hear me; disease.”

Therese gripped the steering wheel; turned left on Grayson. She swung a sharp late turn in to White Drive. The back wheels screeched as they slid around the corner. “What are you doing? Where are you going?” “To the clinic.” Therese smiled a little, checked the rear vision mirror and accelerated into the middle lane. “What? No way. Turn back. You can’t make me do it.”

Therese indicated left then sharp right and swung wide into the back corner of the clinic car park.

“There’s some Rescue Remedy in the glove box. Have a swig. That’ll calm ya nerves.”

Billy fumbled around in the dark and pulled out a small flask of whiskey. “That’ll do” Therese said opening the drivers door and pulling the keys out of the ignition. “A man’s drink.” She winked, climbed out and slammed the door.

Billy was smiling. That’s why he loved her so. She’d had it all planned right down to the calming amber tonic that prickled feisty and hot down his throat.

“Where would I be without you?” He said through the misty window to Therese standing at the front of the car with her hands on her hips; all nonchalant warrior and insistent.

Billy took another deep swig, as any real man would, and with whiskey smile he joined his commanding Aztec princess for a walk through the sleet into the chamber of needles and pain.

Brava! Very well written in my opinion. It reads a bit like a movie. Perhaps a little too much emphasis on the coat hanger, but the conscious placement of people, the “disease” comment, and the overall idea, are very good.

Thanks Abigail.

Hello Dawn, I enjoyed your piece. I want to be a nonchalant warrior myself. I am not an expert, however, your use of semicolons seemed warranted. I am not sure what dialect “ya” comes from. Elaborating on Therese’s origin would make it less distracting for me

Billy sat in the hard chair awaiting his doom. There were no colors there; he saw only white walls, white upholstery, white pictures in white frames, and the ominous white of the doctors zipping in and out like flies in lab coats. “I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t even be here. This was a stupid idea from the get-go.”

It was after watching “The Beach” two months ago; back when he still watched movies. Rick had pushed aside the bowl of popcorn and said, “Why aren’t our lives like that, like in the movies?”

“I guess it’s because we don’t have the guts to do what movie people do. That and we’re poor; we’re fat; we’re lazy.”

And that’s what kickstarted the whole crazy caper. The “backpack through the wilds of Asia” idea came from the movie, and once that idea was in their heads there was no getting it out. So they trained; they trained hard. Jogging once every two weeks turned into running every morning before work. Billy spent hours looking at photos of gibbons; he booked seedy cheap hostels; he purchased the most expensive backpack he could find.

But the shots were something else. The white-robed flies looked more menacing the longer he looked at them, and Billy began to wonder if this wasn’t the end of the line for their dramatic adventures.

Hi Abigail,

Nice work. Your use of semicolons was seamless for the most part. In fact, the first time I read your piece, I finished it before realising I was supposed to be looking out for semicolons. The only place it felt a bit forced was at ‘we’re poor; we’re fat; we’re lazy’. It would feel more natural to say ‘we’re poor, fat and lazy’, although your usage isn’t technically wrong since those three clauses ARE independent clauses.

Enjoyed your elaboration on why Billy decided to go backpacking through Asia, too. You did a good job portraying the ordinary guy who wants to become extraordinary, with little details like the bowl of popcorn, or how Billy paid for cheap hostels but an expensive backpack. (In fact, do I detect a tongue in cheek jibe at how real backpackers spend their money?)

Thank you 🙂

Shortly after reading this post, I was writing by hand and accidentally wrote (or drew) an upside-down semicolon. 🙂

Going backpacking in Nepal, Billy was required to obtain vaccination shots; his fear of shots was almost overcoming his joy of the prospect of visiting Nepal. This land of supposed peace and love was a dream of his since his teenaged years; his life being limited as a child, he was now at an age where he could work toward his dreams coming true. Life was good; follow your dreams!

Also posted this in the ‘Bring Your Setting to Life’ practice, but thought it was a semi-colon practice as well so sharing in both. (…hope thats ok :-))

The shock ripped through her; the floorboards reached up to grab her calves. His voice echoed down the greasy black of the passage way. Its eternal dark tunnel swallowing the acid bite of old man words.

She stood alone. Solitary in the middle of the swirling room as it spun a tangled web of taunts from yester–years, and spat from its darkened corners and unpolished recesses, three generations of unspoken shame.

“I’ve known for a long time,” she called into quivering walls, where peeling paint hissed and sneered at her claims. “I’m not going to pretend anymore,” she added bravely.

The front door whipped open wide; its creaking rusted hinges rasped an invitation to leave; to walk away from the smear of past mistakes and lies. She obliged; lifted her skirt to her knees and took flight into the crisp silver promise of the moonlit night.

Semicolon (;)Practice

Suzanne B. Woods

The news arrived on official State Department letterhead; all important notices to citizens were printed on impressive, government stationary. The message began with an urgent sounding note: “This notice is to inform you … In this case, if you do not submit a vaccination verification stating you have been vaccinated against the following diseases, your visa request will be denied.” Bill slowly pronounced the half-page list of prevalent plagues running amok in Asia.

Bill, ace freelance photo-journalist, knew his face was flushing red-pink as he read down the inexhaustible list. There was a disease for every port of call he had on his news assignment: Istanbul, Turkey; St. Peterburg, Russia; Saigon, Vietnam; etc. “All those destinations; all those shots. Pulling a bandage off a scabbed over wound was bothersome but a half dozen long needled injections were debilitating.” He began to panic; heck, he needed to vomit.

I was really amused to follow a link to this post. I just finished final edits on a novel, and since I have a weakness for semicolons, I searched them. I was amazed to discover two or three on every page! I got rid of about 80% of them without much pain. But I never before realized the extent of my addiction

Wow. That’s a lot of semi-colons!

Joe Bunting joebunting.com

You are great at explaning what to do with this litttle bugger. “Use the semicolon to connect ideas that are related, but don’t try to connect every single idea in a paragraph”

I get that. 🙂

This site’s content is consistently making me a more knowledgeable writer. THANK YOU.

Great to hear, Vincent. Thank you for reading!

Enough with the semicolon, already. Enough comma splices.

I need, desire, must hear about the interocomma, the interobang, the sarcasm mark, and above all else the exclamation comma. We could use them when the the old tired punctuation just does not do.

Ok, dang, they ain’t in my fonts{exclamation comma} so what am I to do{exclamation question}

Ha. I desire to hear about the interocomma and interobang too, Gary. You must write about it!

Here is my first post on this site.

Bill, ace freelance photo-journalist, knew his face was flushing red-pink as he read down the inexhaustible list. There was a disease for every port of call he had on his news assignment: Istanbul, Turkey; St. Peterburg, Russia; Saigon, Vietnam; etc. “All those destinations; all those shots. Pulling a bandage off a scabbed over wound was bothersome but a half dozen long needled injections were debilitating.” He began to panic; heck, he needed a cold compress to soothe his brewing headache.

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate was at the heart of the matter. Did Bill want to sacrifice for his art? Did not suffering add depth and meaning to his journalistic expression? Without further hesitation, Bill booked the doctor appointment to be needled and, perhaps, to be famous.

ere goes my first post on this site:

I like your post; it’s well written and interesting. Also, I think you nicely demonstrated how good writers use the semicolon sparingly.

It feels good to note that I don’t make these mistakes, at least not a lot! Your site is loaded; I’ve been missing out on a lot.

As excited as he was for this trip, for all the laborious chores he had to do before he arrived at his destination (which he enjoyed nevertheless), Billy wasn’t looking forward to taking his shots. The mere thought of the syringe penetrating his skin terrified him; painful memories he had fought hard to bury, would resurface.

Already feeling a little nervous as he entered the clinic, Billy walked up to the counter and greeted the old lady behind the desk.

“Hi, umm, I’m here for my four o’clock appointment.”

“Ok, first and last name please,” she asked him robotically.

“Billy Connor,” he said. He still wasn’t completely convinced that he NEEDED vaccinations to go to Asia; surely he wouldn’t just drop dead the minute he landed without them. This thought occupied his mind in the background the entire time as he gave all the other details she needed from him for the appointment.

“Please have a seat in the waiting area on your left, and the doctor will call you in shortly.”

“Thanks,” he replied to the practiced smile she gave him.

Billy walked on over to the waiting area and picked a seat most removed from everyone else. He wanted to be alone. Mostly because he felt that people would see immediately that he was scared if they looked at him. He was never really good at hiding his emotions and was a terrible liar according to his sister.

As he sat down on the cold chair the uneasiness started to sink in. It never made any sense to him, but whenever he was in the hospital he would get this uneasy feeling as if something was about to happen. One experience can ruin a lifetime of experiences; especially if in that moment you lose someone you love.

