Inventing Reality: A Guide to Writing Science Fiction
Punctuation rules
There are a lot of great writers out there but only so many novels and short stories that book companies can publish. To prevent your piece from having a competitive disadvantage, you’ll want to ensure it is as publishable as possible when the editor picks it up. That includes enduring your piece follows all of those punctuation and capitalization rules that back in grammar school that led us to many a daydream about being on an exotic alien world or hunting dinosaurs in the Jurassic.
After attribution
If a quotation that is a single sentence is split by attribution, use a comma after the attribution.
RIGHT: “Luke of Tatooine,” called Obi-wan Kenobi, “use the force!”
WRONG: “Luke of Tatooine,” called Obi-wan Kenobi. “Use the force!”
RIGHT: “Luke of Tatooine, use the force!” said Obi-wan Kenobi. “Only then can you defeat Darth Vader!”
WRONG: “Luke of Tatooine, use the force!” said Obi-wan Kenobi, “only then can you defeat Darth Vader!”
In quotations/dialogue, place a comma before the name of the person being addressed. This often helps separate the name of who is being addressed from a preposition that comes before it.
RIGHT: “We don’t know where they came from, Mr. Spock.”
WRONG: “We don’t know where they came from Mr. Spock.”
If the attribution comes before the quotation, set off the attribution with a comma.
RIGHT: Han Solo grinned then added, “You’re surrounded.”
WRONG: Han Solo grinned then added “You’re surrounded.”
Generally the word “too” is set off with commas.
RIGHT: Christopher Pike was captain of the USS Enterprise, too.
RIGHT: Christopher Pike, too, was captain of the USS Enterprise.
WRONG: Christopher Pike was captain of the USS Enterprise too.
WRONG: Christopher Pike too was captain of the USS Enterprise.
Who
Generally, phrases beginning with “who” are set off with commas when they appear after the name of the person to “who” refers.
RIGHT: He thought of that day at the spaceport when he’d said goodbye to his father, who was returning to Star Service duty.
WRONG: He thought of that day at the spaceport when he’d said goodbye to his father who was returning to Star Service duty.
End marks
An end mark is a period, question mark or an exclamation mark.
Number needed
Only one end mark is needed at the end of sentence. A period (or a comma for that matter) does not need to follow an exclamation point.
RIGHT: Fire your ray guns!
WRONG Fire you ray guns!.
RIGHT: “Fire you ray guns!” the captain shouted.
WRONG: “Fire you ray guns!,” the captain shouted.
Spacing
Place two spaces after an end mark before beginning the next sentence. If the end mark appears inside a quotation mark, place the two spaces after the quotation mark.
RIGHT: The alien crouched behind the boulder. He listened for the humans’ footsteps.
WRONG: The alien crouched behind the boulder.He listened for the humans’ footsteps.
WRONG: The alien crouched behind the boulder. He listened for the humans’ footsteps.
WRONG: The alien crouched behind the boulder. He listened for the humans’ footsteps.
RIGHT: “The alien waited for us, crouched behind the boulder.” The crewmen lowered his eyes.
WRONG: “The alien waited for us, crouched behind the boulder.”The crewmen lowered his eyes.
WRONG: “The alien waited for us, crouched behind the boulder.” The crewmen lowered his eyes.
WRONG: “The alien waited for us, crouched behind the boulder.” The crewmen lowered his eyes.
Hyphens
Ages
Use hyphens if the age modifies/describes another word.
RIGHT: the 11-year-old girl; the girl, who is 11 years old,
WRONG: the 11 year old girl; the girl, who is 11-years-old
Periods
(also see “end marks” above)
Time
Use periods after each letter in “a.m.” and “p.m.”
Quotation marks
Multiple-paragraphs
If a quotation must go longer than a single paragraph, leave the ending quotation mark off the first paragraph (and each following paragraph) but place it at the end of the last one. Always place a quotation mark at the beginning of the paragraph.
RIGHT: “It looked unlike any device Aren had ever seen in his twenty-odd years on Kaiahome,” he said. “Threads radiated from a series of diamond-shaped structures that each sported a glowing dome at its center and bushy, tree-like structures along the topside. Individual threads pointed to other diamonds, with light beams pulsing between broken connections, forming a strange latticework large as a starcruiser escape pod.
“Despite its size and the flashing beams indicating power flow, the machine remained utterly silent.
“The thing appeared more organic than artificial, he thought, but minute, red alien lettering along one thread unveiled its true nature.”
WRONG: “It looked unlike any device Aren had ever seen in his twenty-odd years on Kaiahome” he said. “Threads radiated from a series of diamond-shaped structures that each sported a glowing dome at its center and bushy, tree-like structures along the topside. Individual threads pointed to other diamonds, with light beams pulsing between broken connections, forming a strange latticework large as a starcruiser escape pod.”
“Despite its size and the flashing beams indicating power flow, the machine remained utterly silent.”
“The thing appeared more organic than artificial, he thought, but minute, red alien lettering along one thread unveiled its true nature.”
Semicolons
Avoid them. They should only be used when a closely related second sentence, to make any sense, needs to be connected to the one prior to it. If the second sentence is just a phrase, connect it with a comma.
RIGHT: The ship shuddered as the alien’s antimatter salvo struck it, causing many of the crew to wonder if they’d survive the expedition.
WRONG: The ship shuddered as the alien’s antimatter salvo struck it; causing many of the crew to wonder if they’d survive the expedition.
Not following these rules instantly makes your story more difficult to read. And despite a great plot line and descriptions, your editor will be thinking of how much time he’s going to have to spend correcting your work – time he doesn’t really have. When there’s another piece in a pile of submissions that probably is as good as yours, he’s likely to set aside your story in favor of one that won’t overburden him.
