Are You Afraid of Periods?

Got your attention? Great...let's talk about periods today, and no, I don't mean the dreaded menses, though that's pretty scary sometimes too... I want to talk punctuation.

Today's tip from Tara...look closely at your computer keyboard. Let's focus on the space bar for a second as it's the largest key and easy to find. Yes, I'm being sarcastic. ;) Now above it and moving in the right direction is B, N, M, ,, and then... . 

You've found it... now hit a few times, get used to the feel. It's easy, isn't it? It's as simple as hitting any other key, such as ;, right?

My tip is simple. Anytime you feel the urge to put a ;, please don't. I don't know what's going on with the sudden love affair with the semi colon, but ebook publishers do not like it. It's ill advised in fiction and is rarely used right. I'm seeing them everywhere. They are even invading my dreams. It's an editor's nightmare, replacing all these buggers.

Here what I deal with on a daily basis:

He ran toward her; she was far away.

Why, oh please, why, is the author so afraid of the PERIOD?

He ran toward her. She was far away.

So, get over your fear of periods! They really aren't that bad. Hit that key. I promise it won't bite you, and guess what? Sometimes, Word actually even capitalizes the beginning of the sentence for you automatically! So it's really not that much work. :)