Billy pulled out his wallet and pulled out the picture of his mother. Something he did whenever he felt nervous. ‘Don’t be a funny bunny’, she would say.

“Sorry mom”, he muttered to himself. “Can’t help it.”

Billy is going backpacking in Asia; a land known for its’ humidity and mosquito-borne illnesses. He needed to get his vaccination shots, but he was less than thrilled. One, two, three-BAM! One, two, three-BAM! One, two, three-BAM! The shots were done; his buttocks were sore. He looked over at his girlfriend who had a tear trickling down her cheek; she really hated shots. His heart swelled; she must really love me!

An excellent example of how to use the semicolon, Wanda. Thanks for sharing.

All good except for the first semicolon. Try an Em-dash after Asia.

Good spot, but easily done. It has taken me a while to learn the semicolon; I have found them hard.

But it’s funny how as soon as you understand it, it seems quite simple.

I went for a jog; it refreshed me. I went for a jog, refreshing me.

Love this post because semicolons can really “grind my gears”! But these are great tips that I’ll share with my other writing friends.

Thank you for this post. It does clarify use of the semicolon in a much more entertaining way than my APA style guide.

Billy is backpacking; through Asia and need to get vaccinations.

“For God’s sake! Have we gone mad Peter?”

“Andrew, please, we talked about it thousand times; we need to test Billy in real scenarios”

“Of course we need… but you know Billy is one of a kind; there’s no other robot like him. Those damned vaccinations are useless with Billy and Asia is much of a hostile environment for him. We don’t need to take that risk; we really don’t need Peter.”

“Oh Andrew, Billy has succeeded in all previous tests. He has been a month walking through the streets of San Diego interacting with the people passing by, the bikers, the traffic lights; he has been even eating hot-dogs in the street — keeping the chewed hot-dogs in his flexible PVC-stomach, of course. Now is the perfect time to send him overseas; John already volunteered for backpacking through Asia with him.”

“Peter, is about the vaccinations; there’s no need to inject them into his body”

“Why not? Vaccinations will be administered here; I can’t think of a safer place to study any reaction.”

“Please Peter, Billy has no meat, in the sense of muscle tissue; no blood, that can distribute the vaccination through his body; no immune system, that could provide antibodies or be debilitated.”

“…then!? There will be no reaction. Where’s the problem?”

“We don’t know how the vaccinations will react inside his artificial muscles; imagine for a moment all these pathogens running through his muscle fibers, or what’s worse, inside them! Reaching the complex electronic circuitry, it can lead to a muscle failure that we will not be able to replace in months.”

“OK, you win! Forget the vaccinations for a moment and let’s move forward to reach the basic milestones set in the testing program for Billy; think of him getting on in a foreign country. He will be forced to use a foreign language, understand other customs and adapt his behaviour.”

“This is perfectly right!”

“That’s it! Is always hard to convince you, Andrew. Ok, should we proceed with the arrangements for the travel?”

“Yes, but tell John he is staying here. I will receive Billy’s vaccinations and keep track of the fieldwork through Asia.”

(I apologize for any mistake! I’m not an english speaker…)

Liz – you’re funny! I love the anthropomorphism here.

Billy was going backpacking through Asia; notable not only for its overall large size and population, but also dense and large settlements.That explained why he was at a hospital getting a vaccination shot before he began the much awaited journey to the most populous continent on earth. “Deep breaths Billy, deep breaths.” The nurse soothed as she massaged his slightly exposed butt chick with her fingertips. Billy shook, highly terrified by the fact that in not less than two minutes his butt would be burning with immense pain; he was a man after all so pain was not much of a big deal. “Aaaaargh!” He screamed as the syringe made contact with his butt. With that out of the way operation Asia was a go.

Love the “butt chick”!

What you’ve just described as the work of the semi-colon, I’ve always thought was the work of the colon. I understand that you use a colon when an independent sentence adds to what the first sentence tells you eg John lost his book: it was the one he needed for geography. How does this differ from the work of a semi-colon (not including its use for lists- I’m clear on that).

You do not use a colon with an independent clause, usually. Replace the colon with the words “that is” and you will find the perfect balance for adding a colon. In your example, you would use a colon if you wrote: “John lost his book: the one he needed for geography.” Thanks to our guest blogger for this great explanation of the proper use of semi-colons: the unsuccessfully used punctuation mark.

Thank you, Liz for your post. I appreciate the semicolon and use it in all my writing, the way you explain ‘how to’.

I use semicolons, and I disagree with Vonnegut’s opinion on them. While they can be overused (as you demonstrate in this gem of an article), they add variety and contribute to a nicer flow, when used correctly.

Grammar is a killer for me. I’m finding commas much harder; it seems a lot has to do with taste. An example is your comma after nicer flow; does it need to be there?

+1 for the example and the question. Also, sometimes commas are used to indicate every pause in a sentence, which could irritate some readers, though others seem not to notice them as much.

Good catch. “When used correctly” does not stand alone as a sentence and therefore is not an independent clause.

This post is so beautiful! ♡

Anyone else notice the mistake in the first quote? “Use a semicolon in a list to separate objects that also have comments.”

Not sure if many ‘objects’ have comments; maybe they are a rare kind of object.

But I should keep silent; my grammar needs lots of work.

Wait; what?

Disqus doesn’t like me; it flags all my comments as spam. Wish the site owners would consider a different comment editor.

I used semicolons long before I went to college, Mr. Vonnegut.

This is a good explanation. I’m an avid fan of semi-colons myself, for the simple reason that I detest “gunfire” sentences like these:

This afternoon my friend Jane came over. We decided to go for a walk. She shared her concerns for her children. They are going through those “turbulent teen” years. We took the path through the park. There we saw three squirrels scampering around. The energetic little creatures were gathering nuts. Likely gathering their food supply for the long winter ahead. When we came home again I made tea. Good thing I’d baked biscuits this morning. These were swirled with cinnamon and brown sugar.

Semi-colons help to avoid that “Fun With Dick And Jane” rhythm.

This afternoon my friend Jane came over and we decided to go for a walk. Jane shared some of her concerns for her family; she has a lot on her plate right now dealing with her teenagers. On our way through the park we saw three squirrels scampering around. The energetic little creatures had their cheeks full of acorns; likely they’re gathering their supply of nuts for the long winter ahead.

When we arrived home again I made some tea and set out the biscuits I’d baked this morning. I’d swirled these with cinnamon and brown sugar — a lucky choice, seeing Jane loves cinnamon. I’m partial to oatmeal-raisin cookies myself and had debated baking some of those, but at the last minute I changed my plan. Had a feeling Jane might stop in on her way home from her art class; she often does.

Nice, clear explanation and examples. Thank you.

Brilliant post! ^^^^^^^^^^

a third way 😉 Just kidding; iT was a good article!

A third way 😉 All kidding aside; it was a good and informative article.

Backpacking was a way of life for Billy; Thailand had been on his bucket list since he bought his first overnight pack. The Southeast Asian nation Thailand had become a popular destination with its tropical climate, unique food, culture and sultry beaches. There would be a lot of planning before Billy felt comfortable traveling through this small Asian country on his two feet with nothing but the contents of a pack on his back. Before Billy packed the necessities in his bag, he had to make sure he got the required vaccinations for his well being. Billy was stunned at the list of vaccines; some shots are required, and others recommended. He read that The Center for Decease Control, (CDC), recommends: typhoid, hepatitis A, and B, tetanus, typhoid; rabies is also a possibility. Malaria prevention is recommended although not usually needed. Billy was never very fond of getting shots; He was going to have to get over his fear of needles if he wanted to check Thailand off his bucket list.

I took a writing workshop this past summer.

One of the young men, who teaches middle school, said that they don’t even teach semi-colons in school anymore, other than lists. He swears by the Em-dash. Short-sighted, I think.

Okay, I think I can do this; wish me luck!

I like semicolons. (In blog posts, conversations, and first-person stories I even like comma splices if they “sound” like real speech; Anne Frank used them well.)

My besetting sin: long, convoluted, compound-complex sentences that are usually technically “correct” but are burdensome to read. Writing audiotape scripts (the informative kind, not the story-of-a-chatty-character kind) helped me understand the need to write in room for breath.

I’m a big fan of semicolons. They fill that awkward spot when a comma is too short but a full stop is too long. Here’s to their proper use!

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Using Semicolons

Semicolons help you connect closely related ideas when a style mark stronger than a comma is needed.

Rules for Using Semicolons

Some people write with a word processor; others write with a pen or pencil.

