One Woman's Writing Retreat: Interview with Noah Lukeman Part III

Noah Lukeman
Literary Agent and Author of A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation

Since our last interview, you've written A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation. What inspired you to write a book on punctuation for creative writers?

When writing my first two books, The First Five Pages and The Plot Thickens, my inspiration was to write books that could offer writers valuable information from a literary agent's perspective. I felt it was relatively rare to receive that sort of perspective from this side of the trenches, and I wanted to be able to share with writers, en masse, as much as I could--in part because it's frustrating as an agent to receive thousands of queries a year and to be unable to answer each writer personally. This desire to share also fueled the writing of A Dash of Style. Punctuation, perhaps more than any other aspect of writing, reveals the writer: flaws in the writing can be spotted most quickly by the punctuation, while strengths can be extolled by the same medium. Punctuation belies clarity--or chaos--of thought. A seasoned agent can glance at a manuscript, and by virtue of the punctuation alone, decide to reject it within seconds.

What also inspired me was a desire to write a third book on the craft of writing. Originally, I thought I would write my third book on dialogue; but as I mulled over the idea, somehow I didn't feel like it should be my next book. Over the last several years, I pondered various concepts, from setting to characterization to many other topics. None felt truly fresh to me, and I felt that I would rather not write another book if I could not contribute something that would be wholly original. So I waited.

And then came the success of Eats, Shoots & Leaves, and the permeation of punctuation into the literary scene, and it got me thinking seriously about the topic. I enjoyed Eats, Shoots & Leaves, but it was clearly not a book designed to be practical, or exercise-laden, or directly helpful for creative writers. It was witty and smart, and a light, enjoyable read, and it did much for drawing mass attention to grammatical issues--which I applaud--but it was not at all the type of book that I thought could be truly helpful for creative writers, and not at all the type of book that I would ever write. But it did serve to get me thinking about the topic in general, and about whether I could contribute something meaningful in the genre that hadn't been done before. I spent time deeply exploring what else was out there. Ultimately, I discovered that nothing out there existed in the vein of how I would personally approach the subject.

My concept was to write a book on punctuation for creative writers, a book that looked at punctuation as an art form (instead of examining it in the usual narrow, pedantic way). It would be heavy on examples from literary masters and examine thoroughly, for the first time, how they used (or didn't use) punctuation, and how that ultimately impacted their work. It would also be exercise-laden and highly interactive, forcing creative writers to grapple with punctuation in a way they hadn't before (for example, experimenting with placing a period every 6 words, or every 200 words, and watching how this impacted writing style--and ultimately the content). The idea excited me--it felt like clear, blue seas in the punctuation genre, and indeed, blue seas in the writing genre.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that punctuation had been hijacked by grammarians, and that it was time to reclaim the inherent power of punctuation for creativity and content. Punctuation is equally the domain of creative writers; we have just lost sight of this over time.

I realized, of course, that this would be an incredibly challenging book to write, and one that would be especially open to criticism—which is possibly why no one had written it before. But the challenge also motivated me: I wanted to see if I could take a historically dry topic and make it fresh, even compelling. Whether I ultimately succeeded--that is for the reader to judge.

A Dash of Style will be published simultaneously in the U.S. by W.W. Norton and in the U.K. by Oxford University Press in April, 2006.

When I first embarked on the project, I sent out emails to dozens of authors, editors, professors and writing teachers, asking them if they had suggestions for unusual or compelling usages of punctuation throughout literature. I expected to receive hundreds of replies. Surprisingly, I received very few. These were all well-read and well-respected people, so I was shocked by the dearth of input. Over time, as I continued to work on the project, I realized that punctuation was a fearful topic for most people. But the lack of response also confirmed for me that I would truly be embarking on new ground. I appreciated the few examples I received, and rolled up my sleeves and hit the books, realizing I would be on my own for the other 99% of what I’d need.

As far as researching examples from literature, that took months. I pored through hundreds of stories and novels from hundreds of authors. It was a painstaking task. When I finally delivered the manuscript, I was quite pleased. But my editor at Norton (who is an accomplished poet herself) wanted even more examples from literature. You can imagine how, after such a long process, the thought of going back for even more examples was daunting. But I redoubled my efforts, and went back for months more of work. I ended up tripling the number of examples. In the end, my editor’s instincts were right, and it became a better book as a result.

As far as researching other books on punctuation, I read nearly 20 books on punctuation before writing. With my previous two books I had a strict rule not to read anything else on the subject before or during writing. With this topic it was different--it is more technical, and more broadly written about, and I wanted to see how other authors approached it--so I could make sure not to repeat what others had said. The more I read, the more excited I became, as I discovered that none of the books touched on what I wanted to do: none of them looked in depth at creative examples from literary masters; none offered in depth creative writing exercises; and none approached punctuation as an art form. Additionally, they were quite dry. Reading all of these books was helpful in a way, since it gave me assurance that my book would be completely original, and it gave me the confidence to forget all that I had read and forge ahead on my own path.

As a result, what you'll find in A Dash of Style won't be found in other books on punctuation--particularly the examples I choose from literature, and my original examples and exercises. Additionally, I made every attempt to discuss the marks in an original way (talking about the semicolon as a "bridge" for example), and I also made an effort to discuss marks that were ignored by other punctuation books (there isn't a single other punctuation book, for example, that offers an in depth discussion of the section break). I also had a lot of original thought from all of my years of reading manuscripts, and from my experience as a literary agent and from writing two other books on the craft of writing.

