!!!!1!!1!one!1!!!!!Complications Ensue
Complications Ensue:
The Crafty Screenwriting, TV and Game Writing Blog




Archives

April 2004

May 2004

June 2004

July 2004

August 2004

September 2004

October 2004

November 2004

December 2004

January 2005

February 2005

March 2005

April 2005

May 2005

June 2005

July 2005

August 2005

September 2005

October 2005

November 2005

December 2005

January 2006

February 2006

March 2006

April 2006

May 2006

June 2006

July 2006

August 2006

September 2006

October 2006

November 2006

December 2006

January 2007

February 2007

March 2007

April 2007

May 2007

June 2007

July 2007

August 2007

September 2007

October 2007

November 2007

December 2007

January 2008

February 2008

March 2008

April 2008

May 2008

June 2008

July 2008

August 2008

September 2008

October 2008

November 2008

December 2008

January 2009

February 2009

March 2009

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

July 2009

August 2009

September 2009

October 2009

November 2009

December 2009

January 2010

February 2010

March 2010

April 2010

May 2010

June 2010

July 2010

August 2010

September 2010

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011

December 2011

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

April 2012

May 2012

June 2012

July 2012

August 2012

September 2012

October 2012

November 2012

December 2012

January 2013

February 2013

March 2013

April 2013

May 2013

June 2013

July 2013

August 2013

September 2013

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

January 2014

February 2014

March 2014

April 2014

May 2014

June 2014

July 2014

August 2014

September 2014

October 2014

November 2014

December 2014

January 2015

February 2015

March 2015

April 2015

May 2015

June 2015

August 2015

September 2015

October 2015

November 2015

December 2015

January 2016

February 2016

March 2016

April 2016

May 2016

June 2016

July 2016

August 2016

September 2016

October 2016

November 2016

December 2016

January 2017

February 2017

March 2017

May 2017

June 2017

July 2017

August 2017

September 2017

October 2017

November 2017

December 2017

January 2018

March 2018

April 2018

June 2018

July 2018

October 2018

November 2018

December 2018

January 2019

February 2019

November 2019

February 2020

March 2020

April 2020

May 2020

August 2020

September 2020

October 2020

December 2020

January 2021

February 2021

March 2021

May 2021

June 2021

November 2021

December 2021

January 2022

February 2022

August 2022

September 2022

November 2022

February 2023

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023

July 2023

September 2023

November 2023

January 2024

February 2024

June 2024

September 2024

October 2024

November 2024

 

Friday, November 14, 2008

You're generally not supposed to use multiple punctuation. One exclamation point at a time, guys!!!

But multiple punctuation carries meaning, and meaning is good. Here, Tommy's really asking:

  • Tommy
  • I don't do that any more, do I?


Here, it's a rhetorical question:

  • Tommy
  • I don't do that any more, do I???


I'm tempted to use multiple punctuation, sparingly, of course. What do you think?

Labels:

16 Comments:

I'm a big fan of !?! and ?!? It seems to add, "what the fuck!?!"

Sometimes,, when I'm feeling saucy,,,, I'l use multiple commas!!!

By Blogger Dan, at 3:41 PM  

I think our first job as writers is to make an emotional impact as long as we're not confusing the reader. I've never been confused by multiple punctuation, so I assume that everyone else is like me and understands it. I don't "underestimate my audience's thinking power" as they say.

But overuse of it can become tiresome. I think it's one of those "use when needed" type of things.

By Blogger Andrew Kosarko - Screenwriter, at 3:53 PM  

A professor in my college gave me a handout that said to punctuate rhetorical questions with periods. I'm guessing that could be expressing some kind of irony there.

I never really knew how effective the period at the end of a rhetorical question was, though. Then again, I often answer rhetorical questions, so what do I know.

By Blogger The_Lex, at 4:06 PM  

Instead of the multiple question marks, I'd go with "I don't do that anymore--do I?" or "I don't do that anymore... do I?"

By Blogger Andrew, at 4:07 PM  

Putting a period at the end of a question indicates one sort of rhetorical question -- the calm one:

"I don't bloody do that any more, do I."