However they choose to write, people are allowed to make their own decisions; as a result, many people swear by their writing methods.

There are basically two ways to write: with a pen or pencil, which is inexpensive and easily accessible; or by computer and printer, which is more expensive but quick and neat.

Some people write with a word processor, tablet, or even a phone; but others, for different reasons, choose to write with a pen or pencil.

Avoid using a comma when a semicolon is needed:

Incorrect: The cow is brown, it is also old. Correct: The cow is brown; it is also old.

What’s going on here? Both parts of the sentence are independent clauses, and commas should not be used to connect independent clauses if there is no coordinating conjunction. This mistake is known as a comma splice.

Incorrect: I like cows, however, I hate the way they smell. Correct: I like cows; however, I hate the way they smell.

What’s going on here? The conjunctive adverb however signals a connection between two independent clauses, and commas should not be used to connect independent clauses if there is no coordinating conjunction.

Incorrect: I like cows: they give us milk, which tastes good, they give us beef, which also tastes good, and they give us leather, which is used for shoes and coats. Correct: I like cows: they give us milk, which tastes good; they give us beef, which also tastes good; and they give us leather, which is used for shoes and coats.

What’s going on here? It’s unclear what the three list items are, since the items are separated by commas.

Incorrect: Cows, though their bovine majesty has been on the wane in recent millennia, are still one of the great species of this planet, domesticated, yet proud, they ruminate silently as we humans pass tumultuously by. Correct: Cows, though their bovine majesty has been on the wane in recent millennia, are still one of the great species of this planet; domesticated, yet proud, they ruminate silently as we humans pass tumultuously by.

What’s going on here? It’s unclear where the first independent clause ends and the second independent clause begins.

Avoid using a semicolon when a comma is needed:

Incorrect: Because cows smell; they offend me. Correct: Because cows smell, they offend me.

What’s going on here? The first part is not an independent clause, so no semicolon is required.

Grammar and Punctuation

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Using Dashes

Using Commas

Using Coordinating Conjunctions

Using Conjunctive Adverbs

Subject-Verb Agreement

Using Gender–Neutral Pronouns in Academic Writing

How to Proofread

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

Clear, Concise Sentences

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Semi-colons; or, learning to love literature’s most misunderstood punctuation

Kurt Vonnegut, Edgar Allan Poe and Gertrude Stein hated them. Should you too?

Kurt Vonnegut might find the headline on this essay too pretentious.

In 2005, the author of Slaughterhouse 5 and Welcome to the Monkey House wrote a vicious little line about the semi-colon that has since seemed to lodge itself into the brains of writers and grammarians everywhere: “Do not use semicolons,” wrote Vonnegut; “All they do is show you’ve been to college.”

Since it first appeared in the work of Italian scholar and printer Aldus Pius Manutius the Elder in 1494, the semi-colon has undergone wilder fluctuations in approval than perhaps any other punctuation mark. And it’s still widely misunderstood to this day; when I mentioned this essay to a peer, she remarked that she was “not going to pretend I know how to use it.”

For those who don’t: the semi-colon is commonly used to link together two independent yet related clauses, as in this sentence: “The line didn’t quite feel complete; it needed something else.” It’s particularly useful for juxtaposition, as in “I love jazz; my partner prefers folk.” They can also replace commas in lists where commas already exist to avoid complication (“On her holidays, she would visit Paris, France; Rome, Italy; and Berlin, Germany”), and in places where a comma would create a splice .

“Do not use semicolons,” wrote Kurt Vonnegut; “All they do is show you’ve been to college.”

Yet, long before Vonnegut saw to its modern humiliation, the semi-colon had scores of detractors. By the mid-19th Century, Edgar Allan Poe was already calling for the dash to dethrone it; in the 20th, Gertrude Stein found them showy, while George Orwell unkindly referred to them as “an unnecessary stop”. Cormac McCarthy joined the pile-on in the 21st Century by dismissing them as “idiocy”.

And in a 2017 study by Slate that measured semi-colon use by author, many of today’s bestselling authors, among them E.L. James , Agatha Christie , John Grisham , James Patterson and, yes, Vonnegut himself, were found to use scant numbers of semi-colons in comparison to other authors (less than 100 times per 100,000 words, all). The modern reading public, it seems, do not look favourably on the semi-colon.

That it is misunderstood is not an original notion. Just five sentences in, the Wikipedia page for the semi-colon refers to it as “likely the least understood of the standard marks”, and even Lynne Truss , the author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation , received a dressing-down by The New Yorker for what they referred to as “two misused semicolons” in the book’s preface.

But its value, when it is used correctly, feels obvious. In the Oxford Dictionary of English, which refers to it as “a punctuation mark indicating a pause, typically between two main clauses, that is more pronounced than that indicated by a comma”, we get closer to the semi-colon’s real value, and true beauty: the semi-colon, more elegantly than any other punctuation, expresses time .

The semi-colon, more elegantly than any other punctuation, expresses time

Here is a passage from Virginia Woolf ’s Mrs Dalloway , itself a novel-length meditation on time:

Having lived in Westminster—how many years now? Over twenty—one feels even in the midst of traffic, or waking at night, Clarissa was positive, a particular hush, or solemnity; an indescribable pause; a suspense (but that might be her heart, affected, they said, by influenza) before Big Ben strikes. There! Out it boomed. First a warning, musical; then the hour, irrevocable.

Can you feel the “indescribable pause”, to borrow Woolf’s term, between the “warning, musical” and “the hour, irrevocable”? With what other punctuation might Woolf have achieved that effect? Certainly not with Poe’s dash. A full stop would feel rigid, militaristic; the semi-colon hangs, shimmering, in the air, just long enough to feel it.

Indeed, the 1737 guide Bibliotheca Technologica suggested that punctuation’s use was dictated by natural speech and thought pauses: “The comma (,) which stops the voice while you tell one. The Semicolon (;) pauseth while you tell two. The Colon (:) while you tell three; and then period, or full stop (.) while you tell four.”

At the other end of Slate ’s findings, some of the most respected authors of all time can be found: Charles Dickens , Mark Twain and, right at the very top, Jane Austen , who used a semi-colon with the impressive regularity of once every 1000 words. But it was perhaps the famous American President and orator Abraham Lincoln who cut most cleanly through the accusation of pretention that beleaguers the semi-colon when, in 1864, he admitted not just "I have a great respect for the semi-colon; it’s a very useful little chap”, but that: “With educated people, I suppose, punctuation is a matter of rule; with me it is a matter of feeling.”

The Bibliotheca Technologica’s “pauseth”, Lincoln knew, was everything; it lent gravitas to language. Skilful orators like Lincoln and Martin Luther King use semi-colons with magnificent ease; so, in addition to Dickens, Twain, and Austen, do writers as varied as Raymond Chandler , Chinua Achebe , Salman Rushdie , and Rebecca Solnit . 

And, unlike its somehow more ‘whole’ cousin the colon, the semi-colon doesn’t subordinate; it balances. Equal parts poignant pause, an organiser of lists, and juxtaposer of thoughts, they are anything but pretentious. And the more you see them, the easier it becomes to incorporate them seamlessly into writing. Kurt Vonnegut hated semi-colons; you don’t have to.

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Writing Studio

In an effort to make our handouts more accessible, we have begun converting our PDF handouts to web pages. Download this page as a PDF: Semi-colons Return to Writing Studio Handouts

You may have heard this kind of advice, “To avoid short choppy sentences and improve the flow of your writing, vary your sentence lengths and structures!” It’s solid advice, and it turns out a semicolon (or “semi-colon,” both are acceptable) can help you heed it.

Perhaps when you tried using a semicolon, however, it was marked incorrect by your instructor. This resource can help!

Use a Semicolon Like a Pro

Below are the three basic situations for the proper usage of a semicolon.

1. To separate two closely-related complete sentences instead of a conjunction (like and, but, or)

• “I went to the store. It was closed.”
• “I went to the store, but it was closed.”
• “I went to the store; it was closed.”

Each of these three examples is grammatically correct. The first, however, sounds choppy; a whole paragraph of sentences like that will eventually sound like a beginning reader’s lesson. (“See Spot run.”) The second sentence is probably the one we would use in most contexts. The third, featuring the semicolon, has something emphatic or dramatic about it: it lacks the choppiness of the first example with its two complete stops, but it does not make the contrast so pronounced as the “but” does in the second example. It shows the close relation between the two statements but leaves the nature of that relationship implied.

2. To separate two complete sentences linked with a transitional word or phrase (like however, in fact)

Many students resist using semicolons for fear of doing so incorrectly; once its three basic uses are understood, however, the semicolon will pose little problem.

