Posts Tagged "melissa walker"

Bookish things around and about.

*Former student/always friend Alecia Whitaker posted a rant that I can SO get behind on her blog last week — in defense of the serial comma.

I’m still clinging to the serial comma. I can’t give it up.

For example, if I write, “I’m going to the store for watermelon, beans, and carrots,” it’s pretty clear to the reader what I’m getting. You may argue that it is just as clear to you if you read it as, “I’m going to the store for watermelon, beans and carrots.” But that groups beans and carrots. Are you looking for beans and carrots that are already packaged together?

By going down that road, you are setting yourself up for confusion. Look how clear things are when I write, ”I’m going to the store for watermelon, black and brown beans, and carrots.” When ditching the serial comma, it becomes, “I’m going to the store for watermelon, black and brown beans and carrots.” The absence of the serial comma implies something unintended about the carrots.

Anyway, you can read about it here real quick because Oxford makes it all much clearer. But please, for the love of God and for my sanity, could we just embrace the serial comma?

Word, sister. Serial commas 4Eva! And how adorable is Alecia’s book cover, by the by? 

*Meanwhile, tomorrow I’ll be joining Melissa Walker on our first stop of the Camplified! summer camp book tour, where she and I will be chatting with the campers at Staten Island Day Camp about reading, writing, and our new books. Fingers crossed for some S’mores and Mad Libs — old-skool camp-out style!