Apostrophes: Grammar & Editing Tips

Isn’t it amazing how important the smallest of punctuation marks can be? 

Consider the apostrophe--small in stature, a simple ’, but huge in importance. After all, an apostrophe either takes the place of missing letters or assigns ownership. It is also used to show multiple letters, such as the student received many A’s on her report card. More on that in a moment.

If Charlie has a dog, it’s Charlie’s dog. The only somewhat confusing aspect to making names possessive… names that end in s. According to AP Style, the newest consensus is to leave off the additional ’s. So it would be Charles’ dog and not Charles’s. However, it is not incorrect to say Charles’s, and that style is favored by Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, although to me it is quite clunky.

In the case of biblical references, everyone seems to agree—Jesus’ and Moses’ is the way to go.

Interestingly, this was a debated enough issue that the Arkansas House of Representatives introduced a bill to clarify the state’s possessive, known as the Arkansas’s Apostrophe Act.

And of course there is the exception of it’s. Since it’s is it is, the possessive of it is its, no apostrophe.

Back to the student that received many A’s on her report card. The A is not A is and it’s not possessive, so why the apostrophe? Because otherwise it is the word As (same problem for the letters I and U which would become Is and Us without an apostrophe).

How big of a deal can a misplaced or missed apostrophe really be?

Let me give you a quick example…

The girls decision meant life would never be the same.

In a story, it’s important for the reader to know if that sentence should read girl’s or girls’ (one girl or multiple girls). Writers don’t want their readers scratching their head for too long, because then readers disconnect from the story. Never a good thing.

How can anybody remember all these rules, especially ones that the grammar experts disagree on? 

That’s just one of the reasons a good editor is important. They do the research and give you their advice. Just as importantly, they make sure it is consistent throughout your work. Your readers will thank you for it.

*****

I originally published this post on the Indie Books Gone Wild website here.  

Another great graphic...

Is there an editing/grammar issue that's always caused you trouble? If so, share it in the comments so I can feature it in a future post. 

In Medias Res & IBGW = I: Blogging from A to Z

Welcome to a day of I. Clogging the blogosphere with posts dedicated to I could get a little self-involved. Thank goodness it's for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, so I posts will cover a range of topics.

Okay, enough of my play on the letter I and first person. On to I...

In Medias Res
(Encyclopedia Britannica)
Latin: “in the midst of things” In narrative technique, the recommended practice of beginning an epic or other fictional form by plunging into a crucial situation that is part of a related chain of events; the situation is an extension of previous events and will be developed in later action. The narrative then goes directly forward, and exposition of earlier events is supplied by flashbacks. The principle is based on the practice of Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey.

When done right, the prerequisite for most literary devices, in medias res drops the reader right into the thick of the action. No complaints here, because few things make me happier than being invested in a story from page one. Then, we can explore the inner workings of the characters.

Think of the Bond or Bourne movies. It wouldn't be the same to have those movies begin with Bond and Bourne sorting out their feelings over all the people they've killed or their lost loves. No, these need to begin with an insane action sequence.

On the flip side, in medias res wouldn't really work for a romance novel. You need to build up to two people falling in love. One of my biggest complaints with romance novels is the "looked across a crowded room and fell instantly in love" relationship. Make me care about the characters and then have them fall in love. 

And a bonus I for Indie writers. 

Indie Books Gone Wild (IBGW), the brainchild of the lovely Jo Michaels, is a great resource for indie writers. In addition to articles on important indie topics, the site offers the following services: editing, beta-reading, proofreading, print book formatting, and open critique services/writing class.

I am currently using them to edit my YA novel, Chasing Memories, and I recently joined them as an editor. Take a moment to read my bio and check out the other amazing team members here.

Hope everyone is enjoying A to Z this year. To check out other A to Z bloggers, please visit the Blogging from A to Z participant list.