Commas! Series: #1 The Compound Sentence Comma

[seaislewitch]

Commas! Those little buggers that give most of us a lot of trouble. Using Harry Potter characters, I'll attempt to make some comma rules easier to remember by simplifying them and foregoing the jargon.

Comments

[subversa]

This is very clearly stated - yay for you! This one rule brought me crashing to my knees as a newbie writer, and I still make the mistake frequently. When you have completed your impromptu tutorial, may I rec this on my lj?

[seaislewitch]

Oh, yay! I was going for clarity!

Me too! I always messed this one up until I realised it was just a matter of subject/verb. Still, I'm forever looking up things, just to make sure I have the punctuation right. If I can't find the answer, I'll usually just rewrite the sentence.

I'd be incredibly honoured if you were to rec these posts. *feels the pressure to make them good*

[sylvanawood]

I will put these in my memories. For some reason, your OTS makes more sense to me than all the explanations from the archives.

[seaislewitch]

Yes! *pumps fist in the air*

A lot of the punctuation sites get bogged down in terminology. I like to KISS the problem: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
(Do they teach that in maths in Europe?)

[sylvanawood]

I haven't heard it in maths (not in my time, at least), but in a lecture on how to improve one's presentation skills.
Yes, you're completely right. It depends on people, too. Some are the 'terminology' type. I'm not. KISS is just right for me. ;)

[seaislewitch]

I agree. I'm more of a generalist myself. I like to grasp ideas quickly and move on to something else. Sometimes, I'll go back to an idea to find out more about it, and then I don't mind learning some of the terminology.

Punctuation is just a tool for writing. I need to know how to do it correctly, but I don't need to remember all exceptions to the rules. I can always just look that up.

[valady]

Ok, so two people doing two different things in the same sentence gets a comma. *Punctuation, the reason I only received a C in English.*

[seaislewitch]

Right.

Subject/verb, and subject/verb. (add comma)

Subject/verb and verb. (no comma)

(I'm happy you are reading this! I hope it's useful.)

[valady]

Yes, I'm read it and found it quite informative. *Making post-its to stick around monitor for handy reference* :)

[ladywhitehart]

*high fives you* Clear, concise, correct!

Is verb tense next?

[seaislewitch]

*slaps hand*

Lie, lay, lying, laid, lain, laying... That's enough to give anyone a headache. Yes, I'll do those after the commas. ;) (I might seek your counsel, if that's okay.)

[ladywhitehart]

I'll try to come up with a cartoon to help. I remember trying to teach usage to middle school students. *cringes at memory*

[redvelvetcanopy]

I love you, do you know that??

Squee!

May I have your permission to cut and past each of these into word so that I might have them at the ready?

You rock!!