Full Stop

We begin our little journey with the humble full stop. At first glance the full stop doesn’t seem to warrant further discussion. It ends sentences. Simple. But this simple function is, in fact, hugely important for the structure of the sentence, the larger paragraph and, as several masters have shown, the entire story.

Full stops are also used in several abbreviations (e.g. i.e.), but since this article will focus upon the structural influence of full stops I have provided handy list of abbreviations for your perusal.

From a basic structural point of view, full stops are quite hard to misuse. There is little doubt about the placement of the full stop in simple sentences:

‘The quick brown fox jumped over the wall.’

This is largely down to the sound. When a sentence sounds strange we will generally re-work the sentence until it sounds correct. But when a sentence is more complex the decision becomes less about grammar than about style.

Take this example from The Outsider by Albert Camus:

‘Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know. I had a telegram from the home: ‘Mother passed away. Funeral tomorrow. Yours sincerely.’ That doesn’t mean anything. It may have been yesterday.’

Notice how the full stops create a powerful sense of detachment. An ordinary person would be expected to grieve the passing of their mother, but the protagonist, Mersault, discusses the matter in an entirely factual manner.

Another example at the opposite end of the scale can be found in the engaging opening to Truman Capote’s non-fiction masterpiece, In Cold Blood:

‘The village of Holcombe stands on the high wheat plains of Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call ‘out there’. Some seventy miles east of the Colorado border, the countryside, with its hard blue skies and desert-clear air, has an atmosphere that is rather more Far West than Middle West.’

Notice how the longer sentences, aided by commas, lend the paragraph a relaxed and natural flow that mimics the idyllic countryside of Holcombe. Notice the how this flow is disrupted if even one additional full stop is included:

“The village of Holcombe stands on the high wheat plains of Kansas. It is a lonesome area that other Kansans call ‘out there’. Some seventy miles east of the Colorado border, the countryside, with its hard blue skies and desert-clear air, has an atmosphere that is rather more Far West than Middle West.’

So, next time you are writing I urge you to consider the full implications of your full stop usage. How would you like the story or article to feel? Short and sharp? Relaxing?

Full stops have the power to create such feelings and should never be taken for granted.