Exclamation Points

Reserve the exclamation point for exclamations (Alas, poor Yorik!) and shouts (Hey, you!), not excitement, interest, or anything else that may entice the nervous writer to abuse this punctuation mark. As with italics, peppering your manuscript with too many exclamation points lessens the effect of each exclamation and renders otherwise good sentences taxing or trodden. And use only one exclamation point at a time—a second or third does not render an exclamation any more exclamatory. While amateur and uncertain writers love the protective comfort of the exclamation point, careful writers save it for the rare, necessary exclamation that cannot be contextually rendered.