Grammar Guidance Needed

[Siracusa8]

Can anyone direct me to a website or book that will update my ancient proof reading skills? I'm helping a friend prepare some stories for possible publication and would like guidance on things like the correct use of commas as opposed to semi-colons.

[jomifl]

I think you could probably do without semi-colons in a story.

[bookbinder]

You could read Sir Ernest Gowers' book:
http://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/gowerse/complete/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Complete_Plain_Words
I find it quite useful.

[Zacs-Master]

Commas and semi-colons are punctuation, not grammar.

[jim360]

Lynne Truss' Eats, Shoots and Leaves is pretty good for punctuation. When it comes to grammar, be careful not to get sucked too much into anything that lays down authoritative rules. In English, there are few rules of grammar that apply rigidly.

[heathfield]

Agree with Bookbinder. I found out more about English from reading Gower's book than I ever learned at school.

[ichkeria]

Best bet might be to write the piece first and give it to someone to look at. Basically you should not use a comma to divide pieces of writing that are main verb clauses in their own right. That's when you might use semi colons if the clauses are all closely related

[Peter Pedant]

? remember that all you need to punctuate correctly is a comma and full stop

[Old_Geezer]

You may find you cause confusion if you don’t use the apostrophe correctly.