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You may be tired of comma talk, but I want to toss one more punctuation post out to you before I move on to other topics.\n\n\n\nThis one\u2019s about the comma splice.\n\n\n\nTo fix a comma splice, you first have to know what it is. A comma splice occurs when you connect or \u201csplice\u201d together two independent clauses with a comma. As a reminder, an independent clause can stand on its own as a sentence, with a subject and verb.\n\n\n\nFor example:\n\n\n\nThe writing conference invited my favorite author.\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s an independent clause.\n\n\n\nShe spoke for an hour about her muse.\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s an independent clause, too.\n\n\n\nA comma splice would occur when you connect those two independent clauses with a comma so it would look like this:\n\n\n\nThe writing conference invited my favorite author, she spoke for an hour about her muse.\n\n\n\nThis must be fixed, or your editor might pluck her hair out in small handfuls each time she encounters one. Save her this painful experience by fixing the comma splice yourself.\n\n\n\nFive Easy Ways to Fix a Comma Splice:\n\n\n\n1. Period\n\n\n\nUse a period and let each stand alone. These independent clauses are strong enough. They can do the work of a sentence:\n\n\n\nThe writing conference invited my favorite author. She spoke for an hour about her muse.\n\n\n\nBoom. You\u2019re done.\n\n\n\n2. Semicolon\n\n\n\nYour next option for fixing a comma splice is to use a semicolon, but some people feel antagonistic toward semicolons. Kurt Vonnegut declared we should not use them. "All they do is show you\u2019ve been to college,\u201d he said.\n\n\n\nI suppose if you use semicolons liberally you might seem pretentious to someone, but I find them to be useful\u2014especially to fix a comma splice. You can use a semicolon in place of a comma if the two ideas are closely related, and I think they are in our example.\n\n\n\nWith the semicolon, the example would read:\n\n\n\nThe writing conference invited my favorite author; she spoke for an hour about her muse.\n\n\n\n3. Em Dash\n\n\n\nAnother option is to use the em dash. I'm rather fond of the em dash and find it often works as a substitute for the semicolon when fixing a comma splice\u2014again, when the two ideas are closely related:\n\n\n\nThe writing conference invited my favorite author\u2014she spoke for an hour about her muse.\n\n\n\n4. Coordinating Conjunction\n\n\n\nAnother quick fix is to keep the comma and add a coordinating conjunction. Did you learn the memory trick to help recall the coordinating conjunctions? It\u2019s FANBOYS.\n\n\n\nF-A-N-B-O-Y-S\n\n\n\nEach of those letters is the first letter of one of the coordinating conjunctions:\n\n\n\nfor, and, nor, but, or, yet, so\n\n\n\nSometimes this will give you the best effect:\n\n\n\nThe writing conference invited my favorite author, and she spoke for an hour about her muse.\n\n\n\n5. Revise\n\n\n\nA more involved fix is to revise the sentence if for some reason you don\u2019t like the other options:\n\n\n\nFor example:\n\n\n\nI attended a conference where my favorite author spoke for an hour about her muse.\n\n\n\nWe have no comma at all in that rewrite.\n\n\n\nOr:\n\n\n\nAt the writing conference, my favorite author spoke for an hour about her muse.\n\n\n\nAvoid a Negative Response: Eliminate Comma Splices\n\n\n\nSome writers like to bend this rule. They think the unobtrusive comma fits their style and flow. It feels conversational or seems poetic\u2014or they see another blogger or writer doing it, so they think they can follow suit.\n\n\n\nIf you leave in comma splices, industry professionals may wonder how many other ways your manuscript will stray from The Chicago Manual of Style guidelines\u2014it might be a red flag to a conservative editor. Why risk a negative response to your work when you have so many other ways of constructing a sentence?\n\n\n\nEspecially if you\u2019re in the early stages of your career as a published writer, I recommend you eliminate comma splices. After all, see how easy they are to fix?\n\n\n\nResources:\n\n\n\n\nEp 94: Grammar Matters: Why Concern Ourselves with Commas?\n\n\n\nThe Man Who Hated Semicolons (Kurt Vonnegut's quote)