For My Paid Subscribers: The Scourge of the Exclamation Point

Cut out all the exclamation points. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.
                                                                                    - - - F. Scott Fitzgerald

I’m not an expert on punctuation but I know the basics, thanks to my English teacher mother. While I believe in altering writing rules when it’s appropriate, I also believe you have to know them inside and out before you can bend them.