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gwynSince I’m feeling sort of low today, I decided to tackle something low on the punctuation ladder, but something that’s pretty confusing for a lot of people — the poor, benighted semicolon, and its posher cousin the real colon. To be honest, I’ve never truly understood why semicolons are so misunderstood and misconstrued by amateur (and many pro!) writers, but they appear to cause massive confusion.
I once got a letter of comment from someone who said that I didn’t use enough semicolons in my fic. The writer loved them, and she felt I was woefully underusing them. I was flabbergasted — since I use the darn things fairly often, having someone take me to task for not employing them enough (and possibly, one could never use enough to satisfy her) was kind of an eye-opener. But the more fic I’ve read, the more I have come to realize that the semicolon is often so overused, and incorrectly used to substitute for a comma or other punctuation, that she probably believed I didn’t use enough because they should be used everywhere, regardless of appropriateness. I can only assume that semicolons confuse people because to really learn them, you have to know a little about grammar. And I mean, who the hell wants to do that? You use a semicolon when the past participial subjunctive phrase compounds with the coordinating gerundive infinitive... blah blah blah. Kill. Me. Now.
In fact, semicolons don’t actually have a lot of functions. So once you get the hang of how to really use them, it should go smoothly, in theory, anyway. The first rule is that they’re used to link closely related independent clauses (those phrases where you don’t have a conjunction such as and, but, for, so... blah blah to bring them together in one sentence) — I mentioned some of this in the first comma post a few weeks ago if you want a refresher course in the whole clause thing (it’s so seasonal!). Independent clauses are just clauses that are free! unfettered! wild! They’re independent, they can stand alone as sentences if you wanted them to (though they might sound kinda choppy, and they do relate to each other so they’re, you know, linked), and they don’t totally depend on the other part of the sentence for them to make sense. So (this is going to be the all Lord of the Rings edition, since I’m still basking in RotK) basically, the difference between an independent clause and a dependent one in a simple sentence would be like this:
Dependent
I’m a serious arachnophobe, and I think that Shelob has to be the scariest thing in any book.
Independent
I’m a serious arachnophobe; I think that Shelob has to be the scariest thing in any book.
Semicolons show that there’s a close connection between those two ideas, the conjunction says it’s a slightly less close relationship, and a period there would separate the ideas into two sentences, which you can totally do if you want to — because, you know, independent. There are a lot more complex ways to use them, especially when you get into sentences that are far more complex, but if you’re not a sophisticated writer yet, it’s a good idea to leave off using them until you get a better sense of how to use them. Most basic grammar books will give you a good sense of the more complex ways you can use a semicolon in sentences with independent clauses, and take a look at the way they’re used in really good books you like to read, or in fanfic by exceptional writers (and by that I mean, not necessarily the most popular folks in your given fandom, but the folks who are considered to be strongest for writing skills).
The second thing to know about semicolons is that they separate elements that themselves contain commas. You know how if you had a long list of items where you had to use commas, you’d run into areas where it would be hard to separate those things, because the commas seem to make it all run together? There’s your semicolon function. “Defending Minas Tirith and the fields of Pelennor, there was Theoden, with his army of Rohirrim; the men of Gondor, who should have been led by Faramir; and joining them from the sea, Aragorn with his army of the dead.”
The one thing you don’t use semicolons for, though apparently a popular sport in fanfic, is to connect random clauses and phrases, especially those of unequal weight. So this would be wrong: “Sam was devoted to helping Frodo; whose quest was a matter of life and death” (you’d use a comma there) or “Eowyn rode with Merry; the hobbit from the Shire” (comma again).
