- Joined
- Oct 1, 2010
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- 197
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This has to be the most underused punctuation mark, which is funny considering that it rests under the right pinky of anybody who touch-types. 
In theory, it’s supposed to be used to join two related clauses together that are in and of themselves complete sentences, in place of a serial comma when the list contains items that are themselves separated by commas, and to join a follow-up clause that begins with a conjunctive adverb to another sentence.
That’s the theory, but in practice, nobody seems to use it, especially in fiction. I personally use it all the time: in personal correspondence, in IMs, and in business documents. Every now and then I sneak one or two into the prose of fiction that I edit. More often than not, I just let the original sentence lie as two separate sentences with periods and capitals.
Who uses the semicolon? Who never uses it? Why? Is it completely useless in fiction or does it have a place outside the non-fiction realm?
In theory, it’s supposed to be used to join two related clauses together that are in and of themselves complete sentences, in place of a serial comma when the list contains items that are themselves separated by commas, and to join a follow-up clause that begins with a conjunctive adverb to another sentence. That’s the theory, but in practice, nobody seems to use it, especially in fiction. I personally use it all the time: in personal correspondence, in IMs, and in business documents. Every now and then I sneak one or two into the prose of fiction that I edit. More often than not, I just let the original sentence lie as two separate sentences with periods and capitals.
Who uses the semicolon? Who never uses it? Why? Is it completely useless in fiction or does it have a place outside the non-fiction realm?
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