Free Speech and The Question Mark

As The Raised is gaining momentum in both sales and attention the meaning of "free speech" returned to me.  I will always be a believer that everyone has the right to say what they want and if it offends me so be it.  I know that through my life I will say things that will offend many and I expect the same tolerance although I know I won't receive it.  I used to believe that free speech was a phrase used in the argument to protect political speech but now as I see the increasing number of you who are reading my book I realize that even fiction is, and rightfully should be, protected by the Constitution of the United States.  Writers are courageous to allow themselves to be exposed to both criticism and blatant attacks for what they write.  Knowing that everything I write, even fiction, can be taken out of context and convoluted to imply an agenda is something I will have to accept as a consequence of the willingness to express myself.  The practice of freedom even in writing can be frightening and I, we, must have the courage and strength to do just that.

In a casual browse over my book I suddenly  noticed an issue of punctuation.  I should have used a question mark instead of a comma.  The trauma I felt over the fact that I had neglected to change the punctuation was probably overly dramatic but being a perfectionist I was very troubled over the possibility of the one sentence being misinterpreted.  Talking this over with a dear friend I received the calm down and put the situation into perspective talk.  We can't read the intended inflection of dialogue in a book regardless of a question mark or a comma so it is up to the reader.  It is part of the joy of being a reader that we have the opportunity to draw from a writer's work an experience that is unique to ourselves. With or without question mark, I wholeheartedly agree.