Use commas well

No.

Any elaboration would be welcomed, MrM. Like to say more?

Why do you feel that, MrM?

To an extent, yes.

No one should lay down the law with hard and fast rules about punctuation.

Well, I'm not really talking about rules, just good style and skill.

There are clear instances of over-punctuation and others of under-punctuation. In between it is a matter of style and preference. When in doubt, listening to the countours of how the sentence would be spoken can be a good guide, but not an infallible one. Sometimes I write something and a comma goes in and comes out because I cannot decide if it helps or hinders.

Listening to the contours of the sentence, can lead to pointless pointing.

As there.

MrP


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Edit:


Footnote for the benefit of Anon (see below):


"Pointing" = "punctuation".


The comma after "sentence" marks the natural pause, and thus reflects the contours of the sentence, but is redundant.

.

MrPedanticListening to the contours of the sentence, can lead to pointless pointing.

As there.

MrP

Not sure what you mean there, old chap

<Sometimes I write something and a comma goes in and comes out because I cannot decide if it helps or hinders.>

Isn't that just a matter of knowing the way you want to say something. In the above case, it seems you wouldn't have decided how to say a certain thing.