A Dash of Style and yes I know the title is not mine

Just to a quick follow up on my recent presentation, here is the book I was referring to in the title of my presentation. I recently acquired this book so if you are interested in reading it just let me know. This is more so a guide for creative writing and less about creating an actual rule book. You can find a lot of other neat stuff from Noah Lukeman's website with media and preview actual excerpts from his book at http://www.adashofstyle.com/

Here is a preview from his introduction of  his book. I really appreciate that he takes the angle of looking at punctuation as an art or stylization in writing. Certainly, there are some rules that qualify their usage for clear writing but a writer can use punctuation to really infuse a paper with his or her voice!

 

Excerpt from his into:

"Of all the subjects which engage the attention of the compositor, none proves 

a greater stumbling-block, or is so much a matter of uncertainty and doubt . . . 

as the Art of Punctuation." 

                            —Henry Beadnell, Spelling and Punctuation, 1880 

    

This is not a book for grammarians. Nor is it one for historians. They 

can turn to Lynne Truss’s Eats, Shoots & Leaves or a host of other excellent 

punctuation books written for them. This book is for the audience that needs it 

the most and yet for whom, ironically, a punctuation book has yet to be written: 

creative writers. This means writers of fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, poetry, 

and screenplays, and also includes anyone seeking to write well, whether for 

business, school, or any other endeavor. 

Most writers do not want to know the 17 uses of the comma, or ponder 

the 4th-century usage of the semicolon. Most writers simply want to improve 

their writing. They want to know how punctuation can serve them—not how

 they can serve punctuation. They have turned to books on punctuation, but have 

found them painfully mundane. Unfortunately, many of these books tend to 

ignore anyone hoping to use punctuation with a bit of style. 

            This book will offer a fresh look at punctuation: as an art form. 

Punctuation is often discussed as a convenience, as a way of facilitating what 

you want to say. Rarely is it pondered as a medium for artistic expression, as a 

means of impacting on the content—not in a pedantic way, but in the most 

profound way, where it achieves symbiosis with the narration, style, viewpoint, 

and even the plot itself.