2. Save the Semicolon!

Podcast Logo for the show "A Dash of Salt with AJ," hosted by Ahsoka Jackson



In this episode we explore the semicolon—both its purposes and its current challenges. There’s enough negativity about this mark of punctuation that I’ve warned people before that, while I myself continue to use them, they may be damaging their own publishing chances with editors if they follow suit (Major credit to author Sapphire Alena for bringing this issue to my attention to begin with.).

But despite the movement to discard this underrated punctuation mark, the semicolon retains its usefulness as both a utilitarian workhorse and a delicate instrument for use in situations requiring a touch of finesse. It can only be hoped that this trend will reverse in time, and that authors, editors, and others in the writing sphere will be found giving the semicolon the credit it deserves. 

Resource Roundup: 

[I don’t plan on typically including anywhere near this many links for Resource Roundups, but in this case there were a number I’d saved over time, plus some additional ones I came across as I was gathering those again. Enjoy!]

  • Comma Splice, The
  • Commas: Quick Rules
  • Examples of Colons and Semicolons in Sentences
  • Exercise: Run-ons, Comma Splices, and Fused Sentences
  • How to Punctuate Dialogue in Fiction (There’s a note on the topic of using semicolons in dialogue, which is something people have disagreements about.)
  • How to Punctuate Dialogue in Fiction Writing
  • How to Use Colons Correctly
  • How to Use Semicolons in Fiction
  • How to Use the Semicolon: The Soft Separator
  • Identifying Independent and Dependent Clauses
  • Punctuation Marks: The Colon
  • Secrets of Using Semicolons, The
  • Semicolons, Colons, and Dashes
  • Semicolons: Think of Semicolons as Sentence Splicers
  • Understanding Coordinating and Subordinating Conjunctions
  • Using Semicolons
  • Using Semicolons in Complex Lists
  • What Is an Independent Clause? (with Examples)
  • When to Use a Semicolon

    Keep an eye out for upcoming episodes! You can find links to the various podcast platforms where the show is currently available here: Listen now!

    Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2020 Ahsoka Jackson
  • Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *