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Q&A Punctuation assistance with complicated list of titles during a formal greeting

Using a colon in your writing is a difficult choice when it comes to fictional writing. For academic writing it's quite easy to remember. A colon is used before a list and that's about it. You coul...

posted 5y ago by Secespitus‭

Answer
#1: Initial revision by user avatar Secespitus‭ · 2020-02-13T22:28:36Z (almost 5 years ago)
Using a colon in your writing is a difficult choice when it comes to fictional writing. For academic writing it's quite easy to remember. A colon is used before a list and that's about it. You could also use a colon after a full sentence to add something that clarifies that sentence, but that looks very informal. Read for example ["When to Use a Colon In Your Writing" from magoosh.com (emphasises from original text)](https://magoosh.com/pro-writing/when-to-use-a-colon/) for some information about how other people use colons in their writing: 

>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;***Wendy only likes two flavors of ice cream: vanilla and chocolate.***

>*Wendy only likes two flavors of ice cream* is a full sentence on its own.

>*Vanilla and chocolate* is the fragment that clarifies which two flavors she likes.

The quoted article mentions "Colons also tend to make your writing look a bit more formal than the relaxed and much more frequently used comma." but I disagree with this. Using something that is explicitly different from the average way people write is the opposite of formal. Just because you use more punctuation does not mean that your writing is more formal. 

You should simply use commas in both of the case you asked about. That's formally correct, easily understood and the usual way it is written in fantasy novels. Look for example at [Daenerys Targaryen from the show "Game of Thrones", which is an adaptation of the book series "A Song of Ice and Fire"](https://gameofthrones.fandom.com/wiki/Daenerys_Targaryen), who is simply

>Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms, the Mother of Dragons, the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, the Breaker of Chains