The exclamation mark is an enthusiastic bit of punctuation that appears at the end of far too many sentences. In their eagerness to show their emotions on the page, many writers carelessly splash these marks about as if there were no price to pay for their use. Yet there is a cost--that the writing will seem immature and unseasoned. And why is this so?

It’s because exclamation marks seem too much like middle school cheerleaders eager to please. They jump and shout with great vigor and feeling, while making the written words appear juvenile. They try so hard! They seem so sincere! They want so much to please! But this is not the sort of mark that makes writing appear more interesting, compelling, or clear. It fails to convey emotion in the way the writer intends.

It is not easy to break the habit of ending sentences with this simple mark. If you use exclamation points liberally, then you have some serious editing ahead of you. A good rule of thumb is to use no more than one mark per page. It should be used for genuine exclamations or commands, such as “Halt!” or “What a show it was!”

After deleting each superfluous mark, ask yourself why you put it there in the first place. If you were trying to convey added emotion, consider whether the sentence with a period does so on its own. It may be that a period is all you need. But if you find the sentence unsatisfying without the exclamation point, then you know the language itself needs work. Do what’s needed to convey the emotion by making the words themselves compelling.

Writers also use these marks with dialogue to convey volume and intensity, such as:

“I can’t believe you did that!” he shouted.

An occasional sentence like this is fine, but frequent use makes your characters seem high strung and out of control. Again, consider how you can convey the emotion with language rather than punctuation:

His gaze cut like ice. “I can’t believe you did that,” he said coldly.

Once you restrict yourself to no more than one exclamation per page, you’ll see how insubstantial this little mark turns out to be. As your use of language propels your story or ideas forward, your punctuation can recede to where it belongs—inconspicuously doing its job in the background as your words carry your reader along.

And when you no longer depend on the punctuation mark to carry your descriptions, your writing will mature as a result.