Caution: What lies on either side of the semicolon, as in the previous examples, needs to be a complete sentence. Here is a case where the semicolon is used incorrectly (what follows it is merely a phrase):

• Incorrect: “Many students resist using semicolons for fear of doing so incorrectly; probably because a teacher corrected them in the past.”

3. To separate items in a series when the items themselves already contain commas

Below is an example of a semicolon used in this way:

• “America’s favorites cartoon family, The Simpsons, includes Homer, the oafish but loving father who tries to be a good dad in spite of himself; Marge, the worrisome but loving mother with the blue beehive hair-do; Lisa, the brainy older sister; Maggie, the pacifier-sucking baby; and of course, Bart, the class-clown, troublemaker and rebel without a cause.”

Last revised: 07/2008 | Adapted for web delivery: 05/2021 In order to access certain content on this page, you may need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader or an equivalent PDF viewer software.

CMOS Shop Talk

From the chicago manual of style, semicolons in fiction.

Anyone who learned to type on a QWERTY keyboard would be excused for thinking the semicolon is the most important mark of punctuation in English; why else would it be sitting right there on the home row?

Touch typists will know what “home row” means: a , s , d , f , j , k , l , semi . As in semicolon.

Some of us love it; some of us don’t. Many writers can go a whole week without using one.

But what if the semicolon wasn’t just a fancy substitute for the period? What if it could be used more liberally, as a sort of strong, all-purpose comma? Such usage was once common, and it still has its place in creative writing, as we will see.

The Semicolon; or, A Nineteenth-Century Mark

The semicolon may seem oddly out of place on the home row today, but things used to be different. When the QWERTY configuration was new—the semicolon first appeared in its current location on the Remington 2 , which went on sale in 1878—the semicolon was a big deal.

To see how big, let’s look at three classic English-language novels from about the middle of the nineteenth century.

Middlemarch , by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), was first published in the early 1870s. Its text includes 1,876 semicolons across 318,332 words. Estimating 425 words per page as typical of a modern paperback edition with small type (which puts the book at 749 pages), that’s 2.5 semicolons per page. Impressive.*

Or Charles Dickens’s Bleak House , published in the early 1850s. That one has 1,385 semicolons sprinkled across 355,368 words (or 836 pages, according to the calculation used for Middlemarch ). That’s a bit less than 1.7 semicolons per page. Still a fair amount.

But in the United States, where QWERTY was invented, Herman Melville had those two books beat by a nautical mile. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale , published in separate editions in England and the United States in 1851, features 4,169 semicolons, not counting the one in the original American version of the title. Assuming about 503 pages (for 213,665 words), that’s almost 8.3 semicolons per page.

Moby-Dick seems unusual.† So let’s check two more. Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (mid-1880s) has almost 6 semicolons per page; and, coincidentally, so does Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (late 1860s). The hybrid mark was clearly popular.

Stronger than a Comma; Weaker than a Period

So much for the numbers. How were these semicolons being used?

First, a refresher. According to CMOS ( paragraphs 6.56 and 6.60 ), semicolons have two common uses in ordinary prose:

• As an alternative to the period between two closely related independent clauses or sentences. See the opening paragraph of this post for an example.
• In place of commas between items in a complex series, especially when one or more of those items is already punctuated with at least one comma. For example, semicolons can be helpful in a list of cities and states: “We visited Duluth, Minnesota; Abilene, Texas; and Detroit, Michigan.”

In formal expository prose, those two uses are usually all that an editor will permit.

But there’s also a less common use that’s not covered in CMOS but which can be deduced from that second rule. In this role, the semicolon acts like a strong comma, but not necessarily in a series.

This more flexible approach to the semicolon was once common.

A couple of sentences from the end of Moby-Dick will show what I mean:

For an instant, the tranced boat’s crew stood still; then turned. “The ship? Great God, where is the ship?” Soon they through dim, bewildering mediums saw her sidelong fading phantom, as in the gaseous Fata Morgana; only the uppermost masts out of water; while fixed by infatuation, or fidelity, or fate, to their once lofty perches, the pagan harpooneers still maintained their sinking lookouts on the sea.

The first semicolon is especially interesting. In the space of that formal pause, it dawns on the crew of the auxiliary whaleboat that the Pequod is doomed. The semicolon signals a moment that’s equivalent to dread. A comma there would have felt ordinary; a dash, too obviously dramatic.

The next two semicolons could be replaced by commas—or dashes—but semicolons in this book are inevitable; here, they hold the masts up to view one last time as they follow their ship into the depths.

If semicolon usage in the other nineteenth-century novels tends to be more conventional than in this one, their frequency in Moby-Dick opens the door to some creative possibilities.

Semicolons Now

A lot has happened since the nineteenth century.

There was, predictably, a sort of backlash against the mark in the twentieth century. But don’t believe everything you read; the semicolon has never dropped entirely out of fashion.‡

To prove this, and to get a good look at what’s happening right now, I called up the most recent twelve new stories from the Fiction section of the New Yorker . Listing the stories in chronological order from oldest to newest, here’s what I found.

• “The Bunty Club,” by Tessa Hadley : 41 semicolons
• “God’s Caravan,” by Tiphanie Yanique : no semicolons
• “The Flier,” by Joseph O’Neill : 7 semicolons
• “The Trip,” by Weike Wang : 2 semicolons
• “Arizona,” by John Edgar Wideman : no semicolons
• “The Curfew,” by Roddy Doyle : 24 semicolons
• “Old Hope,” by Clare Sestanovich : 1 semicolon
• “Sevastopol,” by Emilio Fraia (trans. from the Portuguese by Zoë Perry): 5 semicolons
• “Only Orange,” by Camille Bordas : 6 semicolons
• “Playing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain,” by Jamil Jan Kochai : no semicolons
• “Found Wanting,” by Douglas Stuart : 10 semicolons
• “Visitor,” by Bryan Washington : 1 semicolon

Fully half of the stories include no more than two semicolons; of those, three feature no semicolons at all. All but two of the stories feature less than one semicolon per page (calculated using the same word-to-page-count formula I used for the nineteenth-century novels).

On the other hand, two of the stories—the ones by Hadley and Doyle—are, relatively speaking, fairly peppered with semicolons. Hadley’s story is almost twice as long as Doyle’s, so they come out to about the same frequency (just under three semicolons per page).

But what I’m most excited about isn’t the variation in frequency, from sparely modern to nineteenth-century ornate—it’s that at least a few of the semicolons in these stories are being used in the creative ways suggested by Melville.

The stories with no more than five semicolons feature only the conventional, between-independent-clauses type—and that’s by far the most common usage across all of the stories. For example,

I heard the click of the turntable in the living room; the record had ended. (Fraia, “Sevastopol”)

But in each of the five stories that feature six or more semicolons, there are some creative exceptions.

For example, O’Neill uses semicolons rather than commas for a series of relative clauses:

I overheard Pam telling Viki that Becky had physically attacked her; that it wasn’t the first time this had happened; that on this occasion Pam had felt in mortal danger. (“The Flier”)

This is the moment when the story, narrated by a man who learns he can fly, is brought down to earth; semicolons provide the needed gravity.

In Hadley, the semicolons mostly pile independent clauses one on top of the other; two sentences in the opening paragraph feature four semicolons between them. Their frequency seems fitting in a story that features a main character who just happens to be reading The Mill on the Floss (an Eliot novel that, at 5.6 semicolons per page, outdoes Middlemarch ).

But not all of Hadley’s semicolons are by the book:

Having finished strimming, he was making his way home to the caravan where he was living temporarily because his wife had kicked him out; on foot, because his vehicle was with his brother-in-law, who was looking at the fuel pump. (“The Bunty Club”)

Many writers would have used a dash before “on foot”—or maybe a period, which would have set up a sentence fragment; but the semicolon is less insistent.

Now let’s look at a sentence from Bordas:

In fact, there was a part of me that believed that Audrey knew exactly how lucky she was, but that she also knew that, as an orphan, there were all these strings she could pull to induce sympathy, love, and guilt, to buy excuses, to explain herself; and that she intended to pull those strings until they broke, which they never would, because when you were a born orphan—that is, when you’d actually spent your first few months or years in an orphanage—you got to be an orphan for life. (“Only Orange”)

That semicolon could easily be replaced by a comma or a dash. But the semicolon helps to add an additional layer; and a third dash ahead of the other two would have ruined the symmetry and disrupted the sentence as it builds toward its Pyrrhic, sardonic conclusion.

