Here’s my take on the never ending debate over our friend the exclamation mark. Personally, I find comments such as ‘never use it’ insane. Advice to use it three times at most in 100,000 words (Elmore Leonard) – impossible!
So, here’s a simple rule I use – maybe you can too.
If, at the end of your sentence, or dialogue section, you could in theory add the tag ‘he/ she exclaimed.’ – not that you ever would, then an exclamation mark is the right choice. I also use it with swears. Otherwise, it’s gone!
