In any kind of writing (especially prose), sentence flow is extremely important when it comes to keeping your audience engaged. Too many short, choppy sentences in a row leave the writing feeling too simplistic, while too many long, flowing sentences may leave the reader feeling bored or confused. It becomes necessary to vary the pace, to keep the reader on their toes. That’s where punctuation comes in.
Punctuation is the key to controlling how your audience reads the sentences you write. Periods are, of course, a full stop. Exclamation points and question marks have their uses as well, providing interesting shifts in tone when used appropriately. Commas connect thoughts or separate items in a list, although they can become… muddy.
With too many commas, your writing turns into the circuitous prose of an eccentric 18th-century novelist. However, not adding pauses to your work will make your writing seem stiff. So how do you break up your sentences to maintain the proper pacing?
COLON and SEMICOLON enter stage left.