There’s more, but these samples should be enough to show that semicolons are still a thing, even in fiction, where they have retained their place on the continuum between comma and period. Writers and editors would do well to remain alert to the possibilities and not automatically override them with conventions intended more for expository prose than for creative writing.

* To get the stats for Middlemarch and the other books in this section, I used the main text, excluding title page and table of contents, of the HTML versions at Project Gutenberg .

† As Cecelia Watson pointed out in her essential book-length study of the semicolon, Moby-Dick was unusual even for Melville; his novel Typee (1846) featured only 3.3 semicolons per page (my calculation). See Semicolon: The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark (New York: Ecco, 2019), p. 135.

‡ American author Ursula Le Guin, in observing her own use of the semicolon, incidentally summed up the debate:

What it comes down to, I guess, is that I am just not manly. Like Ernest Hemingway was manly. . . . Ernest Hemingway would have died rather than have syntax. Or semicolons. I use a whole lot of half-assed semicolons; there was one of them just now; that was a semicolon after “semicolons,” and another one after “now.” (“Introducing Myself,” in The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader, and the Imagination [Boston: Shambhala, 2004], p. 5)

See also Gertrude Stein, Kurt Vonnegut, George Orwell, and others. For the record, Hemingway’s works weren’t entirely free of semicolons; see, for example, the first sentence in the second paragraph of A Farewell to Arms .

Top image: Microsoft’s Segoe UI Emoji font rendering of Spouting Whale (semicolon in Calibri).

Fiction+ posts at Shop Talk reflect the opinions of its authors and not necessarily those of The Chicago Manual of Style or the University of Chicago Press.

Russell Harper ( @cpyeditor ) is editor of The  Chicago Manual of Style Online Q&A and was the principal reviser of the last two editions of The Chicago Manual of Style . He also contributed to the revisions of the last two editions of Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations .

The Chicago Manual of Style , 17th edition

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2 thoughts on “ semicolons in fiction ”.

After reading this thorough post; I realize that most of the text that has semicolons also has a large number of very long-winding sentences. It’s not the norm now with the short attention spans of the internet age. People now want smaller paragraphs and smaller sentences; automatically reducing the need to use semicolons. 

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How (and How Not) to Use Semicolons

These pesky punctuation marks can be understood, and strengthen your writing..

The Writing Cooperative

There is a famous Kurt Vonnegut quote which is often brought up when discussing semicolons, and it’s a doozie:

“Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.”

Ouch, Kurt; very ouch.

There are many adherents to this statement (which we will come back to). Princeton scientist Adam J Calhoun has shown that some of the greatest writers of the modern era (Hemingway, McCarthy and Joyce) use the semicolon about as often as I do that treadmill my wife bought me.

There are a number of reasons for this: personal taste, the rise of American over British styles, the prevailing idea that semicolons are only used in pretentious writing, and that how we write (sentence length, word choice, punctuation use, etc.) has changed over time.

Given all that, does the semicolon still have a place in writing?

How you should not use it

The semicolon is the one piece of punctuation which remained elusive to me for many years, a subtle element that I…

Written by Matt Cowan

Writer of fictions, purveyor of laughs, lover of women (ok, my wife and daughter).

Text to speech

Semicolons, colons, and dashes

What this handout is about.

This handout explains the most common uses of three kinds of punctuation: semicolons (;), colons (:), and dashes (—). After reading the handout, you will be better able to decide when to use these forms of punctuation in your own writing.

The semicolon looks like a comma with a period above it, and this can be a good way to remember what it does. A semicolon creates more separation between thoughts than a comma does but less than a period does. Here are the two most common uses of the semicolon:

1. To help separate items in a list, when some of those items already contain commas.

Let’s look at an example, as that is the easiest way to understand this use of the semicolon. Suppose I want to list three items that I bought at the grocery store:

apples grapes pears

In a sentence, I would separate these items with commas:

I bought apples, grapes, and pears.

Now suppose that the three items I want to list are described in phrases that already contain some commas:

shiny, ripe apples small, sweet, juicy grapes firm pears

If I use commas to separate these items, my sentence looks like this:

I bought shiny, ripe apples, small, sweet, juicy grapes, and firm pears.

That middle part is a bit confusing—it doesn’t give the reader many visual cues about how many items are in the list, or about which words should be grouped together. Here is where the semicolon can help. The commas between items can be “bumped up” a notch and turned into semicolons, so that readers can easily tell how many items are in the list and which words go together:

I bought shiny, ripe apples; small, sweet, juicy grapes; and firm pears.

2. To join two sentences.

An independent clause is a group of words that can stand on its own (independently)—it is a complete sentence. Semicolons can be used between two independent clauses. The semicolon keeps the clauses somewhat separate, like a period would do, so we can easily tell which ideas belong to which clause. But it also suggests that there may be a close relationship between the two clauses—closer than you would expect if there were a period between them. Let’s look at a few examples. Here are a few fine independent clauses, standing on their own as complete sentences:

I went to the grocery store today. I bought a ton of fruit. Apples, grapes, and pears were on sale.

Now—where could semicolons fit in here? They could be used to join two (but not all three) of the independent clauses together. So either of these pairs of sentences would be okay:

I went to the grocery store today; I bought a ton of fruit. Apples, grapes, and pears were all on sale.

I went to the grocery store today. I bought a ton of fruit; apples, grapes, and pears were all on sale.

I could NOT do this:

I went to the grocery store today; I bought a ton of fruit; apples, grapes, and pears were all on sale.

But why would I want to use a semicolon here, anyway? One reason might have to do with style: the three short sentences sound kind of choppy or abrupt. A stronger reason might be if I wanted to emphasize a relationship between two of the sentences. If I connect “I bought a ton of fruit” and “Apples, grapes, and pears were all on sale” more closely, readers may realize that the reason why I bought so much fruit is that there was a great sale on it.

Colons follow independent clauses (clauses that could stand alone as sentences) and can be used to present an explanation, draw attention to something, or join ideas together.

Common uses of colons

1. To announce, introduce, or direct attention to a list, a noun or noun phrase, a quotation, or an example/explanation. You can use a colon to draw attention to many things in your writing. The categories listed below often overlap, so don’t worry too much about whether your intended use of the colon fits one category perfectly.

Lists/series example:

We covered many of the fundamentals in our writing class: grammar, punctuation, style, and voice.

Noun/noun phrase example:

My roommate gave me the things I needed most: companionship and quiet.

Quotation example:

Shakespeare said it best: “To thine own self be true.”

Example/explanation example:

Many graduate students discover that there is a dark side to academia: late nights, high stress, and a crippling addiction to caffeinated beverages.

2. To join sentences. You can use a colon to connect two sentences when the second sentence summarizes, sharpens, or explains the first. Both sentences should be complete, and their content should be very closely related. Note that if you use colons this way too often, it can break up the flow of your writing. So don’t get carried away with your colons!

Example: Life is like a puzzle: half the fun is in trying to work it out.

3. To express time, in titles, and as part of other writing conventions. Colons appear in several standard or conventional places in writing. Here are a few examples:

• With numbers. Colons are used to separate units of time (4:45:00 expresses four hours, forty-five minutes, and zero seconds); ratios (2:1), and Bible verses and chapters (Matthew 2:24).
• In bibliography entries. Many citation styles use a colon to separate information in bibliography entries.

Example: Kurlansky, M. (2002). Salt: A world history. New York, NY: Walker and Co.

• With subtitles. Colons are used to separate titles from subtitles.

Example: Everest: The Last Frontier

• After the salutation in a formal business letter. A colon can be used immediately after the greeting in a formal letter (less-formal letters tend to use a comma in this location).

Example: To Whom It May Concern: Please accept my application for the position advertised in the News and Observer.

Common colon mistakes

1. Using a colon between a verb and its object or complement

Example (incorrect):The very best peaches are: those that are grown in the great state of Georgia.

To correct this, simply remove the colon.

2. Using a colon between a preposition and its object

Example (incorrect): My favorite cake is made of: carrots, flour, butter, eggs, and cream cheese icing.

3. Using a colon after “such as,” “including,” “especially,” and similar phrases. This violates the rule that the material preceding the colon must be a complete thought. Look, for example, at the following sentence:

Example (incorrect): There are many different types of paper, including: college ruled, wide ruled, and plain copy paper.

You can see that “There are many different types of paper, including” is not a complete sentence. The colon should simply be removed.

How to check for mistakes

Ask yourself a question: does the material preceding the colon stand on its own? One way to tell if the colon has been properly used is to look only at the words that come in front of the colon. Do they make a complete thought? If not, you may be using the colon improperly. Check above to see if you have made one of the most common mistakes.

Should you capitalize the first letter after a colon?

