comma question

"Filk muttered" is an independent clause. In old school grammar, the correct way to punctuate what you wrote would be:

Filk muttered, and he curled up by the fire.

Nowadays, most stylists say that you can drop the comma if both clauses are short. Personally, I like keeping the comma, but I think you have some leeway.

I do think you're better off dropping the "he," though. It adds nothing to your sentence. Contrary to T. Allen's advice, I don't think you should go with "curling." I tend to hate that structure unless it's absolutely necessary.

I'd go with: Filk muttered and curled up by the fire.

Hope this helps!

Brian

 

Popping in for a moment here....

That one jumped out as my favorite.

 

I think I'd make that two sentences. I find a lot of cases where the comma is questionable really ought to just be two sentences.

"I'm quite thankful," Fik muttered. Then he curled up by the fire.