OK, I'm a little at odds with a few phrases where I've been told I need a comma, and I don't really feel like it works. 1st is a couple of sentences from my MC, 1st person, in his narrative: And just who would get us out of jail? Roger? Shit no. Someone is suggesting that it be "Shit, no." I just don't feel like I want that comma in there. The next is in several instances of dialogue: "So would you go back too?" "Hell no," I said. "I'm never going back." They suggested "Hell, no," and once again I really don't want the comma there either. It's not that I feel like it is improper to include the comma, but, to me, the comma sort of denotes a pause and I am certain that in how I am hearing the dialogue, there is no pause, especially given that my characters are all speaking with a Southern US dialect, and well, that's how we talk I just don't really feel it's important. Your thoughts?
My personal call is for no comma. I agree it places a pause there that would alter the delivery. Shit, no = Shit, that's a bad idea; thus, my considered answer is no. Shit no = My no is so emphatic that I am qualifying it with an adjectival shit so that you know just how much no I mean.
Strangely, I want the comma for "shit" but don't want it for "hell". I think because when I pronounce those phrases I DO pause after "shit" but DON'T pause after "hell". So... I guess that supports the idea that the comma usage should match the desired pronunciations.
