The Oxford Comma

I've neglected my blog because I've been finishing a sequel to my novel, Cult of the Black Virgin. This was my first novel, and it just got a four-star review, posted on Goodreads, so I'm encouraged. Publishers and readers seem to like sequels, and I'll be writing two. The first, Revenge of the Black Virgin, should be finished in a few weeks.

When I started this blog I said I was frustrated because I wasn't permitted to ue semi-colons and colons in my work. Apparently, readers of romance don't like sophisticated sentence structure, so I have to keep it simple. Commas are okay, though. I mean, really, commas are absolutely necessary in written English.

So, the next dozen or so postings are going to discuss commas.

First off, I'll introduce the Oxford comma (also known as the Harvard comma).

The Oxford comma is a formal name for the series or serial comma used before a co-ordinating conjunction (usually and, or, and nor) in a list of three or more things.

For example: I had to remove all the colons, semi-colons, and parentheses from my manuscript.

The Oxford, or serial, comma is the comma after the word semi-colons. It's often considered an optional comma, but care should be taken that it doesn't cause ambiguity. If you use it, the result may be ambiguous, and if you omit it you may cause confusion for another reason.

For example, note the difference in the two following sentences:

 My first novel is dedicated to my teachers, Margaret Atwood, and John Updike. 
 My first novel is dedicated to my teachers, Margaret Atwood and John Updike.

See what a difference a comma can make!
In the first, I dedicate my book to my teachers and two specific writers. In the second, I dedicate the book to the two writers who were my teachers.
So what am I trying to say? I'd better be clear about it or else someone's going to have hurt feelings.

The Oxford comma is probably more commonly used  in North America than it is in Britain these days. It's endorsed by the Chicago Manual of Style in the U.S. and both the Oxford University Press (hence the name) and Fowler's in the U.K.

So whether you opt to use it regularly or not, keep two things in mind. First, be consistent. If you use it once, you'll need to use it throughout your written piece. And secondly, make sure your comma doesn't alter your meaning or lead to ambiguity.

More about commas and ambiguity next time.