Poor Punctuation. Somewhere along the line, some students just never seem to learn the basic rule of punctuation, especially the use of commas. Think of punctuation marks as traffic signs that tell the reader to stop or pause. The most common punctuation errors revolve around using way too many punctuation marks, or using too few. If your paper lacks the appropriate stops and pauses -- or it has too many, it probably won't read well and would benefit from periods, commas, and other punctuation. When you have too much punctuation, readability is greatly affected. The thrust of your writing can become ambiguous or obscured. Refer to the rules of punctuation, especially for the use of commas, semicolons, and colons. The other extreme, of course, is too little punctuation, often leading to the reader feeling disoriented -- searching for understanding and trying to determine where on clause ends and the next begins. The best way to improve your punctuation is to refer to a good grammar book and/or use the grammar-checker on your document software. Go to the next common college student writing flaw: Poor or Nonexistent Transitions. Back to the main page of The Top 15 Writing Flaws That Can Lead to Lower Grades Looking for more writing assistance? Go to our sister site, EnhanceMyWriting.com: Indispensable Writing Resources.
Questions about some of the terminology used in this article? Get more information (definitions and links) on key academic terms by going to our College Success Glossary. [Coming soon!]
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Dr. Randall S. Hansen, CEO of 
Dr. Katharine Hansen, Creative Director of 
