The little Apostrophe looms large

The apostrophe looms large in the eyes of many writers, and it's such a little thing. I see its misuse everywhere, in my newspaper, on the internet, on menus in restaurants, and on signs, and am so grateful that we don't use accents in our written language. Why am I still writing about the humble apostrophe? Because it's part of our language, and part of the way we communicate, so it's important that it is used correctly. (See previous post about its and it's.)

I saw a sign a few days ago, on the window of a real estate agent, that proudly proclaimed, "You're home is in here!" Soon afterwards, I saw another sign, on another window: "Come in; your welcome" was boldly writ upon the glass. The message that both of these businesses were communicating was not what they intended it to be.

Where and when to use the apostrophe can be confusing but if we remember that the apostrophe is replacing a letter, (if it is not indicating the possessive), we will make less mistakes.

By using the apostrophe, we make a contraction, that is, two words joined together by the apostrophe. For example:

You're is a contraction of You + Are, so the sign in the real estate agent's window was actually saying: You are home is in here, which of course doesn't make sense. It should have read: Your home is in here!

The sign in the other window should have read: "Come in; you're (you are) welcome."

As always, we can test ourselves on the use or not of the apostrophe by looking at what we have written. If there is an apostrophe there, read it as the original two words. If it fits the sentence, it's okay; if it doesn't, take it out. On the other hand, if you don't have an apostrophe there, and you mean the one word to fill the place of two, you need to insert the apostrophe.

I'll discuss the use of the apostrophe with the possessive in a later post.

The dreaded ITS

A knowledge of grammar is important in writing, but once you know the rules it's okay to break them, as long as you have a good reason for doing so. Incorrect use of language should add meaning to the story you are telling. Of course, only use 'correct' grammar in dialogue if your character would speak that way. It's rare to find someone who speaks correctly and grammatically all the time, even university professors!

Usually, the apostrophe is used to indicate either the possessive, or to stand in for a missing letter. The former is a lengthy discussion in itself, so let's just look here at its use in the latter. The word its for instance; increasingly of late I've noticed that people are becoming more and more confused about when to use the apostrophe with this word.

The word it NEVER takes the possessive, so when you see it's, you know that it's a contraction of it is.

When you read through your work, stop and take note of every instance where you have written it's. Read the sentence again but this time, instead of saying, it's, say it is. Does it fit? If so, then using the apostrophe there is correct. If not, delete the apostrophe. If there is an its in the sentence, perhaps you mean it is, and so should add an apostrophe.

Here are a couple of examples:

Wrong: The dog was guarding it's [it is] ball.

Correct: The dog was guarding its ball. (Remember, its does not take the possessive.)

Wrong: Its a long way to the beach.

Correct: It's [it is] a long way to the beach.

This same exercise works well for any contracted words but be careful, for example, using there's [there is, singular] when you really mean there are [plural].

Writing - a lonely business?

I write because I 'must'; I also write in order to earn a living. Most of my income comes from associated activities, not the writing itself, but as long as I am working with words, I am deliriously happy.

I've heard it said that writing is a lonely life but I've never found it so. Once I am 'into' a piece of writing, I am in the text and no longer 'here'. The characters who people my work are so real they sometimes walk the floor with me as I pace, trying out different responses for them. On the other hand, in order to write I need to be alone. There are many people who can write, no matter where they are or who is around them, but not me. I can take notes, jot down ideas, and do research, but I cannot create.

Growing up in a large household, I didn't have the luxury of being alone, so never wrote. Married, working and with children, I was never alone either. Besides, in those days it was the women who did all the housework, the cooking, cleaning and so on, so time was short too. But those years were not wasted; I read voraciously, I kept journals, and I made notes and jotted down ideas.

It was only after my children were grown up that I finally had both the time and the space to write. I joined a writing group, I took classes, and I got involved in the writing community. In other words, I began my apprenticeship.

In these times, writers probably do have it a bit easier, with partners who are willing to lend a hand with the housework, but it still can be a long process from blank page to publication. It took a couple of years before I had my first piece published, and then there was a bit of a drought before the second; I have not seen a flood yet, but I do manage to earn enough to keep myself alive, and to enable me to continue to indulge my passion - words, language and writing.

A Work in Progress

This blog site is a work in progress. Please bear with me as I learn and publish.