In fact I am trying to find the conditions on curves to be embedded in surfaces (non ruled). Apart from reading the books by Mumford and Kollar I found the following paper useful.
http://www.kurims.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~prims/pdf/45-3/45-3-25.pdf
The paper is well written so I don't think I need to write the techniques of this paper. Now I am looking for references that describe other kind of techniques available in this area.
Thanks.