From the brains behind brains on this is the moment of um. Moment of um. The typewriter

typewriter. You know, it's not as thrilling to be a typewriter as it was years ago.

These days most people use their computers or

phones to write messages to each other. But there are still plenty of people who enjoy the

feeling of my spring-loaded keys under their fingertips.

I always keep my ink ribbon fresh, just in case anyone decides to take me to a coffee shop

and loudly work on the next great American novel. I may be in antique, but my letters are still

crisp and the part that holds the paper makes the really satisfying cut junk. And I always, always make sure that my punctuation marks are ready to rock because

they're super important apparently I don't know I'm not an author but that's

what I hear from everyone who's ever written anything on my keys.

Why are punctuation marks so great anyway? My pal Nico wanted to know too.

Punctuation marks help us no tone and mood and whether we're asking a question or whether we're excited about something like using an exclamation point. I'm Kristen Bauke and I teach writing.

The main reason for punctuation is because it helps us with the main goal of writing

which is communicating to others.

It helps the reader know when you want them to pause or stop a thought or slow down.

That's why periods and commas are really helpful.

It helps with clarity in making sure that the reader understands exactly what you're trying to say.

Imagine that you're writing a story about a family meal and you're ready to eat and you say let's eat grandma and you're

calling your grandma to the table that should have a comma after let's eat, comma, grandma.

If it doesn't, it might sound more like,

let's eat grandma.

And that is more like you're about to eat grandma for dinner.

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