I’m exhausted. I’ve just read a news article by a writer who feels that if one exclamation point is great, one per paragraph is even better. This has a very tiring effect on a reader.

Here’s what the Columbia Guide To Standard American English has to say about exclamation points/ marks:

The exclamation point (!) is the punctuation mark used to give the sort of emphasis to a word, phrase, or sentence that suggests loud, vigorous, forthright delivery. Never! Free at last! Never darken my door again! In English it always goes at the end of the locution to be emphasized. But stridency is seldom approved in speech, and so in writing too be sparing of the exclamation point. Rely on your words, not your punctuation, to make your passion ring forth.

Do you ever need exclamation points?

Exclamation points are usually redundant. For example, contrast:

“Shut up!” She shouted.

and

“Shut up!”

In the first example, “she shouted” is redundant.

I once had an editor who suggested that you should only use one exclamation point per book. I think that’s about right – one exclamation point per 100,000 words.

It’s rare that you need them, but they’re beloved of writers who lack confidence. Visit eBay anytime. Exclamation points rule there. All are redundant, and most are downright silly.

[tags]language, English, exclamation point, exclamation mark, usage, redundant[/tags]

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