Let's talk about ex(clamation points), baby
The dos, the don'ts, and why you shouldn't care.
I love me an exclamation point!
Not everyone does. I know.
There is a whole subplot of a Seinfeld episode where Elaine breaks up with her perfect man because he doesn’t put an exclamation point at the end of a message he takes for her about her friend having a baby. (Shes right, in my opinion. That message deserved an exclamation point).
My mom, for example, refused to use punctuation in texts that aren’t a full stop.
I land a new client:
“Congrats.”
I book my ticket home to see her:
“Can’t wait.”
I get bitten by a radioactive spider and get superpowers:
“Horray.”
Me? I love a little excitement.
I read a post on LinkedIn the other day that said that exclamation points are distracting and make it sound like the writer is yelling. I beg to differ.
THIS IS YELLING! I AM YELLING!
But this!? This is excitement!
And no, not everything needs an exclamation point. Use them sparingly, for sure. But don’t be afraid of them either.
I am a peppy person, and I sound excited when mundane things happen, it’s true. If I used an exclamation point every time I was excited, it would be an overkill, guaranteed.
But when I see people using exclamation points in emails, LinkedIn messages, Substack comments, I genuinely get excited, because I FEEL their excitement, and I get excited to.
A quick guide to using exclamation points: dos and don’ts.
DON’T…
Use them to complete a joke. I won’t laugh and I will think you’re trying too hard to nail the punchline
Use them to finish a command, it will make me nervous and I will think you are anxious (this might just be a me thing…)
“This is due tomorrow!” vs. “This is due tomorrow.”
Overuse them. They lose effectiveness if you see them every other sentence
Be afraid to use them in work emails. The amount of articles I read saying they are “inappropriate for work” got me annoyed. If you are working with someone and excited about it, throw one in there.
Do…
Use them when you’re excited!
Show, don’t tell. You don’t need to say “I’m excited” when you use an exclamation point. You show it with a little line and dot. Easy peasy.
Emphasise what you believe in by throwing one in. If I read your excitement, I will feel it too
Use it to shine a spotlight on something.
“Bring a rainjacket!” will grab my attention on an invite or webpage more than just “bring a rainjacket.”
Here's the thing: exclamation points are a personal choice. Use em’, don’t use em’.
This isn’t a post to convince you to use them if they aren’t your thing - despite the dos and don’ts listed above.
So, what is the point of this rant?
Maybe just to say, be yourself? Use the punctuation you want to use and don’t beat yourself up either way?
There are too many people yelling at us everyday (usually online) trying to convince us of one thing or the other. Things are bad. Things have never been better. This will cure you. This will cause cancer.
Shhhhhhh. Just…shush.
The whole point of this Substack (which is a constant work in progress) isn’t to show you the 5 simple tricks you need to be a good writer. Some days, I don’t feel like a good writer myself.
But I am here writing anyway. About exclamation points of all things.
Who cares? Just do what you want to do, write HOW you want to write…and stop being so hard on yourself.
Easier said than done. Of course. It always is.
But that’s okay.
Whatever way you want to do it, just do it.
Or rather…
Just fuckin’ do it!