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Good morning, duckies! Lace up your tan shoes with pink shoelaces, because polka-dot vests are in style today. They’re the perfect attire to compliment complement today’s subject, the ill-used and underestimated ellipsis. As defined by The Chicago Manual of Style , “An ellipsis is the omission of a word, phrase, line, paragraph, or more from a quoted passage.”   Such an omission is indicated by those familiar little spaced dots called ellipsis points.   When used to illustrate suspended thought, they go by the imaginative title of suspension points. I suppose simpler can be better , but still . . . So, how do we use these points?   I could go on and on (just ask my husband), but I’ll try to finish before your coffee gets cold.   There are enough rules regarding these things that we can come back on another day for more details. Let’s start with omission and the not-so-noble art of taking things out of context.   Suppose you’re a fashion designer, eage...

This post last appeared 12/2/2008 and deals with one of my favorite (or should I say least favorite) subjects: the overused ellipsis. A comment on the chat line citing the overuse of ellipses just sent me whirling! This is negative with me as well, and as I mentioned in a previous post, will contribute mightily to a submission going into the NO pile. My Webster’s says an ellipsis “indicates an omission (as of words) or a pause.” Probably most writers insert the ellipsis to show a pause, but after seeing those little dots fifteen or twenty times on a single page, I begin to wonder what is missing. Perhaps the thing that is missing is effective writing. Sure, in a dramatic scene one can see how the ellipsis adds tension, conveys a distraught person’s dialog or disjointed thoughts. In examples where one character’s speeches are laden with ellipses, but none of the other characters have such a halting style, the use seems forgivable, as it goes to shape character. But if most or (pe...

First published here in February 2009 - everything you could ever want to know about the ellipsis. Someone queried the group at Writers Weekly for books dealing strictly with punctuation. Out of curiosity, I went on a search for recently published books on the topic, and found quite a large selection. Who knew all those little marks would one day become popular reading? I'll review a number of these new books here, starting with the one at left, which covers all the nit-picky things we need to know to look like adept writers and editors. Here's an example of a few novel points I learned from the book: We all know an ellipsis represents writing that is supposed to be there, but isn’t. Sometimes it’s a good use of punctuation, for example, to note a popular song without boring the reader with all three verses plus the chorus. Here’s an example: For he’s a jolly good fellow … which nobody can deny. According to Comma Sense: A Fundamental Guide to Punctuation by Rich...

Interruption can add needed conflict to a scene; many authors have an intuitive sense of this. Your character is in a cozy restaurant booth with her beloved, wrapped up in the moment, leaning forward to hear words he can only manage to whisper. Tension is building toward that question that will change her life forever— —when the waiter comes to take her order. He’s a chatty friend from her high school days who dredges up old conflict. Try as they might, once the waiter leaves the couple cannot re-establish the mood. The question will have to be delayed for another time, and the reader can’t wait for it to happen. A few technical problems can ruin the reader’s experience, however, so authors take note. A common mistake is to use an ellipsis (…) interchangeably with an em-dash (—). These punctuation marks have different functions. Use an ellipsis if you want your character to drift off in thought. Interruption is better suited to the em-dash, as its slash rips your character from h...