Category Archives: apostrophes

Tips about Writing from Stephen King

Posted on April 5, 2025 | Leave a comment

Stephen King, the King of Horror, has written dozens of fictional bestsellers, many of which have become blockbuster movies.  He also wrote a book, On Writing, telling how he writes.  Here are some of his ideas.

From his own experience, King believes a writer’s job is to recognize two previously unrelated ideas and to make something new from them.

Writers write their first drafts for themselves, to tell themselves a story.  When they rewrite, they take out everything that is not part of the story.

Writers shouldn’t “dress up” their natural short-word vocabulary with long words.  They should use the first words that come into their heads.

You don’t need to write in complete sentences all the time.

Avoid passive verbs.  Timid writers use passive verbs because they seem safe.

Forget using adverbs.

Fear leads to bad writing.

Use “said.”

To make possessive nouns, add apostrophe S every time.

Easy-to-read books contain lots of white space and dialog.

To be a good writer, do two things:  read a lot and write a lot.

If you don’t have time to read a lot, you don’t have the time or the know-how to write well.

To learn what not to do, read bad writing.

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Posted in adverbs, apostrophes, fear of writing, fiction writing, fragments, good writing v. bad writing, how to write better, passive verbs, possessive nouns, practice reading skills, practice writing skills, revising first drafts, said, short words, writing tips

How important are apostrophes?

Posted on July 3, 2024 | Leave a comment

On many SAT exams, students face choosing either “its,” “it’s,” “its’,” “their,” they’re,” or “there” as an answer to a prompt.  For example, what is the correct answer for the following clause?

“Toward the end of the 1400s, as the Renaissance was reaching its height. . .”

  1. NO CHANGE
  2. it’s
  3. its’
  4. their

Colleges must think knowing how to spell “its” and “their” correctly is an important skill for college-bound students to use correctly.  Otherwise, why would questions about their spelling be on the exams?  But is knowing if an apostrophe is needed and how to use it really that important?

In northern England, the North Yorkshire Council voted recently to remove apostrophes from street names.  So, the former “St. Mary’s Walk” has been changed to “St. Marys Walk.”  Another change is from “King’s Walk” to “Kings Walk.”

The meaning of each street name is slightly different without the apostrophe.  But would you be confused if you were looking for an address?  When we say, “St. Mary’s Walk,” we don’t mention the apostrophe, yet we are understood.

English teachers spend hours of classroom time instilling in children the importance of using apostrophes correctly.  In the phrase, “the sisters bike,” do you know where the apostrophe goes?  Or even if an apostrophe is needed?  (Yes, an apostrophe is needed.  If it is one sister, the answer is between the “r” and “s.”  If it is two or more sisters, the answer is after the “s.”)

In contractions, the apostrophe takes the place of missing letters.  But don’t you understand “I dont know” as well as “I don’t know”?

What is spurring the dropping of apostrophes?  Computers.  Data bases.  Text messages.  Multitasking.  Frantic lives.  In our increasingly digital world, apostrophes are deemed unimportant.  On my phone, I need to shift to a different screen if I want to use an apostrophe and then shift back.  I still do that, but it takes time.  I notice my children don’t bother.  If we understand speech without apostrophes, why complicate things by using them in writing?

Grammar teachers may wonder if they have wasted their lives focusing on the correct use of apostrophes, quotation marks, and commas.  Cursive writing teachers may wonder the same.  For past generations, apostrophes were signs of a well educated person.  Today they still are, but that is changing.

By the way, the correct response to the question at the beginning of the blog is NO CHANGE.

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Posted in apostrophes, English Writing Instruction