Different citation styles (such as MLA, APA, Chicago, and AMA) have slightly different rules regarding whether to capitalize the first letter after a colon. If it is important that you follow one of these styles precisely, be sure to use the appropriate manual to look up the rule.

Here’s our suggestion: generally, the first word following the colon should be lower-cased if the words after the colon form a dependent clause (that is, if they could not stand on their own as a complete sentence). If the following phrase is a complete (independent) clause, you may choose to capitalize it or not. Whichever approach you choose, be sure to be consistent throughout your paper.

Example with an independent clause, showing two different approaches to capitalization: The commercials had one message: The geeks shall inherit the earth. (correct) The commercials had one message: the geeks shall inherit the earth. (correct)

Example with a dependent clause (which is not capitalized): There are three perfect times to smile: when I’m with friends, when I’m alone, and when I’m with my dog. (correct)

The first thing to know when talking about dashes is that they are almost never required by the laws of grammar and punctuation. Overusing dashes can break up the flow of your writing, making it choppy or even difficult to follow, so don’t overdo it.

It’s also important to distinguish between dashes and hyphens. Hyphens are shorter lines (-); they are most often used to show connections between words that are working as a unit (for example, you might see adjectives like “well-intentioned”) or to spell certain words (like “e-mail”).

With that background information in mind, let’s take a look at some ways to put dashes to work in your writing.

1. To set off material for emphasis. Think of dashes as the opposite of parentheses. Where parentheses indicate that the reader should put less emphasis on the enclosed material, dashes indicate that the reader should pay more attention to the material between the dashes. Dashes add drama—parentheses whisper. Dashes can be used for emphasis in several ways: A single dash can emphasize material at the beginning or end of a sentence.

Example: After eighty years of dreaming, the elderly man realized it was time to finally revisit the land of his youth—Ireland.

Example: “The Office”—a harmless television program or a dangerously subversive guide to delinquency in the workplace?

Two dashes can emphasize material in the middle of a sentence. Some style and grammar guides even permit you to write a complete sentence within the dashes.

Example: Everything I saw in my new neighborhood—from the graceful elm trees to the stately brick buildings—reminded me of my alma mater.

Example (complete sentence): The students—they were each over the age of eighteen—lined up in the streets to vote for the presidential candidates.

Two dashes can emphasize a modifier. Words or phrases that describe a noun can be set off with dashes if you wish to emphasize them.

Example: The fairgrounds—cold and wet in the October rain—were deserted.

Example: Nettie—her chin held high—walked out into the storm.

2. To indicate sentence introductions or conclusions. You can sometimes use a dash to help readers see that certain words are meant as an introduction or conclusion to your sentence.

Example: Books, paper, pencils—many students lacked even the simplest tools for learning in nineteenth-century America.

Example: To improve their health, Americans should critically examine the foods that they eat—fast food, fatty fried foods, junk food, and sugary snacks.

3. To mark “bonus phrases.” Phrases that add information or clarify but are not necessary to the meaning of a sentence are ordinarily set off with commas. But when the phrase itself already contains one or more commas, dashes can help readers understand the sentence.

Slightly confusing example with commas: Even the simplest tasks, washing, dressing, and going to work, were nearly impossible after I broke my leg.

Better example with dashes: Even the simplest tasks—washing, dressing, and going to work—were nearly impossible after I broke my leg.

4. To break up dialogue. In written dialogue, if a speaker suddenly or abruptly stops speaking, hesitates in speech, or is cut off by another speaker, a dash can indicate the pause or interruption.

Example: “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about,” denied the politician.

Example: Mimi began to explain herself, saying, “I was thinking—” “I don’t care what you were thinking,” Rodolpho interrupted.

We hope that this handout has helped you better understand colons, semicolons, and dashes! For more information about punctuation, be sure to check out our handout on commas .

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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How to Use the Semicolon in Academic Writing

• 3-minute read
• 21st October 2016

Today, friends and frenemies (we know you’re out there), we’re looking at the semicolon, including when this punctuation mark should be used in formal writing (i.e. not for making emoticons wink ). We’ll also take a look at the difference between semicolons and colons.

Using a Semicolon to Link Sentences

The main use of the semicolon is to link two sentences. This emphasizes a connection between independent clauses that would otherwise be separated by a period. For instance, the following sentences work by themselves:

My favorite food is spam. I spend a fortune on tinned meat.

However, we could link them with a semicolon to show that they are connected:

My favorite food is spam; I spend a fortune on tinned meat.

This makes it obvious that my love of spam and my meat expenses are related.

Linking sentences like this is common when the second sentence starts with a conjunctive adverb (e.g., “however” or “furthermore”) or a transition phrase (e.g., “as a result”):

I love spam; consequently, I eat it for every meal.

As above, this emphasizes the connection between the two statements.

Generally speaking, you shouldn’t use a semicolon before conjunctions like “but” or “and,” although they can be used for clarity if either of the clauses being joined contains a comma .

Using Semicolons in a List

The second important use of semicolons is to separate items in a list . Usually, commas are enough for short, simple lists (like the following):

The menu offered four choices: spam, eggs, grits or pancakes.

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However, if the listed items are more complex and already include commas, using semicolons to distinguish between them aids clarity:

The menu offered four choices: spam, fries and beans; pancakes, syrup and spam; egg, bacon and spam; or spam, spam, spam, spam and spam .

Here, for instance, using semicolons clearly shows where one item on the menu ends and another begins. Using only commas in a list like this, by comparison, could be confusing.

Semicolon or Colon?

Knowing when to use a semicolon and when to use a colon can be tricky, since colons can also be used to link two related sentences. There are two factors to consider here.

The first is that semicolons can only be used to link complete sentences, whereas the information following a colon can be as little as a single word. For instance:

There’s only one food I can’t stand: spam.

If we wanted to rewrite this using a semicolon, we’d have to use two independent clauses:

There’s only one food I can’t stand; I hate the taste of spam.

The second consideration is that the information following a colon is usually an explanation or specification of a general statement (i.e., more general: more specific ).

With a semicolon, however, the sentences linked are typically of equal weight or importance.

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Punctuation in Fiction—Are There Prohibitions?

I was speaking with a friend about punctuation—what odd topics writers and editors end up discussing—and the use of semicolons in fiction came up.

While a legitimate punctuation mark, the semicolon has been shunned for use in fiction, especially for dialogue.

Is there a legitimate reason semicolons, or any punctuation, can’t be used in fiction?

You won’t find me telling writers not to use a semicolon.

Punctuation is used for clarity, for emphasis, for rhythm . To deny yourself the use of any punctuation mark is to cut yourself off from an option that might serve your sentence, your scene, or your story.

I’d never tell anyone to always cut out the use of a particular word—for example, don’t eliminate all uses of the word  that ; some are necessary. In the same way I’d never suggest that a punctuation mark doesn’t have its uses.

With minor adjustments to most sentences, commas and colons and periods can all be made to work in place of the semicolon. But the semicolon brings a rhythm to sentences that other punctuation can’t offer.

Sometimes you want three short sentences in a row, each ending with a full stop. Other times you’ll want to connect those sentences into a single one and use commas and a coordinating conjunction to do so. Other times you’ll want the break—or the connection, depending on how you look at it—that a semicolon provides.

When connecting (or separating) independent clauses, sometimes you want the feel that only a semicolon produces. An example—

Elyse was ecstatic about her son’s release from jail; Joe was ambivalent.

The use of the semicolon here shows that the parts of the sentence are related. The semicolon also reveals the author’s style and the viewpoint character’s feelings.

We could also punctuate the same independent clauses other ways—

Elyse was ecstatic about her son’s release from jail. Joe was ambivalent.

Elyse was ecstatic about her son’s release from jail, but Joe was ambivalent.

Each sentence is valid. But the feel is different.

The sentence with the comma and the but has a softer feel, a smoother flow. You’ll often use this construction for your stories to keep the flow moving. But if you want to stop that flow, want to draw attention to a thought or word or event, you can use a period or a semicolon to halt the momentum of a passage or scene.

Too much of any one rhythm, including unimpeded flow and long sentence after long sentence, lulls (or annoys)  the reader. Can I say it bores the reader? It can.

Forcing the reader to pause or stop shakes him out of the stupor he might have eased into, and a forced stop calls attention to the words at the stop point. You are in fact saying, here is something noteworthy, something different from expectations.

Now, if you want to hide information at the same time you reveal it—clues in a mystery, for example—you wouldn’t point them out in this manner. You’d hide those clues in plain sight by placing them in the flow of the narrative, into the flow of thoughts or description. The clues are there and can be easily identified later; they just don’t draw attention to themselves through sentence construction.

