When writers start to write, they always seem to come across one of two problems: they either overuse commas, or they underuse them. Normally, I heard that it's easier to overuse these bad boys than it is to underuse them; however, I've noticed that's not always the case. Commas are a hard punctuation mark to figure out, but once you know all the rules to them, it can make your writing a heck of a lot easier to understand.

Before I get to that, let's backtrack here and understand why we need commas. Commas create a pause. If we didn't have commas, we'd never know when to take a brief pause while reading. Sure, there's periods, exclamation points, interrobangs (my personal favorites), semicolons, colons, and so many other punctuation marks that can create a pause, but they differ from commas as commas are used a lot more than those are. A few of the ways they can be used are in dialogue, coordinating conjunction, conjunctive adverbs, dependent clauses, introductory words (or at least, that's what I call them), and in lists. These are not all the ways commas can be used, but these are a few a the most misused ways I've seen commas being used (and have misused them myself).

Dialogue

Let's start with dialogue. Didn't expect that one, did you? I'm starting here for a reason though. It is SOO easy to tell if a Wattpad writer knows the rules of dialogue just by simply misusing commas. Crazy right? It's so easy to forget about commas though when it comes to dialogue because we usually end a piece of dialogue with the end of a sentence. That should mean that it ends with a period, right?

Wrong!

It's a common mistake though, one of which I am still going back with older works and am fixing up. If you're going to have a dialogue tag (I/he/she/they said, etc) before the closing quotation mark, replace the period of that sentence with a comma.

For instance:

"Huh," he let out. "Shrink, grab Nightshade and the bag. I'll take care of the sheep." (Sibs Weekend Pt 3 from The Story Expansion Garden).

Notice how before the dialogue tag, huh is followed by a comma. That is how it should always be. The only exception is when a character is shouting, being interrupted, or asking a question. In that case, normal punctuation before the dialogue tag, whether it's an exclamation point, interrobang, dash, or question mark.

Then, it will look something like so:

"I'm not a sheep; I'm a ram!" she shouted as she bowed her head and sprinted towards him.
(Sibs Weekend Pt 3/4 from The Story Expansion Garden).

That's all you really need to know about commas in regards to dialogue rules. Obviously, there are a TON more dialogue rules (there's a reason I had a teacher in high school tell me it's the hardest thing to learn in English...I'll disagree, but we all have our strengths and weaknesses), but this should truly help you improve your grammar in terms of dialogue a bit more.

Coordinating Conjunctions

Anyone a fan of FANBOYS? No? Yes? Don't know what it is? No worries. If you remember from a previous chapter—sentence structures—then you will know that coordinating conjunctions are just one of the many ways to combine two independent clauses. These words include the following: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, and So.

However, before using these words, you need to use a comma. These words are not powerful enough to pull two independent sentences together, which is why they need help from their mighty sidekick, the comma.

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT think that these words are powerful by themselves. Two independent clauses (as talked about in sentence structures) always needs help of some sort to pull them together. If these words are not used to combine two independent clauses, then you do not need to use a comma before the coordinating conjunction.

An example of a coordinating conjunction is as followed:

"I'm Yui Sakai, and the crazy woman on the other side of the room is my wife, Hana." (Sakura's Sweet Sixteen Pt 2/4 from The Story Expansion Garden).

Notice how that sentence could be two simple sentences rather than a compound one. Using the example above, it could be, "I'm Yui Sakai. The crazy woman on the other side of the room is my wife, Hana." It still makes sense, but it helps create more complexity to your writing by mixing in some compound sentences rather than making everything a simple one.

Conjunctive Adverbs

Okay, I'm not going to lie, this is my favorite way to use commas because it's so sophisticated. I mean, really, you can't use a conjunctive adverb without looking like that one meme with the guy holding a cup of tea and wearing a monocle and top hat, and I absolutely love that!

When using conjunctive adverbs, three things need to happen. First, you need to find a conjunctive adverb that will appropriately combine two independent clauses. There are more words than I'm willing to list, but they can be as followed: however, furthermore, therefore, and nevertheless. Bonus points if you can use that last one because it makes you sound prim and proper, and I'm all for that! Of course, it has to match the person you're writing in the perspective of, but it's really cool to use.

Before you can add that into the sentence, you need to add in one of these bad boys; a semicolon. Once you have the semicolon and conjunctive adverb, guess what? You guessed it! A comma is added after the conjunctive adverb.

In the end, your sentence should look like this:

I love conjunctive adverbs; therefore, I must always use a semicolon before the adverb and a comma after it.

