You've written your manuscript and now the fun part begins. At least it's fun for me as compared with the tense emotions of getting the whole thing written in the first place. At first I read each paragraph thoroughly to make sure each sentence makes sense. If it does not, I revise accordingly.

If it does not make sense then something is missing. That something is either a word or a comma and after correcting that mistake, I move on. I continue through the whole manuscript in this fashion and when finished if I am satisfied I have done the best job I know how, I call it finished.

But I have learned that what satisfies me, (since I am only a lover of words and not a grammarian), may not be pleasing to a hawk-eyed copy writer in an editorial office. I have often been amazed to find my manuscript sent back to me scribbled all over with corrections.

It was not surprising however, to learn that my confusion in the use of possessives had again tripped me up. Those little tear drops have always gotten me into trouble. They still do, but less. Now I know that in the singular possessive you put the apostrophe before the s.

I always knew that but somehow I would either forget and mix it up with a plural possessive, or think 'who cares'. The grammar checker picks these up nicely, and how lucky we are to have those. Being aware of these little subtleties when you write makes the overall process easier.

Possessive singular

Examples: Jack's tool chest; Jane's house; Jill's pail. I get that, it is simple, and is not hard to learn, but wait there is more. Complications could arise out of the past and while they may not plague you, they will halt your journey into the best seller world.

The ancient part came from an alert in "The Elements of Style" by William Strunk and E.B. White; "Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names in -es and -is, the possessive Jesus' and such forms as 'for conscience' sake, for righteousness' sake."

Things like that can trip up an otherwise well written piece of work. Those two grammarian collaborators tried to smooth over the rough spots while traveling ancient paths by suggesting that when one met Moses' laws or Isis' temple one should consider rewriting. It would be far more pleasing to the reader to read the laws of Moses or the temple of Isis.

Pronominal possessives

Pronominal possessives are words that on occasion act as pronouns. Words such as hers, its, theirs, yours, and ours need no apostrophe. A ha! The many times have I stumbled on these. I watch my step when dealing with its and its causes and try hard to keep it's aligned with it is.

Indefinite pronouns

Wait. We are not out of Egypt yet. It's a way to go to get out of the sand traps indefinite pronouns can put in our way. "One's rights" would show us to be false were we to leave off the apostrophe.

And to hear Strunk and White tell it, we would indeed be in trouble with the authorities if we were using "somebody else's umbrella"; but they waved us on since else was properly carrying an apostrophe.

Source:
Strunk, William, White, E,B. The Elements of Style, New York, McMillian Publishing Company, Inc. 1970 pp. 1

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