Exciting Writing, Commas, and Lists

“Lists and commas,
Lists and commas,
Go together with lots of drama,
This I tell you, Brother,
You can’t have one without the other!”

And now we come to the ExcitingWriting Advisory you have all been waiting for, my foray into serial commas. Want to know what is the proper way to write lists of things? Here is my answer.
–Chuck Lustig

Yes, but, except in some cases!
Let’s go back to Genesis: In the beginning there was the word “and,” and it was good. For example, “I like Adam and Eve and Abel and Cain.” In a world with the word “and,” there is no need for commas.

Everything was perfect. Then someone decided using “and” between a series of things is boring and repetitious. And somebody invented commas. Thus, the use of commas between listed items along with a single “and” before the last item was born:

I like Adam, Eve, Abel, and Cain. (Notice the comma before the “and.”)

Then we moved into the modern world and things became even more complicated. For example, someone came up with lists of multiple-word items:

“Ingredients of Gina’s sweet and savory brisket include: one beef brisket, one cup of ketchup, one-quarter cup of grape jelly, one envelope of onion soup mix, and one-half teaspoon of pepper.”

Those commas are crucially important for clarity. Imagine making sense of the sentence above without commas:

“Ingredients of a sweet and savory brisket include: one beef brisket one cup of ketchup one-quarter cup of grape jelly one envelope of onion soup mix and one-half teaspoon of pepper.

So, it became established that using a comma before the “and” and the last item, begot clarity and avoided confusion. And it was good.

Then The Associated Press was formed in 1846; it issued its first style guide 100 years later, directly after World War II. In order to save space in news dispatches, the AP Style Guide advised dropping the final comma in a series of simple items. For example:

“I ate crackers, peanuts and milk.”

Fine. We could live with that complexity. But problems began to crop up when well-meaning people began to assume mistakenly that the final comma should never be used, even in complex series.

Today’s AP Stylebook and other style guides support the use of commas in complex series. What is a complex series? A series in which each item includes more than one word. For example:

“Many people are fond of claiming that elections are an indicator of democracy, but, in fact, rule of law, private ballot, the right to due process, and the right to a speedy and open trial are all hallmarks of a democracy.”

If you are writing business communications or writing for the press, you should skip the comma before the last item in the simple series (to be in agreement with the AP Stylebook) but if you are writing a complex series, don’t forget the final comma!

Even if you work in academia, you should retain that final comma, unless your institution or department requires otherwise. Use of the final comma is usually expected: For example, William Strunk and E.B. White in their famous Elements of Style say the final comma is necessary in any series, even simple series: “drills, nails, and hammers,” for example.

By the way, if you are writing a novel, you get to decide important questions like that for yourself!

A Note about Last Month’s EWA
Last month’s EWA on apostrophes brought an interesting response from Tom Schneider who wrote:

You are right about it being old fashioned or incorrect to write, “CD’s in the 1990′s,” etc. I don’t like apostrophes that could show possession to be used to show plurals. Thus, to my mind, you should write, “This CD’s wrapper is impossible to get off!” but not, “CD’s wrapped in cellophane drive me insane!”

The potential apostrophe situation I always agonize over is “dos and don’ts.” “Dos” just doesn’t look right and it stops you before you read to “dont’s” and understand what it means. I resist the urge to insert an apostrophe, but I am never entirely happy with my decision.

The ExcitingWriting Adviser answers: Don’t agonize. Avoid using that expression. It comes from a former time when we used to write, “CD’s in the 1990′s.” Instead, use “Best practices” and “Avoid, if possible!”