Punctuation is easy, right?
Do you want to test your punctuation skills?
If so, independently punctuate (no writing app help) the following passage.
"In general the writer who did well in college earning As and Bs knows that a young aspiring middle grade novelist has an equally good reason to join the writers group because what it is is a line up of super creative people who for conscience sake treat it like a sub group of their audience to gauge the readers sensibilities and practice copy editing something they started in the 1960s and 70s because it was in the founders words far out" (Casagrande 1).
Does your punctuated passage look like the one below?
In general, the writer, who did well in college, earning A’s and B’s, knows that a young aspiring middle-grade novelist has an equally good reason to join the writers' group, because what it is is a line up of super-creative people who for conscience’ sake treat it like a sub-group of their audience to gauge the readers' sensibilities and practice copy editing—something they started in the 1960s and ’70s because it was, in the founder’s words, “far out.” (Casagrande 1)
(Notice that the passage is one sentence!)
Explanation:
There is not one correct way to punctuate the passage. There are four major editing styles: book, news, science, and academic (plus newspaper in-house style guides, style sheets that govern a single book, etc.), and they often disagree on punctuation rules. Thus, you should decide which style guide best suits your writing needs and be consistent with its guidelines.
Variations for the Above Punctuated Passage (pointed out by June Casagrande in The best punctuation book, period.):
A’s and B’s —> A’s and Bs (Los Angeles Times)
A’s and B’s —> As and Bs (The Chicago Manual of Style)
copy editing —> copyediting (book editor)
“far out.” —> “far out”. (editors outside the United States)
the writer, who did well in college —> the writer who did well in college (refers to every student who did well in college instead of just one student)
founder’s words —> founders’ words (indicates more than one founder’s words)
readers' sensibilities —> reader's sensibilities (refers to one reader's sensibilities instead of multiple readers' sensibilities)
line up —> line-up
copy editing—something they started in the 1960s and ’70s because it was, in the founder’s words, “far out.” —>
copy editing (something they started in the 1960s and ’70s because it was, in the founder’s words, “far out”). —>
copy editing: something they started in the 1960s and ’70s because it was, in the founder’s words, “far out."
what it is is —> what it is, is
young aspiring middle-grade novelist —> young, aspiring middle-grade novelist (preferred by certain publications)
The Art of Writing
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