What's up with authors not using question marks anymore?I noticed it particularly in J.R. Ward's last couple of books. Now don't get me wrong, I think she's an awesome writer. I adore her books, every one. But in places where I learned to always use a question mark, she doesn't.
I already returned her two latest to the library, so I don't have exact quotes in front of me, but here's an example made up by me:
I already returned her two latest to the library, so I don't have exact quotes in front of me, but here's an example made up by me:
"But things don't always go according to plan, do they."
My seventh grade English teacher, Mrs. Williams, taught me to use a question mark there. So why doesn't J.R. Ward?
And here's another example, from the Foreword to "SEAL of My Dreams," an anthology of stories about Navy SEALS: "Who is better equipped to honor the image of our greatest warrior heroes than the gifted pens of some of the romance industry's finest authors of romantic fiction."
Does it have something to do with the inflection? Generally when asking a question, the voice rises. "Are you going to the store?"
But not always. "Where are you going?"
So really, have the rules of punctuation gone out the window? Is it a lack of knowledge on the part of authors and editors?
I admit to being a nitpicker of epic proportions, and Mrs. Williams's lessons have stayed with me for more years than I'd care to enumerate. Changes in the rules drive me crazy, whether they're universally accepted or just some author's convention.
It shouldn't bother me, should it?
It shouldn't bother me, should it.
:)
