Global Mysteries

As a mystery writer, one of my major frustrations relates to commas. Commas make me crazy. Apparently I’m not the only one who suffers from this problem.

To quote Oscar Wilde venting his frustration with commas:“I spent all morning taking out a comma and all afternoon putting it back.”

I share his pain—To comma or not to comma, that is the question. In an effort to find the answer, I researched rules for using commas. I found sets containing from 4 to 13 rules. I decided to select the rules I considered to be most useful to me as a writer. Here they are:

Use a comma

• before a coordinating conjunction (and,but,for,or,nor,so) that links two independent clauses.

Example: The light turned red, so he crossed the street.

• after an introductory clause or phrase that starts a sentence.

Example: When Mary got permission to go, she raced to the door.

• to offset appositives.

Example: John, lead singer, stepped to the mic.

• to separate items or phrases in a series.

Example: We bought robes, socks, slippers, and pajamas.

Mary promised to clean her room, take out the garbage, and feed the dog.

• to enclose clauses not essential to the meaning of the sentence.

Example: Jerry, who tends to pout, will be at the party.

• to indicate direct address

Example: “You got that right,” Homer.

• to set off direct quotations.

Example: “I like funny movies,” Sally said, “because they make me laugh.”

Yes, there are other comma rules such as those used in dates, addresses, titles and numbers, but these are pretty obvious. Most of us learned about them in primary grades. My list of comma rules are the ones I use the most, and at the same time, the ones that make me crazy.

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