Instead Comma

No.

What about an example like this?

I decided to go left instead of going right and taking the long route home.

Should there be one after "left" for a pause?

SnarfWhat about an example like this?I decided to go left instead of going right and taking the long route home.Should there be one after "left" for a pause?

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by one for pause; if it's comma you're asking about, then the answer is no.

Yes, I meant comma. Let me ask you about one last example, if you wouldn't mind:

“I am sorry that is how you see things, child, but that is because your mind has been darkened by the Devil, instead of enlightened by ***.”

I have two questions about this one:

1. Is a comma okay there after "Devil" for a pause in what the speaker is saying?
2. Does that last part sound

Snarf1. Is a comma okay there after "Devil" for a pause in what the speaker is saying?

I think it's ok.

Snarf2. Does that last part sound okay without the word "being" between "of" and "enlightened," given he is speaking in past tense?

In fact, being shouldn't have been there originally. Yes, being should be re

Right. Actually, "being" was never there to be removed in the first place. I just kept hearing it in my head while reading it, so I thought I'd ask. It's actually just as I wrote it: "...instead of enlightened by ***," making the first "been" before "darkened" apply to it as well. Does that work?

screamerer SnarfWhat about an example like this?I decided to go left instead of going right and taking the long route home.Should there be one after "left" for a pause?I'm not sure I understand what you mean by one for pause; if it's comma you're asking about, then the answer is no.

Unless you deliberately want to stress a pause there, I w