Who Knows Where the Period Goes?

''Who knows where the period goes in this case?'' ''I do, Mr. Lustig,'' said the eager student. This month we review use of periods; it's a cross check between use of quotes and parentheses which we've covered in recent months. Then, farther below, read a short homily on the divine nature of business writing. Yes. The divine nature of business writing.

I noticed a curious contrast between the use of parentheses and the use of quotes: The quote always encloses the period at the end of a sentence, but a parenthesis sometimes has a period hanging out there, exposed at the end of a sentence. Examples:

Use of quote:

Mr. Jake Lancer, Dallas entrepreneur, said, ''I know most will disagree, but I believe the economy is fundamentally sound.''

Notice that the quote sign always goes to the right of the period at the end of the sentence.

Use of parentheses:

You can place an aside at the end of the sentence (as I have done here).

Notice that you place the period to the right of the parenthesis when (and only when) the parenthetical expression comes at the end of the sentence. When a parenthetical expression encloses the entire sentence, you put the period to the left of the final parenthesis.

Example:
(When the aside is a complete sentence, you put the period to the left of the final parenthesis like this.)

So now (in the case of quotes and parentheses) you know where the period goes.

On the Devine Nature of Business Writing

If you ever give yourself the gift of reading Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, you will notice that the divine nature of creativity is one of the most fundamental principles of her book. ''Creativity is the natural order of life. Life is energy: pure creative energy,'' she writes. And this: ''When we open ourselves to our creativity, we open ourselves to the creator's creativity within us and our lives.'' And this: ''Creativity is God's gift to us. Using our creativity is our gift back to God.'' To Cameron (and to me) the process is highly spiritual.

I think it is generally accepted that higher forms of art are inspired by a higher power while lower forms, for example, advertising, marketing communications, architecture and product design, are not. I disagree. Why should other work, for example, the design of a circuit board, a semiconductor, or the writing of a software manual, be excluded from this cavalcade? When we produce anything positive in this world, even if it is work as lowly as taking out the garbage, we can do it while connected to our divine creator and be inspired as a result. A piece of business writing can be as informed by this inspiration as a novel or a play. It is only up to each of us to supply the connection.