I cannot express the importance of how this looks. Any other way is wrong. PLEASE!! Use that comma after the conjunctive adverb, not before! And a comma isn't going to do it justice when it needs both!

Dependent Clauses

Dependent clauses are where things get tricky because 2/3 times, you're going to need a comma. Dependent clauses cannot stand by themselves and always needs help of some sort. If they are in the beginning or middle of a sentence, a comma is needed. A comma is not needed if a dependent clause is added at the end of a sentence. Yes, I did just construct those sentences to create an example as to what that would look like.

This is where commas can be overused though. If we know that dependent clauses usually need a comma, it's so tempting to just throw a comma in there without thinking. It's wrong. You've got to think if there's going to be a bit of a pause. If there is, then a comma is needed.

Let's go through some examples here:

When Kita said she'd teach me some Muay Thai, I honestly thought it was just going to be a series of kicks. (KL/INH Crossover Pt 2).

Since the dependent clause is used in the beginning, a comma is needed at the end of the phrase.

"This year we rented the same cabin that we stayed at last year, and we had just as much fun" (K12Reader).

The dependent clause in that sentence is "that we stayed at last year". It's not in the beginning or at the end. It's at the middle; therefore, it needs a comma at the end of it.

It was an unsaid rule in the Rhea household that you didn't curse when others were around because you never know when Wendy Rhea could be around. (Swanna Girl and Braviary Man 2: Fight Against Oblivion, Chapter 2).

Notice how this sentence didn't need a comma. That is simply because the dependent clause (because you never know when Wendy Rhea could be around) follows an independent clause, so it does not need a comma. There are a few words that can help prompt you if a dependent clause is being started. These words are because, if, since, and as. Of course, there are a ton more, but this is just to list a few.

Introductory Words

It is so easy to prompt a sentence with a word to prove a point. First off, therefore, in other words, normally, now, actually, and personally are a few of them, and most of which I have used in this article. It's a word that doesn't really deal with the sentence. It does as it starts off the sentence, but it could also be taken out and still make sense. Because of that, the word needs to be backed up by a comma.

Lists

Okay, so before I get more into this, please keep in mind there are two different schools of thought here. You have the Oxford comma, and the thought that the Oxford comma doesn't exist. Personally, I prefer the Oxford comma, but more to that later.

When creating a list of items, it is best to separate each time with a comma to make it known that each item is separate. Actually, it's not best, it's a grammar rule.

This can be seen as so:

The woman at the store needed to get bread, milk, eggs, and cookies for her family.

Now, if you follow the Oxford comma rule (see, I told you we'd get to this rule), you have to put a comma before the and; however, not everyone thinks that. You could simply have the same list from above as so: The woman at the store needed to get bread, milk, eggs and cookies for her family.

Yes, if you're like me, this makes you cringe because eggs and cookies could be something that is combined (and cookies have enough eggs in them, so I don't think we really need raw eggs to be dripped on top). It doesn't create a pause like the rest of the items do, and it disrupts the flow. It's not wrong though, and many people won't use it. If I review a book that doesn't use the beautiful Oxford comma, then there's nothing I can do about it because it is technically right. It's all about preference, and both sides of how the oxford comma works are both technically right.

I just stand by the oxford comma as that was what I learned in school.

That's a lot of different rules writers have to abide by when using commas, isn't it? Thing is, there are a few more than just what is listed; however, these are the rules that are commonly overlooked. It happens, but when you use them in your writing, your writing will improve tremendously. Use these six comma rules, and in no time, you will become the comma king (or comma queen or comma master).

I hope this helps! Good luck with all your writings! And remember, use that comma!

The following are websites I used to help create this article/has more information about commas.

https://www.k12reader.com/term/dependent-clause/#:~:text=After%20Aidan%20returned%20from%20his,its%20own%20as%20a%20sentence.)

This one is what I used for the one example of the dependent clause. I couldn't think of a sentence I wrote off the top of my head that has this, but I figured it would be best because the website is pretty helpful.

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/independent_and_dependent_clauses/index.html

Purdue Owl helps me SO MUCH when citing things, but it's also filled with helpful writing tips. This particular link should get you to a page that pretty much explains everything I just did, but in a different way. If something I said doesn't make sense, you can probably find it here and make more sense of it.

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/comma/

Grammarly is such an amazing tool to use as a writer. In all honesty, I should use it more myself. This page gives spectacular advice on commas, and in much more depth than I did. It's filled with great examples, and is easy to follow.