In one of my classes, I off-handedly told them never to use more than one exclamation point."Never, never, never."
They were aghast. "No, it shows how important your message is."
"If your writing isn't important, the exclamation point won't help it."
Then I said, "And I can't think of why you would need an exclamation point in academic writing. It's like screaming."
They shook their heads at me.
I didn't tell them how fiction writer, Leonard Elmore, said that a long novel should never have more than three exclamation points. They wouldn't believe him anymore than they believed me.
I'm here in your beloved New York. Have taken in some serious walking to and from my conference and have enjoyed the bustle and energy. Next time I'm here in March I will have time for some theatre and sight seeing. Did you add me to your writing class? Do you have PayPal account to secure place?
ReplyDeleteAmen.
ReplyDeleteI believe you.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean no more than three exclamation marks?!!!?!!
ReplyDeleteI do get tired of the over use of exclamation points.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite NYT articles of all time says (and let's pretend it's alright that this is only vaguely related), "Precious few of our religious leaders laugh. They shout. God is not an exclamation point, though. He is, at his best, a semicolon, connecting people, and generating what Aldous Huxley called “human grace.” Somewhere along the way, we’ve lost sight of this."
ReplyDeleteInstead of exclamation points, we should use more wink faces and smilies in our essays. That will show how important your message is ;) ;) :D.
ReplyDeleteMy friend the accounting professor tells her finance students that emoticons are not used in business correspondence. They don't believe her either.
ReplyDeleteWhat??!!!?? I can't believe it!!!!OMG :):):) AAAAAMMMMMAAAAZZZZINNNNGGG info! I will definitely pass this onto ALL my FB friends.
ReplyDeleteI think you and Leonard are right. BUT! I! CAN'T! HELP! MYSELF!
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to wean myself off of excessive exclamation points for a few months now. Sometimes I just can't help myself...!!!!
ReplyDelete(I still love the Seinfeld episode where Elaine broke up with someone because she thought he should have used an exclamation point in his phone message.)
My 7 year old son is pretty sure that every sentence should end with an exclamation point. Usually an entire row, but definitely one.
ReplyDelete