But if you want to draw attention to words or phrases, to a character’s thoughts or feelings or to something the character thinks is important, you can use punctuation to do so.

Use the semicolon or the period to interrupt the flow.

Of course you’ll also want to do the opposite. When sentences are choppy, with too many of them interrupted by semicolons, or when you’ve simply used too many short sentences in a row, substitute commas and a coordinating conjunction for the semicolons and periods to smooth the flow. 

You can also use semicolons rather than commas and a coordinating conjunction to combine a series of those short sentences. This is a useful way to break up an annoyingly repetitive rhythm. Only one way, of course. There are others.

The boy wanted a dog. He hoped to get one soon. He’d always wanted his own puppy. He’d never been allowed to keep the strays he’d brought home.

The boy wanted a dog and hoped to get one soon. He’d always wanted his own puppy; he’d never been allowed to keep the strays he’d brought home.

A natural connection must exist, of course, between the two parts of combined sentences in order for the semicolon to be used correctly . But if that connection exists, use the semicolon.

Varying your punctuation marks gives you variety in sentence construction,  breaks from a monotonous rhythm, and a means of drawing attention to particular words.

___________________________

A quick Google search will reveal advice from writers and editors and other writing professionals that says to never include semicolons in fiction. I can’t see being so dogmatic. If a punctuation mark serves the story—or if it’s a style trait of the writer—use it.

Writers reveal themselves through the words they use and the way they put those words together—through diction and syntax. If a writer uses semicolons, that’s part of her style. Unless a writer’s choices interfere with the foundations and strengths of a story, I see no reason to mess with that writer’s style. A writer’s use of words and punctuation is integral to her style and her voice.

I’m all for pointing out options. But tell a writer she can’t use semicolons? I think that would be short-sighted and clearly a mistake.

I’m curious to know what others think. Have you been told not to use semicolons or other punctuation? Have you directed your clients away from semicolons? Do you think doing so has served writer and story well?

What about other punctuation marks?

While I won’t tell a writer he can never use a certain punctuation mark, I will  offer the advice to not overuse the semicolon or any punctuation. Anything that distracts from the story should go, and too much of any one element is a distraction. 

But don’t deny yourself legitimate ways to get your meaning across just because some curmudgeon has a fit about a particular punctuation mark or word or grammar rule. Yes, failure to adhere to some rules could keep you from being published. Use of a semicolon in novels is not one of those sacrosanct rules.

Use the full range of options, but learn to use grammar and punctuation correctly and effectively. Remember your readers and choose options that enhance their reading experiences. Write compelling fiction that carries your voice and style.

Write well today.

Related posts:

• Don’t Fear the Semicolon—It’s a Useful Writing Tool
• Rules of Grammar & Punctuation—The Weird, Odd, or Unfamiliar
• Fragments and the Incomplete Sentence

Tags: rules , se , semicolon     Posted in: Craft & Style , Grammar & Punctuation

Posted in Craft & Style , Grammar & Punctuation

29 Responses to “Punctuation in Fiction—Are There Prohibitions?”

Consider all the dynamic indicators composers have at their disposal to govern the volume of a work alone: ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff, and sfz. Why should they have all the fun?

Thank you for this liberating article. Every bit of punctuation has its role to play, including those used less often. I like semi-colons; however, I must remind myself not to overdo.

I like the sound of liberating, Sharon. And I’m with you on reminding myself to not overdo a punctuation mark. It’s the em dash that I must watch out for.

Another fantastic post, Beth. It sure reminds me to double check my writing to see if I have used certain things in excess. I enjoy the nuances that semi-colons provide, as opposed to sticking to choppy sentence structure or commas. In saying so however, I don’t think I’ve ever used an em-dash.

It would be interesting to hear your opinions about adverb usage in a post. It seems rather controversial in writing circles on the blogosphere, twitter and so on. In the past week I’ve read a post by one writer advocating their use (read: limited) and another which shuns them altogether. As an aspiring writer myself, it is daunting to read such posts and not know what to do in my own writing. In a nutshell, where/how do you draw the line with adverbs?

I’m not necessarily talking about using them with dialogue, but throughout passages. Adverbs like “quickly” and “suddenly”, for example. I’ve typically avoided them myself, using perhaps no more than two or three in an entire chapter.

Kai, you can probably guess what I’d say about adverbs—every part of speech has its place. But adverbs do have their proponents and their foes, don’t they? Look for an article soon . . .

For those who’ve never seen this, here’s the classic example of why punctuation matters in these two versions of the same letter: Dear 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? Agnes

Dear 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, Agnes

Maggie, that’s a great one to illustrate the need for proper punctuation.

Of course, one of my favorites is the simple— I was waiting for my wife Emily. Which means he wasn’t waiting for any of his other wives. I know the standards have been loosened and many say we no longer need this comma, but there is a difference between I was waiting for my wife Emily and I was waiting for my wife, Emily.

Great topic. I got an email from someone who said, ‘Love the story–lose the semi-colons.’ I probably did have too many of them. So I eliminated them entirely, but you’e right. To be too dogmatic about it limits our options. I’ve also had a book rejected, and the only real criticism in the rejection letter was, ‘Too many semi-colons,’ so that explains my perspective.

Louis, I guess the good news is that you now know that you probably do use too many semicolons, so when you edit, you can search for them and make changes. Decide what it is you like about the pattern or rhythm from your use of semicolons and find additional ways to achieve a similar effect.

When you need them, however, there is no reason not to use semicolons. You just don’t want them standing out to be noticed.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

Louis, thanks too for the Facebook mention. Folks have followed you here.

Very good lesson on semicolons. I use them sparingly and never in dialogue.

Janice, I’ve heard others say they restrict their use in dialogue. That’s definitely a valid style choice. I’d say you’re in good company.

Moderation is the silken string running through the pearl-chain of all virtues.

Thomas Fuller, The Holy State and the Profane State (1642), Book III. Of Moderation.

Moderation is indeed a good virtue to consider with punctuation, Julia. (Did Fuller say this or was it Joseph Hall? I looked up the reference and found your quote attributed to both.)

The original was originally written by Hall, and properly attributed by Fuller in “The Holy State”: * Bishop Hall, ” Of Christian Moderation,” p. 6. I verified this by finding an online version of Fuller’s book and locating the quotation and attribution.

Isn’t it great that we can get quotes from hundreds of years ago? I love history and I love how modern technology allows us to know even more of it.

I’m just finishing up my first fiction novel and asked my daughter to read the manuscript to make suggestions. A major one was too many semicolons! I use them to create a reading pace; a rhythm. I see thought that from a readers perspective its evidently too much. Your input and thoughts here, and the comments of others, are much appreciated.

CJS, how great to have a daughter who will read your work and actually tell you what she discovers.

Semicolons are a useful punctuation mark. It’s just that they do stand out. And you don’t want punctuation standing out in your novels.

Did you follow the related-posts link to Don’t Fear the Semicolon ? That article points out the uses of the semicolon. It also points out when other punctuation would be the better choice.

As an example, in your sentence I use them to create a reading pace; a rhythm, there is no need for a semicolon. If you want a break stronger than the comma provides, use a period instead. But in that example, a comma would be perfect.

I wish you great success with your novel.

I’ve seen writers use a colon after to-be verbs like this.

My question is: How do you work around it?

His solution was: Increase the bottom line by five percent.

The introductory clauses are not grammatically complete sentences. And the writers used a capital letter to start the sentence following the colon.

Are these sentences punctuated correctly using colon in this manner?

Thank you, Beth.

Lou, as I pointed out to Denise, we don’t use a colon in this manner. Finish the independent clause before the colon or rewrite.

My question is this: How do you work around it?

His solution was to increase the bottom line by five percent.

———–

Capitalize after the colon for proper nouns, for direct questions, and for material that ends up being multiple sentences.

My favorite is the ellipsis. I use a ton of them. …of course, my style is very stream of conscious…so…well, yeah, I end up with a lot of…you know, things to represent the flow of thought in the character’s head as it, like I said, flows and, like I haven’t yet mentioned, jumps around from thought to related thought to unrelated thought—Wait, I’m writing THIS in a stream of conscious style, lol⁠—And I should probably be eating lunch rather than sitting here and…well, you get the idea.

That’s how some of my writing reads. Exactly like that. And so, anyway, my current novel…which will end up being very long (not my intended goal, but necessitated by the story)…and by the time it’s finished I will have used (because it’s written in a very stream of conscious style) nearly 80,000+ ellipsis. And yes, I’ve had people read the work and have read it out loud to people and have received exactly zero comments regarding them…good or bad.

