: 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

I've been told, by professional teachers of creative writing no less, that the correct number of exclamation marks to use in any finished piece of writing is zero; I've also read the works of Terry Pratchett and know that this is not necessarily the case. In many ways it depends more on the target audience and/or the tone of the piece than there actually being any hard and fast rule.

In serious literary fiction they shouldn't be used; rather the exclamation should be given in a character's actions and your description of their demeanor and body language. For less serious pieces, and for pieces written to be read aloud, more punctuation and less description can be useful in getting the story, and in particular the dialogue, to flow naturally.

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: If I use a quote followed by a citation, then a small sentence from the cited material, should I include another citation? I understand you should always follow a quotation with a citation

@Sarah872

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: People like my book, starting halfway through This is kind of an alternate take on my other recent question, as well as the inverse problem to this question. I've been told by more than one

@Sarah872

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: Standard Margins for 6x9 Size Book I'm editing/formatting a book for a client and I've run into a bit of a technical issue--I've never formatted a book for print before and I can't seem to

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: I think what you're sensing is a desire to ramp up the conflict. Especially for a longer series, you need the stakes to increase with each book. First there's the enemy, then friends start

: 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

More posts by @Sarah872

: If I use a quote followed by a citation, then a small sentence from the cited material, should I include another citation? I understand you should always follow a quotation with a citation

: People like my book, starting halfway through This is kind of an alternate take on my other recent question, as well as the inverse problem to this question. I've been told by more than one

: Standard Margins for 6x9 Size Book I'm editing/formatting a book for a client and I've run into a bit of a technical issue--I've never formatted a book for print before and I can't seem to

: I think what you're sensing is a desire to ramp up the conflict. Especially for a longer series, you need the stakes to increase with each book. First there's the enemy, then friends start

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