: Re: Is it okay to use a lot of exclamation marks? I've noticed that I use a lot of exclamation marks when my characters are talking. They appear a lot in action scenes. Is there any rule of

@Candy753

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The exclamation point is a very powerful punctuation and is normally used sparingly.

It will lose impact with frequent use. It generally indicates a person who is being most emphatic and probably yelling or coming close to yelling. Intense emotion, but intensity cannot be of long duration or it loses its power.

If your characters are often yelling, it might make more sense to simply use the appropriate verb.

Here are some examples:

“You are not going out that door!”he said, “I will lock it behind you!”

“You are not going out that door,” he snapped, “I will lock it behind you.”

“Go out that door, I will lock it behind you.”

“You are not going out that door. I will lock it behind you!”

The first one becomes very choppy in pace and the tension is fading. The second one has a bit more punch and the guy might mean it. The third one is more natural and contains the emotion in the diction and word order. The last one indicates a rising level of anger but still might not merit an exclamation point.

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