Good source for punctuation issues?

theCzar

Like any good writer (ahem) I have never let silly things like full stops get in the way of a good story. However, since I'm in the middle of writing a novel, I want to polish my English a little.

I'm not bad, but I'd like to find a website that specialises in the boring side of writing, one with plenty of examples!

My current question is about possessive nouns (perhaps not the correct nomenclature either) for people whose name ends in 's'

e.g. Mullins' house or Mullins's house

MsFifers

Hey there. To the best of my knowledge it should be Mullins' house.

Don't know of a site, but the book 'Eats Shoots & Leaves' is v. good. Must give it another read!

It's 'its' vs 'it's' that constantly does it for me! I can never remember!!

theCzar

Thanks, will give it a read. I've heard a lot about it, but always thought... punctuation YAWN!

Mullins' is my favourite too, I know I'd hear Mullins's but its just bad grammar. :rolleyes:

theCzar

I found this online:

You can form the possessive case of a singular noun that ends in "s" by adding an apostrophe alone or by adding an apostrophe and "s," as in the following examples:

The bus's seats are very uncomfortable.
The bus' seats are very uncomfortable.

The film crew accidentally crushed the platypus's eggs.
The film crew accidentally crushed the platypus' eggs.

So it seems both are correct. I hate this language.

Tazz T

The former would be used more these days, the latter is archaic.

greengiant101

theCzar wrote: »

I found this online:


So it seems both are correct. I hate this language.

'Use an apostrophe and -s to form the possessive of a singular noun ending in -s. If pronouncing the additional syllable is awkward, you may use the apostrophe alone.

"Don't waste the class's time."

"The company produced Yeats' cycle of plays about the Irish hero Cuchulain."'

'Use an apostrophe alone to form the possessive case of a plural noun ending in -s.

"They owe her several months' pay."'

The College Writer's Reference
http://thecollegewritersreference.blogspot.com/

4diarmuid

This a very good site for writers of any material creative or scientific. It offers free access to various books on literature of all sorts.

For the aspiring creative writer, Strunk's book on Style is about the best for brevity and accuracy.

It tackles the usual mistakes we all make with words about, persons versus people, at present versus presently; to name but two common errors.

In general, modern writing and modern readers don't care much about commas, colons, semi-colons and hyphenated words. But, it is better to be grammatically correct as it makes reading easier and helps to sell a manuscript be it creative or academic.


http://www.bartleby.com/

Good luck with your writing

Hermy

I don't know of any relevant websites but I would second the aforementioned Elements of Style and Eats, Shoots and Leaves.
I would also recommend On Writing Well by William Zinsser, and to a lesser extent, On Writing by Stephen King. Although neither book deals with your specific topic, they provide plenty food for thought and are definitely worth a read.