So, if your punctuation is necessitated by the story, dialogue, prose, whatever…and is not taking anything away from it…then do whatever and it will all work out. The reader will not be distracted by it and it will not hinder the story one bit. Now, if you’re getting creative for creativity’s sake…that’s a whole nother thing (which should probably be avoided at all costs). All things necessitated by the story.

I like a semicolon. Learn how to use and don’t lose it.

Beth, I see writers use a colon after to-be verbs, as in:

The natural order there is: “That is Tom Smith. You met him yesterday.”

The question was: Why did he do it?

When I see writers use a colon after the “be” verb, they invariably cap the first letter of the first word following the colon—as exampled above.

Is it acceptable/correct to use a colon in this manner when the sentence is grammatically incomplete—yes or no?

Denise, the short answer is no—don’t use a colon after an incomplete sentence and following a to-be verb.

There are multiple options for rewriting—

The question was why he did it.

The question was this: Why did he do it? (Capitalize after the colon when the second half is a direct question.)

———-

I’m not quite sure of the meaning of your first example, but you can easily rewrite that one as well by finishing the sentence before the colon.

The natural order there is this: “That is Tom Smith. You met him yesterday.”

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• creative writing

lameri New Member

Colons and semicolons ok in creative writing.

Discussion in ' Word Mechanics ' started by lameri , Dec 4, 2011 .

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); I am finding a lot of division on this topic. Some published authors love them, some don't use them at all (replacing colons with dashes and semicolons with commas or periods). What is your opinion and why do you take that stand? Thanks.  

architectus Banned

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); This topic has been covered to death on these forums. Not to be rude. Just sayin'. You should do a search. But anyway, all that matters is that editors don't like them much. Who cares what we think.  

art Contributor Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); If you answer 'yes' to the following questions then you would be advised to not use them. - Am I a moron? - Does my audience consist of morons? - Is my editor a moron? - Am I a mere seller of a commodity? - Do you think that other punctuation marks can accomplish exactly what these punctuation marks can accomplish?  

madhoca Contributor Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); Since there are plenty of examples currently out there of colons and semicolons being used in novels, I wouldn't worry too much about this. IMO, this kind of punctuation is used well only by good-good writers, generally in a more 'literary' genre; it's overused by bad-good writers, and it will take them nowhere, so they should steer clear; it's done by good-bad writers, especially British writers like Robert Goddard, particularly when they write in spy/mystery genre and since it really doesn't matter to the plot, it's no problem; and bad-bad trashy romance/vampire novelists, ditto previous category. Which one do you fall into?  

digitig Contributor Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); lameri said: ↑ I am finding a lot of division on this topic. Some published authors love them, some don't use them at all (replacing colons with dashes and semicolons with commas or periods). What is your opinion and why do you take that stand? Thanks. Click to expand...

minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); My opinion is that if you can use them correctly, go ahead and use them. I think they get a bad rap because too many writers don't know how to use them. And unfortunately, there may be some editors these days who don't like them because they themselves have no idea how to use them, so they distrust them. In America, at least, we need better education for our young kids, so that things like colons and semicolons won't be such mysteries to people.  

Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); Yes, they are OK. I second Art's post.  

VM80 Contributor Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); madhoca said: ↑ Since there are plenty of examples currently out there of colons and semicolons being used in novels, I wouldn't worry too much about this. IMO, this kind of punctuation is used well only by good-good writers , generally in a more 'literary' genre; it's overused by bad-good writers, and it will take them nowhere, so they should steer clear; it's done by good-bad writers, especially British writers like Robert Goddard, particularly when they write in spy/mystery genre and since it really doesn't matter to the plot, it's no problem; and bad-bad trashy romance/vampire novelists, ditto previous category. Which one do you fall into? Click to expand...

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); Thank you very much for your responses. architectus: I did do a search but found only specific colon/semicolon questions. I was unable to find a thread with a bulk of opinions on this site. I went to another site and easily found one thread on it. Sorry I wasn't able to find it here...  

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); Lameri, I understand, but again, our opinions don't really matter. It only matters what editors think, specificaly, the editors you will be submitting to.  

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); architectus said: ↑ Lameri, I understand, but again, our opinions don't really matter. It only matters what editors think, specificaly, the editors you will be submitting to. Click to expand...

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); madhoca, yeah, whoever at the publishing house is going to read it. They're opinion matters.  

mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); imo, 'NO'... at least not for works published in the us, where it's not been common practice for decades, though in the uk such usage is still acceptable... in all instances, a comma, period, em dash, or conjunction do a much better and more reader-friendly job...  

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); mammamaia said: ↑ imo, 'NO'... at least not for works published in the us, where it's not been common practice for decades, though in the uk such usage is still acceptable... in all instances, a comma, period, em dash, or conjunction do a much better and more reader-friendly job... Click to expand...

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); Quite so, Minstrel. Further to the point about doing what the guy at the (US) publishing house wants: Are you absolutely certain he doesn't care for them or is this merely an assumption? Has the industry issued a press release stating it has no time for them? This might be an idea: you are a creative artist. Create as best you can. If that best creation includes colons and semi-colons, so be it. And, if someone asks you to remove your colons and semi-colons - asks you to change your manuscript for the worse - then you are dealing with an idiot, clearly.  

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); i never said they 'haven't been used for decades'... please read what i did say... as for the 'why' of my comments: Kurt Vonnegut once said, "Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you've been to college." Click to expand...

Ross M Kitson New Member

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); As a newbie (to the site not writing) I can see why authors get in a tizzy about them. Prior posts are spot on in the sense that it depends upon your genre and partly your style. Literary fiction, historical fiction- sure. Kids, pop fiction, maybe even general probably not. I write fantasy and use them as it seems to fit the narrative style. Whether it'd bother an editor- I imagine they're fairly divided and it depends what genre they are looking at. Imagine if they don't like 'em then they'll cut them. Be surprised if it was the make or break for a manuscript though.  

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); Mammamaia linked to a column by James Scott Bell above. I tried to read Bell's book Plot and Structure a couple of years ago, but it was just about the most irritating and, well, underbrained book on writing I'd ever read, and I've read a lot of books on writing. It found its way into the garbage bin quickly and I've had a hard time taking Bell seriously since. As for Vonnegut, he's entitled to his opinion, though he seems to be prejudiced against transvestite hermaphrodites for some reason. Here's a little column by National Book Award winner Lewis Thomas about punctuation generally. It has a good take on the semicolon. (Thomas wrote nonfiction, not fiction. But I think his open-minded view of punctuation fits any kind of writing. His first paragraph in this piece, by the way, is a virtuoso use of parentheses.) Notes on Punctuation.  

Raki New Member

lostinwebspace Active Member

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); I've come to the idea that, if some editors/publishers hate colons and semicolons...well, so be it. I'm right now trying to edit out semicolons, though some of my characters are pompous and overeducated and I think the semicolon reflects them well. I'm not saying using the semicolon is pompous, but it lends well to this type of character. A semicolon is easy to replace with a transitional conjunction or even just a period. So fine. Semicolons out. It's hard enough getting an editor to look at my work than ticking off those with an antisemicolon stance. The colon, not so much. I feel it's better to use a colon--yes, even in dialog--than go into linguistic gymnastics trying to avoid it. i.e. I'm finding it more cumbersome avoiding it than using it, as if this new "rule" or whatever you see it as is outdoing itself. And, yeah, I find you can use a colon in dialog that comes off as natural and realistic. And, honestly, I don't really see semicolons falling into underuse when a well-used Internet acronym is TL;DNR.  

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); Thank you for the link, maia. This particular bit seemed to express something I've been trying to put words to: "In such writings (i.e. scholarly) you're often stringing two thoughts together for a larger point...But in fiction, you want each sentence to stand on its own..." The thing is, in some genres of fiction, you actually do want the reader to take it slowly and consider more complex issues, and I'm not sure that reader illiteracy is a point you particularly need to worry about with literary writing. @ minstrel: loved your link, too. Thanks!  

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); madhoca said: ↑ "In such writings (i.e. scholarly) you're often stringing two thoughts together for a larger point...But in fiction, you want each sentence to stand on its own..." Click to expand...

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_dfc4210fdd8385fe15e2f661911aaa71'); }); Keep your hair on, Art. I was saying that the sentence I quoted was true only for some types of fiction . But in any case, paragraphs can be made up of linked ideas, containing individual sentences with ideas that follow on from each other without having them overpacked or glued together like a train using punctuation. Of course they can be. IMO it's actually good practice to try and write flowing sentences that don't contain semicolons, colons, OR em dashes. I find I end up expressing myself more clearly, and it's often less jolting for a reader as well.  

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