PUNCTUATION TRENDS Generally, punctuation is more streamlined today. In informal, general writing, writers are using more commas and fewer semi-colons. In a year or two, the semi-colon will probably go the way of the dinosaur in general writing, although it’s still heavily used in business writing. This follows the general trend to more informal, conversational writing in which writers use shorter sentences. Semicolons tend to generate longer sentences, thus a more formal tone. Another form of punctuation being used more and more is the dash. Because they help visually create breaks in thoughts, dashes help readers comprehend today’s writing faster and easier. Today, writers are using more hyphenated words. Whether this trend is because of auto-hyphenation in word processing programs or full justification of pages, hyphenation is on the rise. Unfortunately, too many hyphenated words can cause breaks in comprehension for the reader. WRITING TIPS | GRAMMAR | MARKETING | TRAVEL WRITING | COPYRIGHTS | FREELANCE TIPS   The contents of this site © 2001-2009 Bob Brooke Communications Go back to Writing at Its Best Site design and development by BBC Web Services.