More On Semicolons: Correcting Writing Without Improving It

The proper way to use a semicolon is to place it between two short sentences sharing similar or closely-related ideas. An example:

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

Ha! Tricked you! In Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, this passage doesn't contain a single semicolon!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way -- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Strict grammarians, thinking this sentence was the mother of all comma splices, would "fix it" by hacking it down into a bunch of separate sentences. Proving once again that grammarians can correct writing, but they may not necessarily improve it.

Let's say it once again: never use semicolons. Ever. If one finds its way into your writing, it's a signal that your sentence structure is too complicated and your ideas aren't expressed clearly enough. Rewrite it.