PARENTHETICAL COMMAS

Here's one grammatical rule-of-thumb governing the use of commas: If you remove a word or phrase from between a pair of commas, the sentence should still make grammatical sense. Think of them as brackets (parentheses) surrounding an additional piece of information that could be removed without destroying the sentence.

So this is right: The author of The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood, was on the panel. Remove 'Margaret Atwood' and you're left with The author of The Handmaid's Tale was on the panel—and that makes sense.

But this is wrong: Canadian writer, Margaret Atwood, was on the panel. There should be no commas. If you remove 'Margaret Atwood' you're left with Canadian writer was on the panel, which doesn't make sense.

If there are more than one of them (as in Canadian writers) don't put the person's name between commas; if there's only one (as in author of The Handmaid's Tale) put the person's name between commas, but always use the removal rule-of-thumb to check.

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NO COMMA BETWEEN SUBJECT AND VERB

No matter how long your subject turns out to be, never put a comma between it and the verb. We sometimes find sentences like these:

1. As an adult Layne Beachley, changed the face of female surfing.
2. The Electricity Suppliers Association of Australia's Brad Page, says Professor Ross Garnaut is wrong to suggest they should receive no compensation.
3. The fact that all countries of the world would come together and agree on the rights that should be afforded to every human being, was truly an amazing historical event.

In all these examples the comma should not be there. If you think it's too much for the poor reader to take in without a break, then rewrite the sentence.