Are You a Comma Commando?
Stop! You're tripping up your reader!
Have you ever, read an article, or post, where the writer intentionally, or unintentionally, overused commas?
(Poorly written opening sentence intended for effect.)
Doesn't it just slow you down? It's a drag to read, literally.
Writers typically overuse commas because they don't understand how to split clauses or end their ideas effectively.
The result is the chaining together of ideas with a comma used as a verbal pause, rather than where it is logically appropriate.
I've discovered that I am an automatic comma overuse.
I use commas where I pause in thought, as I am actually thinking, rather than coordinating clauses and extending details off of independent thoughts.
Commas are supposed to be used before conjunctions to help coordinate clauses. Unfortunately, many writers, myself included, forget the function of conjunctions and end up using words that appear to be a conjunction with an inappropriately placed comma, such as the word "and."
A comma is necessary if you are inserting a dependant clause into a sentence such as "I went to the store to buy coffee, and wound up buying a bunch of other groceries." But not for a sentence such…
