Following on from Correct use of the Apostrophe and its Importance and motivated by Cutting a Dash (The radio 4 series that inspired Eats, Shoots & Leaves) Chichester Copywriter brings you the next blog in the series that’ll give you a helping hand with your writing.
About the comma
The comma may be small but it’s a very important punctuation mark. Use of the lowly comma can completely change the meaning of a sentence. The following joke illustrates this point perfectly and was the inspiration behind Lynne Truss’ bestselling book, Eats Shoots & Leaves:
A panda walks into a bar orders a sandwich, eats it and promptly shoots the waiter then he heads for the door. “Hey!” yells the bartender, and the panda growled over his shoulder, “I’m a panda, look it up.” The Bartender grabs a dictionary and looks it up. Panda: rare bear with black and white markings. Eats shoots and leaves.
Simple rules for using the comma:
- Commas are used to create a pause e.g. When it comes to SEO, regular updates are favoured by search engines.
- Commas are used to create lists e.g. Need Professional Copywriting, Search Engine Optimisation, Expert Social Media Advice, Google AdWords Account Management or Digital Marketing Consultancy?
- Commas are used to separate dialogue from non-dialogue e.g. Sarah Robson, Design Manager, University of Cambridge International Examinations says, “Chichester Copywriter is thorough, fast and professional to work with.”
- Commas are used to add extra information e.g. In an increasingly competitive business environment, where the web is king and the recession is taking no prisoners, having a website complete with excellent webcopy that ranks high on search pages is an absolute must.
Need more help with punctuation and copywriting?
Here’s hoping that the use of commas is a lot clearer after perusing this blog. Should there be any other areas of copywriting, such as creative copywriting, corporate copywriting, SEO web copywriting and proofreading, Chichester Copywriter can help you with please don’t hesitate to contact: Katy@ChichesterCopywriter.co.uk.