I am doomed I tell you...

[Phil]

Hi all. Sorry I haven't been around much. Both my granddaughters are living with us while Daddy is deployed. Both came down with swine flu. I also started an awesome new job that is time intensive. I finally sat down and wrote a couple of industrial safety articles. Both were rejected. I got the first one fixed and accepted. But the second bombed again and I am stumped.

It was rejected for grammar errors and missing apostrophes.

I've grammar checked it with open office and Whitesmoke.
I've had my wife and daughter, both with college educations, look it over.
I've let it sit and stew for a couple of days to see if something pops out.
I've read it out loud.
I've had the computer read it to me.

Normally I would trash the article as bad mojo. But, I really think this is quality work. So, does anyone have any other proof reading methods they'd like to share? All advice appreciated.

Nice to be back btw, missed y'all

[Celeste Stewart]

I was wondering where you went .

Apostrophe errors - Sentences with apostrophes may sound natural when reading out loud but the position of the apostrophe could be the problem. Is the subject singular or plural?

The student's assigment involved politics. (Singular - one particular student had an assignment that involved politics.)
The students' assignment involved politics. (Plural - many students were assigned a project involving politics.)

Both sound the same when spoken out loud, but the position of the apostrophe changes the nuance of the sentence.

Then there are those other words such as children/child that are tricky.
The child's room. (One kid has one room)
The children's room. (The room is shared by two or more kids)

Same is true of man/men, woman/women.

Also could be a slight error where no apostrophe was placed but should have been:
The families house was old and rickety. (Sounds correct when read aloud but should be: The family's house was old and rickety.)

Since apostrophes are one of the issues, one proofreading tip would be to use your word processor's FInd command and search for all instances of an apostrophe ( ' ) as well as "ies." Maybe even search for 's and s' (I omitted the quotes so that you can see the characters easier) Then look close and hard at each instance of words that may have an incorrect apostrophe.

Grammar's tougher to guess about without seeing the sentences in question. So many possible issues such as subject verb agreement, run on sentences, etc. Maybe post a brief excerpt? Pick one that you think might be troublesome and we'll see what we can come up with.

[Celeste Stewart]

Then you have apostrophes that are used for contractions. Can't and isn't aren't usually a problem but it's (It is) and its (possesive yet no apostrophe should be used despite that fact) are common errors. Search for "its" and "it's" and check to be sure you didn't make this easy-to-make mistake.

It's nearly time to go home. (It is nearly time to go home.)

The company is broke. Its finances are a wreck. ("Its" is correct even though the possesive form of "the company" would read: The company's finances are a wreck.)
It's finances are a wreck. (Incorrect. It is finances are a wreck doesn't make sense.)

Gotta love all the rules and all the exceptions to the rules.

[Debbi]

also, there are those pesky words that end in s. Frances' dog ran away. Those were the kids' toys. Here comes the Jones' daughter. Ugh. I try to avoid those kinds of apostrophes at any cost.

Glad to see you back, Phil! I was starting to worry about you. I hope your grandaughters are well now. I keep hoping my granddaughters don't catch anything.

And congrats on the new job!

[Phil]

I thank you.

I am off to the rack for now since 0530 come early around here. So, after work tomorrow I will post an excerpt.

Thanks again,

Phil

[Ed]

Phil, your articles are regularly absent of missing apostrophes. Please review rules for apostrophes, especially for when they are required for possessive nouns:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/621/1

Thank you,
Ed

[Celeste Stewart]

Here's another apostrophe page - it has a brief quiz you can take which may be helpful:
http://www.meredith.edu/grammar/plural.htm

[Ed]

Another tip:

If you know you are having problems with apostrophes, the most obvious way to catch errors is to ask yourself after every noun ending in an "s" whether it is possessive and requires an apostrophe.

[Phil]

I sure appreciate everyone chiming in. I've made it clear that I am the most well educated person. So, your advice is very helpful. And, it (the advice) is very much appreciated.

When I get this whipped (accepted) I will be sure to post a happy dance here.

Thanks again,

Phil [moving smartly with a sense of purpose]