Something I've always been impressed by, in all of your books, is how quickly you get to the heart of your subject matter. Your groupings and names for punctuation marks are fun and original. For instance, you grouped the comma ("the Speed Bump"), period ("the Stop Sign"), and semicolon ("the Bridge") into a chapter called "the Triumvirate." Consequently, I enjoyed reading about something I used to consider a challenge. I thought less about memorizing rules and more about how language is engineered to ebb and flow and combine in harmony. Lessons I learned in childhood about commas and periods finally made sense to me. How did you come up with these concepts? Did they require much brainstorming?

Thank you. It's a good question, because I thought long and hard about that very thing before setting pen to paper. One of the things I found most frustrating when reading all of those other punctuation books was that I found them to be haphazardly structured--there seemed to be no rhyme or reason as to why they began with a chapter on the period or the comma, or proceeded with a chapter on the semicolon or colon. I felt these books lacked an overall plan, lacked a greater grouping of punctuation marks. This meant my book could offer yet another element those other books lacked: a deliberate structure, and a method of grouping marks in a way they hadn't before. This could optimize the learning experience: when you learn in groups, you tend to retain more, and to experience the information differently.

A Dash of Style is essentially comprised of two parts, "Part I: The Triumvirate” and “Part II: Into the Limelight." Part I examines the major marks that deal with sentence structure (the period, comma and semicolon), while Part II examines marks which are more concerned with propelling words and clauses into the limelight (the colon, dash, parentheses, quotation marks, paragraph breaks and section breaks). That is not to say that a colon could not be concerned with structure, or that a period could not propel into the limelight; on occasion, these marks can and do. Overall, however, these marks tend to fall loosely into these roles. And it is helpful for the writer to view them in this light, to realize that a dash and a colon and a paragraph break can all be used to propel into the spotlight, and to realize that semicolons and commas can both be used for construction.

This also serves another purpose: comparing and contrasting punctuation marks is crucial for the learning process. The best way to learn about the colon, for example, is to contrast it with the solo dash, which can sometimes serve a similar function; the best way to learn about a pair of parenthesis is to compare them with a pair of dashes. By scrutinizing the subtle differences, the function of each becomes clearer, and you come to understand them in a way that you could not otherwise. None of this would be possible if I discussed the colon in Chapter 1 and the dash in Chapter 8. This comes back to your original question, as to why the chapter groupings and the overall structure is key to what makes this book unique.

Along these lines, punctuation marks studied in context with one another happens to be the most complex aspect of the punctuation world, and again, this is a topic which is basically avoided by most other punctuation books. In a sense it has to be, because it can become infinitely complex. Nonetheless, I tackle this throughout A Dash of Style, offering each chapter its own "context" section and concluding the book with a substantial epilogue ("The Symphony of Punctuation") which has a thorough discussion of context. This was the hardest part of the book, but I am pleased I included it, since it is one more feature of A Dash of Style that cannot be found in other punctuation books.

I would like A Dash of Style to be a mainstream book for all writers, and I would also like to see the book used by non-writers, by people who would simply like to learn more about punctuation, or who would like to improve their writing skills. But yes, I would ultimately like to see it permeate the curriculum at all levels, from high school to college to graduate writing programs. My first book, The First Five Pages, was favorably compared by Library Journal to Strunk & White's The Elements of Style. A Dash of Style is even more in the spirit of The Elements of Style, so I think it could be a great asset for teachers. It has already received endorsements from writing professors at 20 universities, so hopefully that bodes well.

How long have you been teaching classes online? Tell us about that process. Will you be offering more classes on the Web? If so, when is your next class and what's the topic?

I've been teaching classes online at WritersUniversity.com for 6 months or so. The class is geared towards teaching writers how to land an agent and break into print. It doesn't focus on writing skills--it is solely geared towards publishing. It runs monthly, with rolling admissions every month. I love to give back to the writing community whenever possible, and this gives me a forum to do so. The writers who have taken it have told me it has made a difference in their careers, so that is gratifying.

What do you enjoy most: representing authors, being an author, editing, or educating writers? Why?

They are all so different. I get satisfaction when I am able to truly help someone else, whether it is by virtue of representing them and getting them a deal, or by helping them shape their books, or by teaching them how to become better writers, or how to land their own agent. I suppose that is the common thread in all of these. Agenting pulls me into the world of business, which I find satisfying (to a degree). Writing demands that I be creatively and intellectually engaged, which I find fulfilling. Ultimately, I am happiest when I am evolving and learning new things. I wouldn't want to live my entire life and be just an agent, or just a writer. There is still a lot out there on the horizon that I want to explore.

As of now, I have no plans for another book. A Dash of Style was by far the most challenging of all my books to write. It demanded a level of precision way above and beyond a normal book, since, due to the subject matter, critics will be on the lookout for even the slightest error or typo within its 200 pages. It went through multiple copyedits with W.W. Norton, and was even copyedited by the Editor of the Chicago Manual of Style himself. Additionally, the British (who are publishing their own edition simultaneously) wanted their version to be customized for the British market, and Oxford University Press is an exacting publisher. This made the writing and revision process much more demanding, and also made it hard for me to keep track of all of the (constantly changing) versions of the American and British manuscripts. All of this to say that, even though it has been one year since I finished the actual writing, I am not ready to think of another book. I am proud of A Dash of Style, and I would have no qualms with its being my final book.

Catherine Tudor founded One Woman's Writing Retreat in 1996 in order to create a network for writers at all stages in their careers. She is the managing editor and webmaster of One Woman's Writing Retreat. Read more about her here.