How to confidently use semi-colons in two easy steps

I love semi-colons. I take every opportunity to use them and hope that, by example, I encourage other people to use them (I hope this isn’t merely wishful thinking). To be honest, I have never understood why some people are afraid of using semi-colons; probably it’s more a fear of misusing them.

The semi-colon is an underused, yet powerful, punctuation mark. Just as our tone or hand gestures, for instance, can help us to be understood clearly when we speak, so punctuation helps us to communicate more clearly when we write. In the words of Lynne Truss, who wrote the bestselling guide to punctuation, Eats, Shoots and Leaves, “all our thoughts can be rendered with absolute clarity if we bother to put the right dots and squiggles between the words in the right places… If [punctuation] goes, the degree of intellectual impoverishment we face is unimaginable”. So, even though the semi-colon is not as commonly used as commas or full stops, it does have a very important role to play in helping us communicate our message as accurately as possible.

While I often hear people (myself included) complaining about the misuse of apostrophes, and overuse of commas and exclamation marks, the semi-colon doesn’t usually get a lot of attention. Although, oddly enough, the writer Kurt Vonnegut warned people against using them because “They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.” On the opposite side, George Bernard Shaw advised fellow writer T.E. Lawrence, after reading his autobiographical Seven Pillars of Wisdom, “You practically do not use semicolons at all. This is a symptom of mental defectiveness, probably induced by camp life.” People are always going to disagree when discussing language and its nuances. Why not just take from this argument the fact that semi-colons should be used with care and consideration.

If you are feeling encouraged to use semi-colons, but are not completely sure how to, let’s refer to Swan’s Practical English Usage. Very simply, Swan explains the semi-colon has two uses.

1)  Instead of full stops, to join two grammatically independent phrases which have a closely connected meaning.

Some people work best in the mornings; others do better in the evenings.
It is a fine idea; let us hope that it is going to work.

If, however, either of the phrases are complex, it is better to use a full stop instead of a semi-colon:
It is a fine idea to cut back on advertising to save money this quarter. Let us hope that it is going to work, otherwise some jobs may have to be cut.

2)  In lists, when the items are complex or contain commas.

You may use the sports facilities on condition that your subscription is paid regularly; that you arrange for all necessary cleaning to be carried out; that you undertake to make good any damage; that you inform staff of any facilities that need fixing, cleaning or updating; …

To test your prowess with semi-colons, try these exercises.

Four Tips for a Better Essay

Understand the task

A very common mistake students of all levels make is either misunderstanding the task question or not answering the task question. You can waste time researching irrelevant information if you do not know what to focus on and you will never get a good mark if you do not answer the question.

Analyse the task carefully. Try to rewrite it in your own words. Highlight the key words and think about what you are being asked to do (for instance, do you need to give your viewpoint, discuss different sides of an argument or evaluate someone else’s ideas?). Do you have to write a specific text type, such as a report or an article? Also consider how the task relates to what you have studied.

If you can choose your own question you will need to spend time formulating it so it is concise and clear. If it is not clear in your own mind, it will not be clear in your writing nor to the reader.

Organise – be organised and organise your writing

Allow yourself enough time to research, draft, review and edit – this often takes longer than you think. As you research, keep an accurate record of the sources you use to avoid wasting time looking for them later.

Plan the structure of your essay before you start writing a first draft (see the previous post ‘Planning makes perfect’ for different types of plans). Think about the best order for your points, trying to achieve a fluent argument where one point logically flows from another. Well-organised writing enables the reader to see how your points relate to each other and therefore understand your meaning more clearly.

As you are writing, use linking words and phrases (e.g. nevertheless, furthermore or as a consequence) to join your ideas together and help make your writing more fluent.

Write clearly

One should not aim at being possible to understand, but at being impossible to misunderstand.
- Quintilian (Roman rhetorician, c. 35 – c. 100)

The purpose of your essay is to communicate information. For example, you may need to show you have understood the key concepts of a subject or that you are able to convey your own ideas. Regardless of your essay’s specific purpose you will also need to show you can write well and communicate your ideas.

Make sure your reader cannot misunderstand anything you write. Nor should the reader have to guess or search for meaning; tell him or her exactly what you mean. Check for unnecessary repetition and unnecessary words (we can often eliminate the word that from phrases), be specific rather than general or ambiguous, avoid sentences which are too long, and support your points with relevant examples. Be careful of using opinion words, such as interesting or arguably, without explaining why you have chosen to use them, and check that any pronouns you have used clearly refer to the correct noun.

Proofread and edit

Allow yourself enough time to thoroughly review your writing. It is best not to do this immediately, but to come back later with a fresh mind. It is even better if you can also give it to someone else to review.

Start by looking at the essay as a whole: have you answered the question? Do your points/ideas flow logically? Are you paragraphs correctly divided and clear? Then look at smaller details: is your meaning clear in every sentence? Are there any words or phrases which do not add anything to the meaning and so could be deleted? And finally the smallest features: spelling, grammar and punctuation.

What you should now have is an essay worthy of the time and effort you have put into it.

Planning Makes Perfect

It can be difficult to help people understand the importance of planning a piece of writing. Those of us who have taught writing will have sometimes felt that our advice has gone unheeded. Planning will definitely improve your writing and, like everything, the more you do it the easier it gets.

Professional writers spend a great deal of time preparing, considering different ideas and organising their thoughts before beginning to write. Even if you are not getting paid for your words, planning should always be your first step and it is one of the main ways to write more effectively.

Some people believe planning is a waste of time, that it is better to just start writing. Unfortunately they have not understood that planning actually saves time and effort later; it helps you organise your ideas and enables you to check you have all the information you need. A plan is like a road map guiding you through step by step. Without it you can get ‘lost’ on the way, wasting time wondering which ‘roads’ to take, perhaps even going round in circles. With a plan you will never have to ask yourself ‘What do I write next?’

You need to consider three things as you begin planning:

1. Purpose
- why are you writing or what is your reason for writing?

2. Reader
- who will read your writing and why will they read it?

3. Content
- what information is relevant to your purpose?
- what information will get your message across effectively to the reader?

Once you have identified these three factors you will have a clearer picture in your mind of what your finished piece of writing will be like. For instance, thinking about who might read your writing can help you decide the language to use: whether to use a formal or informal style, simple vocabulary or terminology only certain readers would understand, and so on.

Plans come in different shapes and sizes, depending on the writer and depending on what is being written. Try a few different ways to discover which are more effective for you. You can write a list of bullet points, draw a flow chart, create a mind map or write ideas on separate pieces of paper which you can move around to organise. If you are struggling for ideas, brainstorm as many possibilities as you can regardless of how relevant you think they are, write all of them down and then select the ones which relate to your intended purpose, reader and content.

Writing without a plan sends a very clear message to the reader: the writer is unsure which direction to go in. Avoid this fundamental error by practising your planning skills and not only will your writing improve, but you will also give readers confidence in your writing ability.