Vs.

"Well I don't bloody do that any more, do I???"

That's not the same nuance at all, innit.

By Blogger Alex Epstein, at 4:37 PM  

Having bloody in there nuances it enough for me, but I deal mostly in American English. . ..

But for the second one, I would expect at least one explanation mark. . .except that's discussing the nuance of the nuance, and I don't know if that's getting too deep into the nuance. Ack!

By Blogger The_Lex, at 4:44 PM  

Could you put "do I" in italics for the same effect? Or is italics worse than multiple punctuation?

By Blogger Laurie Stark, at 4:47 PM  

Hmmmm... maybe that's not the same thing, actually. I like the suggestion above of using ellipses.

By Blogger Laurie Stark, at 4:48 PM  

I like some of the characteristics of rhetorical questions that Wikipedia highlights for the entry of "Rhetorical Question" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetorical_question):

"A rhetorical question is a figure of speech in the form of a question posed for its persuasive effect without the expectation of a reply. . .Rhetorical questions encourage the listener to reflect on what the implied answer to the question must be. . .Rather, it is a device used by the speaker to assert or deny something."

How about the context of the conversation that elicits the rhetorical question. Would that clue the reader or the viewer into knowing that it's a rhetorical question and the nuance of it.

Personally, I love Greg House's rhetorical questions. . .most of the time; someone tries to answer it then cracks at them that it was a rhetorical question. Now that's context that hits you in the head.

By Blogger The_Lex, at 5:03 PM  

The hallmark of the best rules is that they are the ones that yield the most stunning results when broken.

By Blogger Kathy, at 5:26 PM  

Heh heh heh. Nerds.

By Blogger DMc, at 6:25 PM  

I never use multiple punctuation, but I don't have a problem with it. One of the weaknesses of the written word is one of the beauties of it for me; the fact that it's up to the reader and/or performer to interpret what's on the page. I mean you don't want to be confusing, but I'm very comfortable allowing the reader/performer to make most choices. I tend towards the italic when I really want to steer the interpretation.
Incidentally, do you prefer the underline to the italic in a script? I think the underline is a little obnoxious, but I've started to use it because italics don't show up too well in the printed work.

By Blogger OutOfContext, at 6:58 PM  

I don't think I'd use any multiple punctuation marks other than ?! or !? or standard combinations like ... and quotation marks with other punctuation.

I think if I wanted to indicate something as a rhetorical question, I'd show it by the reaction, or a "That was a rhetorical question" follow-up. If neither of those was appropriate, a
(rhetorically)
might be best.

By Blogger Unknown, at 7:20 PM  

@OutofContext: yeah, I never use itals. Only underlines. I can see underlines on the screen; itals kind of disappear. And Final Draft itals look like crap.

Underlines look clunky, but scripts are clunky beasts. Otherwise we'd all be using a pretty font instead of Courier.

By Blogger Alex Epstein, at 7:43 PM  

I use ?! a lot.

I've only used italics in one script. It was V.O. that was coming from a cassette tape the main character was listening to -- sort of a voice of God type thing. I wanted to differentiate it from the dialogue in the scene without being overly distracting. I think it works.

Okay, short story --

Some guy was on my ex-girlfriend's Facebook account. Apparently he was threatened by me, as I was still friends with my ex.

What first tipped me off was excessive use of ??? and !!! and interspersed use of CAPS.

He copped to it, then asked me how I knew.

I pointed out the above mentioned excessive use of punctuation. His reply was "What do you mean???"

To which I said, "Exactly."

Moral of the story -- I think in this day and age of text messages and IMs, the triple punctuation at the end of a sentence just looks juvenile.

By Blogger James, at 5:45 AM  

This is where the judicious use of emoticons comes in handy.

I don't do do that any more, do I? :S

vs.

I don't do that any more, do I? :D

vs.

I don't do that any more, do I? :P

You can't go wrong! ;)

By Blogger Webs, at 11:15 AM  

Post a Comment

Back to Complications Ensue main blog page.



This page is powered by Blogger.