#semi-colons

[yourlocalcringydaydreamer]

If you’re ever afraid of using the semi-colon, just remember, Christopher Latham Sholes specifically placed importance of the semi-colon over that of the colon. The semi-colon is your friend; it always has been.

[thelordofdarkreunion]

How to Write: Semi-colons and colons

So, you have no idea what a semi-colon is or how to use one.  Well, that’s perfectly understandable.  The semi-colon, or this thing “;”, is probably one of the least often used forms of punctuation in English.  However, contrary to popular belief, it’s actually really easy to use.

A semi-colon is basically a way to break up sentences.  The best way to think of it is a replacement for the word “and” in a compound sentence.  It can also be used to bring together two smaller simple sentences.  Here’s an example:

The sentence “I like to walk and run,” can also be written like this: “I like to walk.  I also like to run.”  If you’re using a semi-colon, it would look like this: “I like to walk; I also like to run.”

Now, a lot of people get colons (:) confused with semi-colons (;).  What’s the difference?  Think of it like squares and rectangles.  Every square is a rectangle, but not all rectangles are squares.  Colons are used to show off the next part of the written piece.  Look above at the title, or look at many lists people write.  That’s what a colon is usually used for.  A semi-colon cannot be used like that, but a colon can always be used as a semi-colon.  So, to use our example from above, the sentence can also be written like this: “I like to walk: I also like to run.”  Almost no one uses a colon like this, but it is technically grammatically correct.

For all our authors in the audience, you should use semi-colons infrequently.  If you want two sentences in the same thought but using “and” sounds weird, a semi-colon is a good choice.  Just don’t overuse it.  

Congrats!  Now you know what a semi-colon is and how to use it!

[lightpurplelilies]

i’m editing and i just found a paragraph where three sentences in a row have a semi-colon in it.  i love semi-colons but @ myself come on that’s a bit excessive

[aibidil]

Please tell me your thoughts on the semi-colon?!

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂@phd-mama you are a breath of fresh air.

I don’t use semi-colons much in fiction writing; they generally seem a bad choice for flow. I just checked my longest fic, 43 semi-colons in 80k. Hmmm, that’s more than I thought actually. When editing, I don’t think I ever edit them in if the author hasn’t used it. I’ll edit them out if 1) one of the clauses it separates is not a complete sentence or 2) I think the flow would be improved with separating sentences into shorter, complete thoughts.

That said, I kinda love the semi-colon??!?!!! And it’s more casual sibling, the em dash. 

That said. A few months ago I did one of the Ursula Le Guin writing exercises, which was Write a half page to a page of narrative that is all one sentence, and I wrote this 385-word monstrosity and I COULD HAVE DONE BETTER IF I’D REMEMBERED SEMI-COLONS WERE ALLOWED:

Draco taps his foot with agitation, looking again at the clock (or rather, the clocks—one shows the time as half past one, the other shows ornate hands with Draco’s and Harry’s faces pointed resolutely at “HOME”) and calling, “We’re going to miss it,” but then Harry is running down the stairs at high speed, so fast one is convinced he will trip, though he doesn’t, and Harry grabs Draco’s elbow and pulls him towards the fireplace while Draco reflects that Harry has quite the nerve to pull his elbow when he is the one who was holding them up, but his thoughts are lost in a haze of green flames as Harry enunciates “St Mungo’s” and then they’re there, in a busy lobby swarming with concerned relatives, harried Healers, and eccentrically injured patients, but Draco doesn’t have time to examine the witch with a tree growing out the top of her head because Harry is still insistently tugging his sleeve and Draco wonders why they aren’t stopping to talk with the Welcome Witch, if Harry’s plan is to search the rooms at random, but then he sees a flash of red hair on a lanky body at the end of a corridor and knows Harry has been drawn to it like a bowtruckle to a Wiggentree and Harry’s calling “Bill!” but when the lanky ginger turns it’s not Bill but George and Harry starts to run, which is unfortunate because Draco is wearing his dragonhide boots—extremely practical and fashionable footwear but the soles have no traction—and George is telling them to hurry up with a huge smile and when they round the corner following his pointing, freckled finger they see lots more Weasleys surrounding an open door and Molly swoops up behind them with solicitous hands on each of their backs and she’s pushing them through the door, and when they’re inside it’s clear that they have missed it, but it’s okay because they’re here now and Hermione is on the bed, her hair pulled back from her sweaty face in a colorful wrap, and she’s cradling a bundle of tiny human while Ron, incandescently happy but also looking like he might faint, bounds forward to hug Harry, and Draco smiles as he watches a happy tear escape from Harry’s eyes at the word “godfather.”

[heytherethisisneat]

[teacherscrapbook]

How to use a semicolon - Emma Bryce

It may seem like the semicolon is struggling with an identity crisis. It looks like a comma crossed with a period. Maybe that’s why we toss these punctuation marks around like grammatical confetti; we’re confused about how to use them properly. Emma Bryce clarifies best practices for the semi-confusing semicolon.

[theliterateape]

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of February 23, 2020

By David Himmel

• Absence makes the heart grow fonder and makes David Himmel much more likable.

• Purity is a fallacy.

• Perception is reality and that’s precisely what’s wrong with humanity.

• The anticipation that you’ll be annoyed by a someone or a situation is always warranted. But you don’t need to feel that anticipation; you just need to get better friends and do better things.

• I’ve never quite gotten the hang of semi-colons.

• Time can feel like a loving wife or a hateful ex-girlfriend. It all depends on how early you get up each morning.

[theinvisiblespoon]

Here’s a writing tip for semi-colons; if you can replace the semi-colon with a period, you’re doing it right. e.g. “Here’s a writing tip for semi-colons. If you can replace the semi-colon with a period, you’re doing it right.”