Also seriously misused and misunderstood is the semicolon’s full version, the colon. It’s weird how randomly and easily people will toss in a colon where they really want a long dash (called an em dash in the biz), or where they actually want a semicolon. But the colon can have some interesting uses in creative writing, even though it’s seen most commonly in the wild in academic writing or technical documentation — or as the element separating time references (12:45) or subtitles (There and Back Again: A Hobbit’s Tale). Even though it’s such a prosaic piece of punctuation, all very functional and whatnot (I mean, how glamorous is introducing a list or calling attention to the series material that follows?), it actually can be used stylistically. For day to day use, it’s most often called on to introduce a series of things (and with your stunning new knowledge of semicolons, think of what you can do using them to separate complex elements in a series!). So you’d have something like “There were many forces fighting against Sauron’s evil: the Men of Middle-Earth; the Elves of both Rivendell and Lothlorien; the wizard Gandalf; even Hobbits of the Shire.”
But they also allow for kind of a different way to introduce a concept and provide emphasis on what follows than the often-overused, worked to death like a troll em dash. A great example would be where you wanted to introduce a new, independent clause that amplifies the initial clause: “Eowyn feared only one thing above death: to be caged, to be forced to stand by helplessly while the men around her fought and died.” Or you can follow a complete sentence to introduce the next one: “Sam’s devotion was tinged with fear for his friend: The days that followed would be filled with struggle and violence.” There’s some confusion about whether or not to start a sentence with a capital letter when following a colon, and it varies among style guides (possibly another reason so many people fear using them). Most of the ones I use say that unless it’s a complete sentence that should stand on its own, don’t use a capital letter after the colon (the second example I wrote above is a complete sentence). If you were quoting someone, though, you’d definitely use a capital letter — Aragorn was so moved that he could only say: “My friends, you bow to no one.”
Possibly, too, people get confused because so many folks use colons incorrectly, and it just gets all mishmashy in their heads if they see it constantly being used wrong. The most common misuse is sticking one in a “list” that’s not really a series, but the object of a sentence.
Wrong
The ones who left the Shire were: Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin.
Right
The ones who left the Shire were Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin.
If you were really stuck on the idea of having a colon there, you could recast as “Four Hobbits left the Shire: Frodo blah blah” (because that gives you your series, or list) or “The Hobbits who left were as follows: Frodo, blah blah.”
I very much like using colons in my writing because they offer a different way to emphasize something I really want to call attention to. When they’re used right, they can sort of jazz up your writing a bit, help you vary sentence structure so that you’re not always writing in the same way, and provide a nice break for the reader as they follow your prose. Semicolons also can do this; just be cautious about how you use them. ;-)
I once got a letter of comment from someone who said that I didn’t use enough semicolons in my fic. The writer loved them, and she felt I was woefully underusing them. I was flabbergasted — since I use the darn things fairly often, having someone take me to task for not employing them enough (and possibly, one could never use enough to satisfy her) was kind of an eye-opener. But the more fic I’ve read, the more I have come to realize that the semicolon is often so overused, and incorrectly used to substitute for a comma or other punctuation, that she probably believed I didn’t use enough because they should be used everywhere, regardless of appropriateness. I can only assume that semicolons confuse people because to really learn them, you have to know a little about grammar. And I mean, who the hell wants to do that? You use a semicolon when the past participial subjunctive phrase compounds with the coordinating gerundive infinitive... blah blah blah. Kill. Me. Now.
In fact, semicolons don’t actually have a lot of functions. So once you get the hang of how to really use them, it should go smoothly, in theory, anyway. The first rule is that they’re used to link closely related independent clauses (those phrases where you don’t have a conjunction such as and, but, for, so... blah blah to bring them together in one sentence) — I mentioned some of this in the first comma post a few weeks ago if you want a refresher course in the whole clause thing (it’s so seasonal!). Independent clauses are just clauses that are free! unfettered! wild! They’re independent, they can stand alone as sentences if you wanted them to (though they might sound kinda choppy, and they do relate to each other so they’re, you know, linked), and they don’t totally depend on the other part of the sentence for them to make sense. So (this is going to be the all Lord of the Rings edition, since I’m still basking in RotK) basically, the difference between an independent clause and a dependent one in a simple sentence would be like this:
Dependent
I’m a serious arachnophobe, and I think that Shelob has to be the scariest thing in any book.
Independent
I’m a serious arachnophobe; I think that Shelob has to be the scariest thing in any book.
