2. Apostrophes

A common mistake that confuses and annoys readers involves the humble apostrophe. If this mistake occurs on the opening page of your novel, it may well cause the reader to give up there and then. As with the other errors I point out, it’s not just the error that is the problem, but also what it indicates: carelessness and bad writing.

Plurals

Plurals (more than one of something) don’t need an apostrophe. For example:

• ten magazines not ten magazine’s

• all the players not all the player’s

• these politicians not these politician’s

So:

• ‘I bought some magazines for the journey’ ✓

• ‘I bought some magazine’s for the journey’ ✗

• ‘The football players were jubilant’ ✓

• ‘The football player’s were jubilant’ ✗

• ‘Every one of these politicians sides with the rich’ ✓

• ‘Every one of these politician’s sides with the rich’ ✗

Abbreviations

Neither is there any need to add apostrophes to form the plural of abbreviations. For example:

• ‘Today, I wish to lecture about out-of-body experiences, or OBEs.’

• ‘A number of NGOs are involved.’

• ‘MPs disagree about the policy’s efficacy.’

In other words, do not put an apostrophe before the small s at the end of these abbreviations.

Dates and Ages

It’s also a common mistake to include apostrophes when talking about decades (e.g. ‘the 1950’s’) or ages (e.g. ‘he was in his 60’s’). The following examples are correct:

• ‘He played in a progressive rock band in the 1970s.’

• ‘Participants were in their 50s and 60s.’

Exceptions

You can use an apostrophe to indicate the plural of single letters or single numbers for clarity:

• ‘Mind your p’s and q’s.’

• ‘Remember the Three C’s.’

• ‘Count up all the number 8’s and number 9’s.’

Summary

• Never use an apostrophe to form the plural of ordinary nouns, names and abbreviations.

• Never use an apostrophe in decades or ages.

• Apostrophes can be used to form the plural of single letters or numbers.

3. Emphasis

Indie writers often are tempted to over-emphasize important text by doing everything they can to bring it to the reader’s attention. For example, if they have a line of dialogue in which someone is shouting, they do this:

‘WILL YOU GET OUT OF HERE????!!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!! I HATE YOU!!! IF YOU DON’T GO RIGHT NOW I’LL KILL YOU!!!!!!!!’

Or this:

‘WILL YOU GET OUT OF HERE????!!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!! I HATE YOU!!! IF YOU DON’T GO RIGHT NOW I’LL KILL YOU!!!!!!!!’

Or this:

‘WILL YOU GET OUT OF HERE????!!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!! I HATE YOU!!! IF YOU DON’T GO RIGHT NOW I’LL KILL YOU!!!!!!!!’

Trust me, these things look truly awful, amateur and clumsy. They’re also an insult to your readers, most of whom will know how to speak your words in their mind. The rule for this kind of dialogue is:

• Less is more!

This does the job far more effectively:

‘Will you get out of here! Leave me alone! I hate you! If you don’t go right now I’ll kill you!’

The single exclamation marks indicate that the speaker has raised their voice. You don’t need to add any more. You don’t even need to emphasize the word ‘kill’. However, if you decide to emphasize a word or two, do so sparingly: if too much is emphasized, then it just gets tiring to read.

As with the word ‘kill’, above, the convention is to emphasize with italics. That’s all you need.

Summary

• Don’t double up on exclamation marks or question marks.

• Don’t use capitals for emphasis when people are shouting or angry.

• Emphasize with italics only.