The Correct Use of a Comma in Fiction

The illusive comma is a sneaky little punctuation that often sneaks into the wrong places, so I decided to write a guide on how to use a comma in fiction. Hopefully, it will help people understand the correct use of a comma in fiction. Commas have very strict rules, so there is a very clear right and wrong in using them.

Commas in fiction are used as sparingly as possible, but you need to ensure you aren’t creating a grammatical nightmare or a never-ending sentence at the same time. Often, the only commas we can ditch are the Oxford comma and prepositions.

Many new writers will misuse the comma, often using it too frequently. But, there are set rules on using commas. There are guidelines you can follow to ensure your commas are used correctly.

So let’s talk clauses and conjunctions:

That, Who and Which – Restrictive and Non-Restrictive Clauses
A restrictive clause is one that is necessary to identify the word it modifies. A restrictive clause is not offset with commas. A non-restrictive clause is additional information that requires a comma. So, you only use the comma to add additional information in this case.

Examples:
I went to London with the woman who lives next door. <= Identifies the woman, so it is a restrictive clause (no commas)

I went to London with Janet Smith, who lives next door. <= The clause modified by ‘who’ is additional information, so this is a non-restrictive clause (comma required)

With a restrictive clause, the relative pronoun (usually who or which) can be replaced with “that” or even omitted completely. If you can omit ‘who’ or ‘which’ in fiction, you should. It will remove wordiness and excess words from your prose. Wordiness and excess prose will complicate your sentences and make the book hard to read. A book should be easy to read. Readers should not have to work hard to read a book. That is the point of editing.

Examples:

The window which you smashed is over two hundred years old. <= Identifies the window, so it is a restrictive clause (no commas)

The window that you smashed is over two hundred years old. <=   There is never a comma before “that” when it is used in this way.

The window you smashed is over two hundred years old. <= This is it without either restrictive or non-restrictive clauses.

These rules over-rule the conjunctions below and are based on the word the clause is modifying.

Commas with Dependent and Independent Clauses
Dependent and independent clauses together only need a comma to separate them eg:

She walked into the room, looking for Grant. Red is the independent clause (or a sentence on its own), blue is the dependent clause that cannot be a sentence on its own.

These can also be joined by a conjunction, instead of the comma. There are two kinds of conjunctions: Subordinate and coordinating conjunctions.

Subordinate Conjunctions with Independent Clauses
She walked into the room while looking for Grant. In this example ‘while’ is the subordinate conjunction. There are many subordinate conjunctions that can be used to join a dependent and independent clause.  You only use a comma with a subordinate conjunction if the dependent clause is at the beginning of the sentence, for example:

While looking for Grant, she walked into the room. The subordinate conjunction is the green ‘while’, the dependent clause (not a sentence on its own) is blue and the independent clause (sentence on its own) is red.

Here is a list of the most common subordinate conjunctions:

• A after, although, as, as if, as long as, as much as, as soon as, as though
• B because, before, by the time
• E even if, even if, even though
• I if, if only, if when, if then, in order that, in case, inasmuch
• J just as
• L lest
• N now, now since, now that, now when
• O once, only if
• P provided, provided that
• R rather than
• S since, so that, supposing
• T than, that, though, till
• U unless, until
• W when, whenever, where, whereas, where if, wherever, which, while, who, whoever, why

In this case, the only time we need to use a comma with a subordinate conjunction is when the subordinate conjunction precedes the independent clause.

Subordinate Conjunctions with Two Independent Clauses
A subordinate conjunction can join two independent clauses without using a comma if they are not grammatically alike using: before, after, when, while etc.

Here are some examples:

Anne had a headache when she arrived at her flat. clause + clause
Anne called a taxi before she left her flat.   clause + clause

The difference here is that the two independent clauses are describing different things, they are not similar. You could not (for example) use:

Ann called a taxi when she hailed a cab. <= It makes no sense.

Coordinating Conjunctions
The other kind of conjunction is called a coordinating conjunction. A coordinating conjunction can join a sentence with or without the use of a comma. Here is how to use a coordinating conjunction without a comma:

She walked into the room and looked for Grant. Because this is a dependent clause with an independent clause (a full sentence) there is no need for a comma. The ‘and’ (coordinating conjunction) separates the two, so the comma is not required.

However, you can separate two sentences with a coordinating conjunction too:

She walked into the room, and she looked for Grant. Because both of these are independent clauses (standalone sentences) the ‘and’ joining them needs a comma before it.

Here is a list of coordinating conjunctions. There are only seven: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

Prepositions
Prepositions are words like: with, in, upon, save, since… etc. There are many prepositions in the English Language and some may also be conjunctions, so that’s nice and confusing. But, the rules on prepositions are a fuzzy choice. The idea is that you’ll use a comma with one to make a sentence clear. So, sometimes they are necessary to make your sentence make sense. However, in modern fiction the idea is to use as few commas as possible, so ditch the Oxford comma and the preposition commas that you don’t need.

This is commas. The amount depend on the types of conjunctions and clauses you use in your sentences. There isn’t a limit, but it is wise to avoid the Oxford comma in fiction.

Hopefully this helps.