Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing

In the final section of the book, Trimble turns to a “grab-bag of notes,” or odds and ends about writing that did not fit neatly in previous chapters, including punctuation (99). This section answers the “recurring questions that have plagued the majority of students I have known, be they freshmen or seniors” (99). Again, Trimble demonstrates that the ideal reader of Writing with Style is the college essay writer, although all authors will benefit from these odds and ends.

Below is a summary of Trimble’s grab-bag of punctuation notes:

Semicolons. Semicolons (;) allow the writer to combine two or more related sentences into one complex sentence. Trimble compares semicolons to the device that attaches two railroad cars to each other. Sounds easy enough, but most students use semicolons incorrectly: “The average college freshman isn’t ready for semicolons,” Trimble writes (101). Their typical downfall is that the clause after the semicolon is not a complete sentence, making it grammatically incorrect. Because authors often use semicolons incorrectly, when in doubt, take them out and opt for multiple, shorter sentences.

If you want to make sure you’re using semicolons correctly, put a period between the two clauses to check if either sentence can stand alone. For example:

With semicolon: “A beauty is a woman you notice; a charmer is one who notices you.” Adlai Stevenson (102)

Without semicolon: “A beauty is a woman you notice. A charmer is one who notices you.” (102)

Semicolons are also useful when separating items in a list, or series. For example:

Mr. Baker is survived by wife Eunice Baker; son Bobby Baker; daughter Doris Baker; daughter Miranda Baker.

Commas. Similar to semicolons, “Most students have trouble with commas” (107). Typically, they use too many or too little; striking the correct balance can be tricky. The best way to identify where to place a comma is to read the prose aloud. Every time the reader naturally pauses, insert a comma.

There are locations other than natural pauses where a comma is necessary. Always place a comma before and after a conjunctive adverb, including however, then, therefore, besides. Also, place a comma before and after transitional expressions like on the other hand, for example, for instance, in fact. When three or more things are listed in a series, use what is commonly referred to as an Oxford comma. For example: Ecological decline is the result of fossil fuel burning, habitat loss, and population growth.

There are instances when students typically use commas incorrectly. Trimble points to the comma splice, which is when a comma combines two independent clauses:

Comma splice: “Bob wanted to leave early, he had a date that night.”

Correct: “Bob wanted to leave early, for he had a date that night.”

Correct: “Bob wanted to leave early; he had a date that night.”

Correct: “Bob wanted to leave early. He had a date that night” (109).

Parentheses. Trimble defines parentheses () as “a way of muscling into a sentence a piece of incidental information which you can’t fit in grammatically, or which you don’t want to bother to fit in grammatically” (109). It’s clear that Trimble is not a fan of paratheses and encourages them to be used sparingly: “They quickly become an eyesore, and no reader enjoys being repeatedly whispered to” (110). If a certain piece of information is important, take it out of the parentheses and put it into the sentence. If the information isn’t worth having its own clause or sentence, then the author should consider removing it all together.

Dashes. Once the student has mastered commas and parentheses, they can incorporate dashes. Like commas and parentheses, a dash is a type of separator, “the most dramatic and spirited of the three” (111). Unlike parentheses, Trimble is a fan of the dash, which he considers to be versatile punctuation. Nowadays, style guides usually refer to dashes as “em” dashes and “en” dashes; Trimble does not address these in Writing with Style. Em dashes are the dashes that separate parts of a sentence. En dashes function as hyphens.

On a modern computer, the em dash is typed as --, which the computer then puts together into one longer line. The following are examples of the em dash and en dash:

Em dash: “The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted nearly 52 points in a week—the worst break in years.” Time (112)

Em dash: “I could never learn to like her—except on a raft at sea with no other provisions in sight.” Mark Twain (112)

En dash: The post-Cold War era

En dash: The museum will be open 8:00am-5:00pm.

Colons. Like the semicolon, the colon (:) joins two ideas or thoughts together. Unlike the semicolon, the colon “is used only when the first thought acts as an introduction or prelude to the second” (115). Colons are “more formal” than the dash and act as a primer when you want your reader to be ready for an important piece of information. For example:

“The vision behind this book is simple and horrifying: it is the vision of the humanely educated Nazi.” Eliot Fremont-Smith (117)

Exclamation Points. Use exclamation points sparingly, if at all. They are rereferred to as “screamers” in journalism and reveal a novice writer who is dramatic and lacks “understated humor” (117).

Quotation Marks. Quotation marks (“ ”) are used when denoting a quote or flagging a word that is being used ironically or technically:

A more recent instance of double-think was our practice of calling the war in Viet Nam a “conflict” (118).

Use commas to introduce a short quote. For instance:

Mary stated, “I never want to be as rich as that woman.”

When quotes are longer than two typed lines, or you want to amplify the quote’s effect on the reader, use a colon (:) to introduce it. Likewise, note that commas and periods go inside the quotation mark, not on the outside of the quotation mark. For example:

Mary told the crowd: “I never want to be as rich as that woman. I have been a poor person all of my life, and I have learned to survive because of it. Great wealth delivers competition, family discord, and unhappiness.”

Hyphens. A hyphen (-) combines compound adjectives:

Nineteenth-century book

Ear-scarring music

Well-traveled man

Do not use a hyphen when the adverb ends in “ly.” Also, the word “self” as prefix always requires a hyphen. For example:

Widely traveled man

Broadly held attitude

Self-esteem

Self-made

Ellipses. Ellipses are three periods (…) inserted into a quotation to note when a word or phrase has been removed. Outside of quotations, authors should rarely if ever use ellipses in a sentence. Ellipses indicate a thought that is trailing off, which undermines Trimble’s advice to write strong, clear prose.

For those students wanting to better understand the rules that govern English grammar, Trimble suggests reading Prentice-Hall Handbook for Writers and the Harbrace College Handbook. Likewise, for students seeking a style guide on how to cite and format work, see the Chicago Manual of Style or the MLA Style Sheet. Style guides vary based on the discipline; do research or ask a professor before purchasing a specific book.

Trimble concludes with a single-paragraph epilog. He thanks the reader for their time—which relates to his key theme that authors should have the utmost respect for their readers—and then summarizes what he hopes the book achieved: “I hope,” he writes, “that his book, brief as it is, has given you new insight into how skilled writers think, plus the itch to go out and write like them yourself” (138). It’s not an easy practice, he acknowledges, for “writing well is hard work” (138).