Editing Comma splice (section)

== In literature ==
Comma splices are also occasionally used in [[fiction]], [[poetry]], and other forms of literature to convey a particular mood or informal style. Some authors use commas to separate short clauses only.{{refn|name=Wilson}} The comma splice is more commonly found in works from the 18th and 19th century, when written prose mimicked speech more closely.{{refn|name=Kamm}}

''[[The New Fowler's Modern English Usage]]'' describes the use of the comma splice by the authors [[Elizabeth Jolley]] and [[Iris Murdoch]]:

{{Quote|We are all accustomed to the ... conjoined sentences that turn up from children or from our less literate friends... Curiously, this habit of writing comma-joined sentences is not uncommon in both older and present-day fiction. Modern examples: ''I have the bed still, it is in every way suitable for the old house where I live now'' (E. Jolley); ''Marcus ... was of course already quite a famous man, Ludens had even heard of him from friends at Cambridge'' (I. Murdoch).{{refn|name=Burchfield}}}}

Journalist [[Oliver Kamm]] wrote in 2016 of novelist [[Jane Austen]]'s use of the comma splice, "Tastes in punctuation are not constant. It makes no sense to accuse Jane Austen of incorrect use of the comma, as no one would have levelled this charge against her at the time. Her conventions of usage were not ours."{{refn|name=Kamm}}

The author and journalist [[Lynne Truss]] writes in ''[[Eats, Shoots & Leaves]]'' that "so many highly respected writers observe the splice comma that a rather unfair rule emerges on this one: only do it if you're famous."{{refn|name=Truss}} Citing [[Samuel Beckett]], [[E. M. Forster]], and [[Somerset Maugham]], she says: "Done knowingly by an established writer, the comma splice is effective, poetic, dashing. Done equally knowingly by people who are not published writers, it can look weak or presumptuous. Done ignorantly by ignorant people, it is awful."{{refn|name=Truss}}