Semicolons Represent Continuation
You may know the grammatical function of semicolons, but did you know they represent so much more?
If you’ve never heard of Project Semicolon, it’s a cause I greatly believe in. Mental health and self-care are common discussions for writers, and especially for me, who edits psychology and self-help manuscripts.
September is suicide prevention awareness month, per SAMHSA. So if you care about writers and their mental health, consider how you can support both the awareness of suicide prevention and mental health in general.
Why a Semicolon?
When a writer chooses to end a sentence, they use a period. When a writer wants to string together many grammatical elements in a sentence, they can use a comma. However, a writer might choose to use a semicolon instead of ending a sentence; they might extend what they have to say with a simple change in punctuation.
It is with this theory and sentiment that the Semicolon Project continues their mission. People, but especially writers, who have lived through suicidal attempts or ideation might understand the deep symbolism inherent in the semicolon.
A semicolon is sometimes used when the writer could choose to end their sentence, but instead, chooses to continue, to go on, to add to the action of the story.
Related blog: Two Common (and Easy-to-Use) Semicolon Rules.
Semicolons in Real Life
If you are someone or you know someone for whom this symbolism might resonate, someone who is a writer and who may have been suicidal at one time, there are many ways to show your love or support for them and their struggles,
Nearly 50,000 people died by suicide in 2022, which is one person every 11 minutes. The majority (76%) were White; 32% of them were middle-aged adults; 20% of them were women. (According to the CDC statistics.)
Of course, any life lost to suicide can have tragic consequences for the people they leave behind.
How to Support Writers You Know
First of all, if your friend is a writer and especially if they’re publishing things, you can read them. Leave a review. Leave comments on their social media. Support like this costs you nothing and means so much.
Big up your writer friends to others — family, friends, and people who you think would connect with their message. There is literally no better way to support your writer friend than to tell people you love what they do.
Second, there’s a lot of semicolon merch out there. If you have the kind of relationship where you can get your writer friend a notebook, or a sticker, or a coffee mug, or something else they’ll love, then there’s shopping options for you my friend. (Check out these search results for “project semicolon” on Etsy!)
Third, if you’re really hardcore about a writer or if you’re the type of writer who has been in the suicidal boat yourself, there are a range of tasteful and heartwarming semicolon tattoo designs to choose from. Getting a tattoo not only shows your long-term commitment and solidarity with your friend (or yourself) and their (your) struggles, but it’s also a silent form of support for all suicidal people and writers everywhere.
You can check out this Pinterest board for semicolon tattoo inspiration.
Whatever you do, take a few minutes this month to support writers and spread awareness about suicide prevention.
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