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 where 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 “see” the yell. The same holds true for children’s books, which can use more exclamation points than adult fiction. The use of the !!! 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).
Discover more from Judy Penz Sheluk
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I use exclamation marks fairly often in dialogue. Then I go back afterwards and make sure they are all necessary — but I often leave them there.
I really love semi-colons, but a lot of people hate them. One of my editors asks me to remove most of them (if I haven’t already done so before submitting the book to her). My other editor doesn’t seem to mind them. I wonder if this has to do with genre — the editor who doesn’t like semi-colons publishes mostly romance, whereas the one who doesn’t mind them publishes mystery. Hmm….
Hi Barbara, my understanding is that colons and semi-colons are frowned upon in fiction — but they are okay UNLESS in dialogue. People don’t “speak” with semi-colons and colons. So to keep dialogue real, you’re better to use sentence fragments. I find it interesting that a lot of people are okay with exclamation points in dialogue.
An exclamation point is much more than a raised voice (yell, shout, etc.), and should not be relegated to the wastebasket. “An exclamation mark usually shows strong feeling, such as surprise, anger or joy.” While it MAY be used to indicate that someone is yelling or loud, I rarely use it that way and my readers don’t seem to have a problem with its usage. Every author’s style is different, and absolute, artificial “rules” like this one are not as helpful as intended.
Thanks for your comment, Alexander. As you say, every author’s style is different. Myself, personally, I don’t care for the overuse of the exclamation point and will stop reading a book if the author uses that vs. stronger verbs. But, others, like you, may have a different point of view or style. Reading is subjective.
I agree, Judy. Reply on those strong verbs!
IMHO, that’s the trick 🙂
My Natalie McMasters Mysteries use lots of exclamation points, because that’s Nattie. In fact, when others told me there were too many in Stripper! (after I had gone thru the text and cut out half of them), I decided to embrace the exclamation point by including one in each book title. It’s a great branding tool! So my books are Stripper!, Revenge!, Trafficked!, etc.
BTW, Dame Agatha Christie has a sentence in her classic “And Then There Were None” with four exclamation points!!!!
If if works for Nattie and Agatha, who am I to argue?
I couldn’t agree more (!!!).
Wiseacre!!
Oh, I often use a preposition to end a sentence with!! And fragments, too!!
Okay, my exclamation points are always kept within dialogue, or at least the character’s head.
I love a good sentence fragment 🙂 Not keen on exclamation points, even (or especially) in dialogue. Seems too cartoonish to me, sort of like “Yikes!” instead of “what on earth did I get myself into?” There’s almost always a better way.
Thanks for the reminder. I agree Judy. Sometimes I catch myself typing an exclamation mark and then realize I need to do more work – like you said – find better verbs.
Thanks C.J. for reading and commenting. There is definitely a fine line on the use of exclamation points. I like to err on the side of caution.
My pet peeve is people who cling to the unreasonable requirement that we should not end a sentence with a preposition. Just because a British preacher declared that a rule of grammar a century or more ago isn’t a good enough reason for writers to follow it.
Agreed Grace, sometimes it just makes sense — especially in dialogue. People don’t speak with perfect grammar and if all the characters do, the writing seems wooden.