Good Writing,— Punctuation and Grammar?

How grammar and punctuation are used is only relative to your audience. There are a number of formats preferred for writing depending on your audience and many of these have conflicting rules on punctuation and grammar; because there is no exact science on the way we convey thought, no-matter how much there are those who would like to think they can control it. But, if authors wish to reach their widest reader base possible, their work should convey meaning as clearly as can be penned so all who read the work will understand. This requires punctuation to clarify thought. When it comes to creative writing in dialogue: very few people, if any, speak in proper grammar 100% of the time; thus slang contractions and sentence fragment are used and should be used, because it’s real. But, who of us here doesn’t see the need for “quotation marks” encasing your protagonist’s dialogue. Would there be clarity of thought of what’s happening, or who’s speaking if the quotation marks are left out? Will this limit your audience if they can’t see charity in the narration? Periods and capital letters add clarity to a break in thought in sentence structure. Ask yourself: How much will my readers truly understand if I remove all punctuation and capital letters. Are you truly conveying thought that will reach your widest audience? My friends, all of us here post because we want others to read our thoughts and written works-of-art. Hopefully we are also here to learn from each other.

“To me,— Good Writing,— Lives.”