Do your fingers like to stray over the shift + 1 button as you write? Yes? Don’t worry, this is normal for any internet user. The exclamation point (!) is widely used on the internet to display heightened emotion and emphasis. When keeping a tweet short, the exclamation point is helpful to get excitement across. However, fiction is not the internet nor social media.
Using exclamation points in fiction has different rules and expectations. You need to know when it’s appropriate to use an exclamation point or when it’s signifying a particular sentence, phrase, or passage that needs to be revised with stronger writing. You also need to understand how an exclamation point affects the rhythm or flow of your prose. As you identify why an exclamation point is being used, you’ll know if it needs to be kept, replaced, or revised.
Exclamation Point Usage
The exclamation point (!) is used to indicate yelling, excitement, humor, or emphasis. It can be used in both dialogue and narrative, especially when the POV is first person or limited third person.
The Flow of an Exclamation Point
The exclamation point creates a bigger pause than a period. It stands out more. It emphasizes what you are trying to say. The only way to make your sentence louder is to use full caps.
Overusing an exclamation point will make reading a particular passage (or full book) jolting, tedious, and long. No reader wants to be shouted at by the flow of sentences repeatedly. However, a well-placed exclamation point can bring impact to what is being said. It’s still an important tool in a writer’s punctuation toolbox.
As you analyze the usage of an exclamation point in question, see how affects the flow of the passage. Does changing it impact the flow? Does it enhance the flow? Does it remove needed emphasis or make a statement less impactful? Does it help the purpose of the sentence and/or passage? How does changing it change the message or flow?
For example, take the first sentence of this section.
The exclamation point creates a bigger pause than a period. It stands out more. It emphasizes what you are trying to say. The only way to make your sentence louder is to use full caps.
There are a lot of short sentences. This creates a choppy flow. If you exchange a period or two, the flow becomes more jarring.
The exclamation point creates a bigger pause than a period. It stands out more! It emphasizes what you are trying to say! The only way to make your sentence louder is to use full caps.
In this instance, the exclamation points make the flow too disjointed. The short sentences create enough impact on their own and don’t need to stand out more.
Your analysis of the flow, in conjunction with the passage’s purpose, will help you determine if the exclamation point is being used properly or if it needs to replaced with a different punctuation mark. This can also help determine if an exclamation point is being used as a crutch for a weak sentence, which is discussed in the next section.
Rules in Fiction
There are a few rules in fiction concerning the exclamation point that you never want to break. These are:
- Never use an exclamation point as a crutch for weak writing
- Never use an exclamation point to emphasize a joke
- Never use more than one exclamation point in a row (!!)
- Never use an exclamation point with a question mark (!?)
Explanation
Never use an exclamation point as a crutch for weak writing
Generally, publishers and editors recommend either removing all exclamation points or limiting their usage to no more than three or four in an entire manuscript. This is because writes often use exclamation points as a crutch to indicate emotion, shouting, or emphasis. Rather than use it as a crutch, you should use stronger writing. Stronger dialogue or narrative will convey emotion and emphasis more effectively and be more impressionable to the reader than a weak exclamation point.
Example:
He dripped mud all over the kitchen! I hate it when he does that!!
He dripped mud over my recently moped tile floor, the trail following him from the back door, around the table, and to the fridge. I grabbed the roll of paper towels as he finished grabbing a snack and left. Before the door finished swinging shut, I wiped up the mud, cursing him with each new paper towel sheet I dirtied.
Through the revision, we are able to remove all the exclamation points but still show the narrator’s frustration. By focusing on where the mud trail led and how the narrator cleaned it up immediately, the reader recognizes how much it really bothers the narrator.
Never use an exclamation point to emphasize a joke
Don’t ever use an exclamation point to point out humor or a joke. This is like slapping the reader in the face. Rather, let the reader find the humor themselves–they’ll appreciate it more that way. No one likes having a joke pointed out to them or explained, which is exactly what the exclamation point does.
Never use more than one exclamation point in a row (!!)
Exclamation points create more pause than a period in the flow or rhythm of a sentence. When you use two exclamation points, you’re no longer saying “this is loud!” or “this is exciting!” Instead, you’re smacking your reader in the face and telling them to look at the sentence. While this may be acceptable in social media or on the internet, it’s never okay in fiction or prose. If you have to use an exclamation point, keep it at only one.
Never use an exclamation point with a question mark (!?)
Like a double exclamation point, you shouldn’t combine an exclamation point with a question mark. While it’s common in texting and social media, you can show excitement/emotion paired with surprise and/or a question through words. Using an exclamation point and a question mark together is using punctuation as a crutch.
Editing
As you edit your own work or someone else’s, look for exclamation points. As you find them, identify if the exclamation point is needed. Check to see if it breaks any of the rules and how it affects the flow of the sentence and passage. If the exclamation point is needed, see if you can revise the sentence to reflect the emotions or tone of voice without relying on the exclamation point. Strong, vivid writing will stand out to the reader more than an exclamation point, and you never want your writing to require crutch punctuation. If the writing is already strong and the exclamation point helps the flow and its purpose, then you’ve found a properly used exclamation point.