The last two Sundays have been focused on commas. I compared the comma to a multi-tool, highly versatile and a writer’s friend. When I told this to a friend, however, she was unhappy with the comparison. Her response was, “You can’t use a multi-tool too often, but you can overuse a comma.”
Fair enough! Last week I turned you loose with commas; this week I’m going to rein you back in just a bit with two comma cautions.
A poorly placed comma can split your sentence incorrectly. When I cooked, last night I made lasagna. If you want to use a comma in this sentence, it should go after “last night” not after “cooked.” Remember, the comma is a pause. Read this aloud with a pause. “When I cooked (pause) last night I made lasagna.” Awkward…
Too many commas makes your writing hard to read. For fun, Bob tried, to use, commas throughout, a sentence just, to see, what would happen. Obviously that example is a bit much, but you get the idea. There are two commas that should go in that sentence: after “for fun” and after “sentence.”
Please keep in mind that it is possible to overuse a comma. I always recommend double-checking by reading the sentence aloud when you’re not sure.
Any more sentence structure or grammatical issues you’d like to see me address?
Butterflies and Dragons 