Cheat Sheet!

The Adult Creative Writing Club
Cheat Sheet!
Print out this bad boy and keep it handy!

Use a Comma to...	•	separate items in a series.
	•	set off interrupting words.
	•	set off introductory words and phrases.
	•	separate parts of a compound sentence.
	•	set off a direct quotation.
	•	separate the parts of an address.

Use a Semicolon...	•	to separate items in a series when the items contain commas.
	•	between main clauses when the conjunction (and, but, for, or) has been left out.

Use a Colon...	•	before a list.
	•	to separate two independent clauses when the second clause restates or explains the first clause.

Use Parentheses...	•	to enclose additional information.
	•	to enclose numbers or letters.

Use a Hyphen...	•	to show a word break at the end of a line.
	•	in certain compound nouns.
	•	in fractions and in compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine.

Use Quotation Marks...	•	to set off a speaker's exact words.
	•	to set off the titles of short works (poems, essays, songs, short stories, magazine articles).

Use an Apostrophe to...	•	show ownership.
	•	show that letters have been left out of contractions.
	•	make plurals that could be confused for other words.

Writing Numbers...	•	Spell out numbers from one to nine.
	•	Use figures for numbers 10 and higher.
	•	Spell out numbers that appear at the beginning of a sentence.