Every reader and every writer has a pet peeve. Mine happens to be the overuse of exclamation points. In his “10 Rules,” Elmore Leonard says: “Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.”

I couldn’t agree more, though there are exceptions. One might be describing a sign (No Trespassing!). Another might be a comic book whereΒ a character is yelling by creating a typographical representation of the yell. With comic book dialogue, all caps with an exclamation point causes the reader to β€œsee” the yell. The same holds true for children’s books, which can useΒ more exclamation points than adult fiction.Β The use of the !!! Β is one way of showing young readers what’s exciting to the character. But adults and experienced readers don’t need a visual every other sentence…at least not if you’re doing your job as a writer.

I once read that using an exclamation points was a bit like laughing too hard at your own joke. I like that analogy, though to me it speaks more to lazy writing. Stronger verbs will do more to paint a picture for your reader than any number of !!!!! ever can. And you’ll also risk annoying the reader or dilute the sense of urgency (sort of like the boy who cried wolf) by overusing them.

Anyway, that’s my pet peeve. I’d love to hear yours!!! (sorry, couldn’t resist).