Little marks make a big difference in the readability and meaning of a story. A missing or misplaced apostrophe, comma, period, quotation mark, etc. may disrupt and confuse readers—and no author wants that. When proofreading, I watch for the following: Apostrophes • Contractions An apostrophe takes the place of missing letters or numbers. Examples: don’t, who’s, you’re, I’m, ’80s • Possessives An apostrophe may […]
Accurate grammar allows readers to enjoy and understand your story—without having to backtrack to try to figure out what you’re trying to say. (If readers have to do that, you may lose them.) Grammatical sentences convey your story clearly. The following isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list of every grammar issue I proofread for, but it should give you a good idea of what I’ll be on the lookout […]
In honor of National Grammar Day (did you even know that was a thing?), I’m sharing four pairs of frequently misused words. Why four? Because National Grammar Day is on March 4, of course! 1. It’s or its It’s is always a contraction and means “it is” or “it has.” The apostrophe indicates the missing letter(s) and is NOT indicating possession. Example: It’s going to be a long day. Its is possessive. […]