Semicolons show that there’s a close connection between those two ideas, the conjunction says it’s a slightly less close relationship, and a period there would separate the ideas into two sentences, which you can totally do if you want to — because, you know, independent. There are a lot more complex ways to use them, especially when you get into sentences that are far more complex, but if you’re not a sophisticated writer yet, it’s a good idea to leave off using them until you get a better sense of how to use them. Most basic grammar books will give you a good sense of the more complex ways you can use a semicolon in sentences with independent clauses, and take a look at the way they’re used in really good books you like to read, or in fanfic by exceptional writers (and by that I mean, not necessarily the most popular folks in your given fandom, but the folks who are considered to be strongest for writing skills).
The second thing to know about semicolons is that they separate elements that themselves contain commas. You know how if you had a long list of items where you had to use commas, you’d run into areas where it would be hard to separate those things, because the commas seem to make it all run together? There’s your semicolon function. “Defending Minas Tirith and the fields of Pelennor, there was Theoden, with his army of Rohirrim; the men of Gondor, who should have been led by Faramir; and joining them from the sea, Aragorn with his army of the dead.”
The one thing you don’t use semicolons for, though apparently a popular sport in fanfic, is to connect random clauses and phrases, especially those of unequal weight. So this would be wrong: “Sam was devoted to helping Frodo; whose quest was a matter of life and death” (you’d use a comma there) or “Eowyn rode with Merry; the hobbit from the Shire” (comma again).
Also seriously misused and misunderstood is the semicolon’s full version, the colon. It’s weird how randomly and easily people will toss in a colon where they really want a long dash (called an em dash in the biz), or where they actually want a semicolon. But the colon can have some interesting uses in creative writing, even though it’s seen most commonly in the wild in academic writing or technical documentation — or as the element separating time references (12:45) or subtitles (There and Back Again: A Hobbit’s Tale). Even though it’s such a prosaic piece of punctuation, all very functional and whatnot (I mean, how glamorous is introducing a list or calling attention to the series material that follows?), it actually can be used stylistically. For day to day use, it’s most often called on to introduce a series of things (and with your stunning new knowledge of semicolons, think of what you can do using them to separate complex elements in a series!). So you’d have something like “There were many forces fighting against Sauron’s evil: the Men of Middle-Earth; the Elves of both Rivendell and Lothlorien; the wizard Gandalf; even Hobbits of the Shire.”
But they also allow for kind of a different way to introduce a concept and provide emphasis on what follows than the often-overused, worked to death like a troll em dash. A great example would be where you wanted to introduce a new, independent clause that amplifies the initial clause: “Eowyn feared only one thing above death: to be caged, to be forced to stand by helplessly while the men around her fought and died.” Or you can follow a complete sentence to introduce the next one: “Sam’s devotion was tinged with fear for his friend: The days that followed would be filled with struggle and violence.” There’s some confusion about whether or not to start a sentence with a capital letter when following a colon, and it varies among style guides (possibly another reason so many people fear using them). Most of the ones I use say that unless it’s a complete sentence that should stand on its own, don’t use a capital letter after the colon (the second example I wrote above is a complete sentence). If you were quoting someone, though, you’d definitely use a capital letter — Aragorn was so moved that he could only say: “My friends, you bow to no one.”
Possibly, too, people get confused because so many folks use colons incorrectly, and it just gets all mishmashy in their heads if they see it constantly being used wrong. The most common misuse is sticking one in a “list” that’s not really a series, but the object of a sentence.
Wrong
The ones who left the Shire were: Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin.
Right
The ones who left the Shire were Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin.
If you were really stuck on the idea of having a colon there, you could recast as “Four Hobbits left the Shire: Frodo blah blah” (because that gives you your series, or list) or “The Hobbits who left were as follows: Frodo, blah blah.”
I very much like using colons in my writing because they offer a different way to emphasize something I really want to call attention to. When they’re used right, they can sort of jazz up your writing a bit, help you vary sentence structure so that you’re not always writing in the same way, and provide a nice break for the reader as they follow your prose. Semicolons also can do this; just be cautious about how you use them. ;-)
