Punctuation Run Amok

I’ve been noticing some excesses in punctuation as I write. I am getting carried away with quotes, commas, explanation points and dashes particularly, although the parentheses are creeping in with alarming frequency as well. (Here I was tempted to put in an exclamation point, but refrained.) So is CAPITALIZATION-for-emphasis. (Oops!) I’m normally a low-key sort of person, not given to excesses in expression much at all, so this seems uncharacteristic for me.

But I can’t seem to help myself. It IS a different sort of writing from the grant and report documents that I’ve found myself producing for so many years. THIS writing (oh dear...) wants to have a voice attached and I don’t have another way to do it. (This must be why actual writers work to improve their vocabulary!) (Yikes! It happened again!!)

So anyone reading this – just give me a little smile and shake your head and maybe roll your eyes, but don’t expect it to get any better.