When I'm writing first draft, I use commas and full stops like machine gun bullets, then go back and take a hard look make changes myself before I get some editing done, (much further along, you can tell I don't edit from my punctuation in these posts)
One of the places I am forever placing a comma is before "and" my understanding is you can do it as long as the next part will stand alone without the word and.
The part I don't get is, I have been reading dickens recently and because of the "," issue I decided to take more notice, his work has the comma before "and" and "but" everywhere, the same with another book I am reading just now "The Screwtape Letters. Full of the same thing so,,,,, my question is if these great and old works have the comma and "and" have things changed or am I losing it.
Paul G
What about the use of commas in dialogue?
Do you omit them to give speech a natural flow?
Paul, punctuation and grammar have changed along with the way we speak and write. What was acceptable to Dickens is not so fashionable any more. That's not to say it's wrong - just not current usage. It's the same thing as not using two spaces after a full stop any more - it's old hat.
My advice for the comma is use your own ear as a guide. If it makes sense, do it.
See my blog www.wordsunderoneroof.wordpress.com which is all about this kind of thing. There's even a post devoted to the comma, poor overworked little thing that it is.
Lorraine
Hi Renee, Like you I read out loud, I think it is a must you hear it one way in your head, and another way when you speak it. I also fill in big gaps when it's in my head that I realize my mind has filled in and it needs more on the page to make it work. For me that's page one right through to the last page.