Exclamation Point (!)
The Basics
[1] To indicate a direct command
Stop!
Run!
Drop your weapon!
[2] Loud noises
Bang!
Thwap!
[3] Anger
You bastard!
[4] Shouting
"Don't go!"
[5] Shock or surprise
No way!
[6] Anything with heightened intensity
No, not him!
Don't touch her ever again!
[7] Disgust or sarcasm
So this is your solution!
Beyond the basics
[8] Exclamation points can be peppered in a sentence in much the same way that question marks can
They stole his wallet! his car! his wife! even his house!
Syntax
Goes inside quotes or parenthesis or em dashes when it is associated with the enclosed matter.
He shouted, "Run!"
"I don't believe it!" he blurted when she told him the news.
She broke up with me--what the heck!--at the place we first met.
Style
Perhaps F. Scott Fitzgerald said it best: " ...an exclamation mark is like laughing at your own joke."
There is a reason that the exclamation point is also known as a "bang" and a "screamer." If used sparingly (very sparingly), they can
command attention, but if overused, even slightly, they become laughable and a sign of amateurish prose. The general rule is that an
exclamation point should only be used when no other punctuation will do. But be careful not to lean to heavily on them. The writing itself
should convey emotion; tacking an exclamation point on the end of a flaccid line of prose isn't going to imbue it with any real emotional
impact.
[1] To indicate a direct command
Stop!
Run!
Drop your weapon!
[2] Loud noises
Bang!
Thwap!
[3] Anger
You bastard!
[4] Shouting
"Don't go!"
[5] Shock or surprise
No way!
[6] Anything with heightened intensity
No, not him!
Don't touch her ever again!
[7] Disgust or sarcasm
So this is your solution!
Beyond the basics
[8] Exclamation points can be peppered in a sentence in much the same way that question marks can
They stole his wallet! his car! his wife! even his house!
Syntax
Goes inside quotes or parenthesis or em dashes when it is associated with the enclosed matter.
He shouted, "Run!"
"I don't believe it!" he blurted when she told him the news.
She broke up with me--what the heck!--at the place we first met.
Style
Perhaps F. Scott Fitzgerald said it best: " ...an exclamation mark is like laughing at your own joke."
There is a reason that the exclamation point is also known as a "bang" and a "screamer." If used sparingly (very sparingly), they can
command attention, but if overused, even slightly, they become laughable and a sign of amateurish prose. The general rule is that an
exclamation point should only be used when no other punctuation will do. But be careful not to lean to heavily on them. The writing itself
should convey emotion; tacking an exclamation point on the end of a flaccid line of prose isn't going to imbue it with any real emotional
impact.
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