During my editing experience, I’ve seen the same set of capitalization and punctuation errors repeated in many pieces. Here’s a list of them.
CommasAfter attribution
If a quotation that is a single sentence is split by attribution, use a comma after the attribution.
RIGHT: “Luke of Tatooine,” called Obi-wan Kenobi, “use the force!”
WRONG: “Luke of Tatooine,” called Obi-wan Kenobi. “Use the force!”
RIGHT: “Luke of Tatooine, use the force!” said Obi-wan Kenobi. “Only then can you defeat Darth Vader!”
WRONG: “Luke of Tatooine, use the force!” said Obi-wan Kenobi, “only then can you defeat Darth Vader!”
Before words of address
In quotations/dialogue, place a comma before the name of the person being addressed. This often helps separate the name of who is being addressed from a preposition that comes before it.
RIGHT: “We don’t know where they came from, Mr. Spock.”
WRONG: “We don’t know where they came from Mr. Spock.”
Before quotations
If the attribution comes before the quotation, set off the attribution with a comma.
RIGHT: Han Solo grinned then added, “You’re surrounded.”
WRONG: Han Solo grinned then added “You’re surrounded.”
Compound sentence
Use a comma before the conjunction (and, but, or) if a complete sentence can be made out of the words on either side of the conjunction.
RIGHT: The elder man’s face paled, and at last his breathing froze.
WRONG: The elder man’s face paled and at last his breathing froze.
RIGHT: The elder man’s face paled and then stiffened.
WRONG: The elder man’s face paled, and then stiffened.
Generally the word “too” is set off with commas.
RIGHT: Christopher Pike was captain of the USS Enterprise, too.
RIGHT: Christopher Pike, too, was captain of the USS Enterprise.
WRONG: Christopher Pike was captain of the USS Enterprise too.
WRONG: Christopher Pike too was captain of the USS Enterprise.
Who
Generally, phrases beginning with “who” are set off with commas when they appear after the name of the person to “who” refers.
RIGHT: He thought of that day at the spaceport when he’d said goodbye to his father, who was returning to Star Service duty.
WRONG: He thought of that day at the spaceport when he’d said goodbye to his father who was returning to Star Service duty.
End marks
An end mark is a period, question mark or an exclamation mark.
Number needed
Only one end mark is needed at the end of sentence. A period (or a comma for that matter) does not need to follow an exclamation point.
RIGHT: Fire your ray guns!
WRONG Fire you ray guns!.
RIGHT: “Fire you ray guns!” the captain shouted.
WRONG: “Fire you ray guns!,” the captain shouted.
Spacing
Place two spaces after an end mark before beginning the next sentence. If the end mark appears inside a quotation mark, place the two spaces after the quotation mark.
RIGHT: The alien crouched behind the boulder. He listened for the humans’ footsteps.
WRONG: The alien crouched behind the boulder.He listened for the humans’ footsteps.
WRONG: The alien crouched behind the boulder. He listened for the humans’ footsteps.
WRONG: The alien crouched behind the boulder. He listened for the humans’ footsteps.
RIGHT: “The alien waited for us, crouched behind the boulder.” The crewmen lowered his eyes.
WRONG: “The alien waited for us, crouched behind the boulder.”The crewmen lowered his eyes.
WRONG: “The alien waited for us, crouched behind the boulder.” The crewmen lowered his eyes.
WRONG: “The alien waited for us, crouched behind the boulder.” The crewmen lowered his eyes.
Hyphens
Ages
Use hyphens if the age modifies/describes another word.
RIGHT: the 11-year-old girl; the girl, who is 11 years old,
WRONG: the 11 year old girl; the girl, who is 11-years-old
Periods
(also see “end marks” above)
Time
Use periods after each letter in “a.m.” and “p.m.”
Quotation marks
Multiple-paragraphs
If a quotation must go longer than a single paragraph, leave the ending quotation mark off the first paragraph (and each following paragraph) but place it at the end of the last one. Always place a quotation mark at the beginning of the paragraph.
RIGHT: “It looked unlike any device Aren had ever seen in his twenty-odd years on Kaiahome,” he said. “Threads radiated from a series of diamond-shaped structures that each sported a glowing dome at its center and bushy, tree-like structures along the topside. Individual threads pointed to other diamonds, with light beams pulsing between broken connections, forming a strange latticework large as a starcruiser escape pod.
“Despite its size and the flashing beams indicating power flow, the machine remained utterly silent.
“The thing appeared more organic than artificial, he thought, but minute, red alien lettering along one thread unveiled its true nature.”
WRONG: “It looked unlike any device Aren had ever seen in his twenty-odd years on Kaiahome” he said. “Threads radiated from a series of diamond-shaped structures that each sported a glowing dome at its center and bushy, tree-like structures along the topside. Individual threads pointed to other diamonds, with light beams pulsing between broken connections, forming a strange latticework large as a starcruiser escape pod.”
“Despite its size and the flashing beams indicating power flow, the machine remained utterly silent.”
“The thing appeared more organic than artificial, he thought, but minute, red alien lettering along one thread unveiled its true nature.”
Semicolons
Avoid them. They should only be used when a closely related second sentence, to make any sense, needs to be connected to the one prior to it. If the second sentence is just a phrase, connect it with a comma.
RIGHT: The ship shuddered as the alien’s antimatter salvo struck it, causing many of the crew to wonder if they’d survive the expedition.
WRONG: The ship shuddered as the alien’s antimatter salvo struck it; causing many of the crew to wonder if they’d survive the expedition.