Week 7 & 8: Grammar Girl Response - Episode #45

Commas are probably my favorite form of punctuation. I find myself using them quite often, and sometimes I even worry a little bit that I may use them too much, as I notice they can very easily create some pretty lengthy run-on sentences. That sentence there being a pretty decent example of my tendencies, although I'm pretty sure I have their concept down pretty well. Most commonly, when I write, I tend to think about what I'm typing as if I were saying it out loud, so I like to use commas for things like showing a pause in what I'm saying. I feel it gives my writing much more personality by illustrating the way that I normally talk, or I suppose, as some might say, giving it more “voice.” Personally, I don't really know though. I've never considered myself much of a writer, so this is all a learning experience for me. If one hasn't noticed, I've been attempting to push my use of commas to the max in this response, hoping to give as many examples of how I use commas in my writing as possible, as to provide a multitude of opportunities to provide feedback on my proper, or improper, use of commas. Not to mention the whole two-hundred and fifty word minimum length requirement, I have to find some way to ramble on long enough on this subject to achieve that goal. In closing, not to be too redundant or anything, I enjoy using commas, and I feel they are probably my most powerful asset in showing my voice in my papers.