this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2024
22 points (100.0% liked)
askchapo
22822 readers
343 users here now
Ask Hexbear is the place to ask and answer ~~thought-provoking~~ questions.
Rules:
-
Posts must ask a question.
-
If the question asked is serious, answer seriously.
-
Questions where you want to learn more about socialism are allowed, but questions in bad faith are not.
-
Try !feedback@hexbear.net if you're having questions about regarding moderation, site policy, the site itself, development, volunteering or the mod team.
founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I'm of the objectively incorrect but subjectively extremely correct opinion that as long as the reader understands your intention, it's fine, and that no story is going to be made or broken by fretting about a comma or a period or a semicolon between a description of upcoming dialogue and the dialogue itself. This probably isn't helpful though.
I have a pet peeve about commas separating two complete clauses with no conjunction generally, and it bothers me every time I see it (unless it's two complete clauses in one line of dialogue, because people do talk like that, with short pauses). Such situations are often better with a semicolon or a period instead. But I have no idea if that is a common opinion. Above all, I don't want to steamroll over the writer's unique voice.
Not just "subjectively extremely correct", the reader understanding your intention is the literal definition of communication.
The problem as a writer, though, is that you don't know if the "as long as" is going to hold. Punctuation as a set of rules that must be followed is certainly unhelpful nonsense, but punctuation as a tool to help point those who might be misdirected without it is worth some consideration.