Exclamation Marks

!

Do not overuse the exclamation mark.

A writer's word choice should signify how to read or speech a passage.

what an exclamation mark shows

an increase in volume
a strong emotion (positive or negative
remember, the word choice should do it--not the punctuation mark, so use exclamation marks sparingly
when using it, only use one, not two or three or a string of them

writing examples

See how the different words convey a slightly different message?

Jamie, shut the door!
Jamie, shut the door right now.
Jamie, shut the door immediately.

The last two items convey the attitude of the person speaking to Jamie. The words do that, not the punctuation.

Check out the different meanings below.

We ate a lot of food!
We were famished!
We were famished.
We gobbled up all the leftovers in 15 minutes.

The last one shows the reader the actions of the characters rather than telling the reader. The words do that, not the punctuation.

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