Ellipses

[Prestidigitweeze]

My view is this:

Too many writers use ellipses without realizing how expressive a comma truly is. Except in rare cases, I reserve the ellipsis (three points within a sentence, four to mark its completion) for indicating an omission. I don't need to see a line of dots to know that a character feels trepidation, or that living thought continues.

What about you? What are your thoughts on the subject?

[DiapDealer]

I saw a total solar ellipse one time.

[Prestidigitweeze]

The geometer inside you must have been thrilled!

[jgaiser]

I'm glad DiapDealer beat me to the smart-ass remark...

To be truthful, I seldom really notice ellipses in the books I read, but then I have a bad habit of using them too much myself...

[Prestidigitweeze]

Since I haven't gotten a lot of responses to the question of ellipses use here (so far), I pos[t]ed it on Facebook and received this eloquent reply from poet Alfred Corn defending expressive usage:

It slows down pronunciation of the last word and signals the onset of a mood of reverie, negative capability, if you will. Leaving the sentence and the thought behind it open to the inflow of various associative thoughts.

[poohbear_nc]

You might pose this question in the Writers Corner here ....

[Prestidigitweeze]

I thought about initiating the discussion in that forum, Pooh. But when I visited, the other threads were all about hawking one's verbiage or making one's characters more likable. Meanwhile, this forum contained a thread about grammar involving vicious exchanges over the phrase, I couldn't care less and seemed the better home for pickiness.

[poohbear_nc]

Well yes, it's probably the one forum that could/would flame you for incorrect grammar choices ...

[Fluribus]

Because, um, That is to say, Dunno, Just, There are occasions when commas don't quite, feel right.

[Rbneader]

Some of the responses here are hilarious.

If the author's style includes ellipses and they're used well that's fine. But there seem to be a lot of authors who don't quite know how to use them and wind up sticking them all over the place. Honestly, if you listen to how people talk, ellipses shouldn't show up that often.

Originally Posted by Fluribus

Because, um, That is to say, Dunno, Just, There are occasions when commas don't quite, feel right.

That post is just terribly written. Ellipses wouldn't make it any better. I don't think you're making the point you're trying to make.

[crich70]

Hmm...Well...You see...That is....Run for your lives, it's the ellipses infestation!

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

My view is this:

Too many writers use ellipses without realizing how expressive a comma truly is. Except in rare cases, I reserve the ellipsis (three within a sentence, four to mark its completion) for indicating an omission.

I think this is right, and it's also a good reason to use ellipses sparingly: too many used inappropriately and the reader will be annoyed because of the connections (or whatever) that are missing.

They are of course, for that reason, a staple of stream-of-consciousness writing. (I.e., http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/5342/1) But stream-of-consciousness writing is so often a bad...mmm, doughnuts...

[Fluribus]

Originally Posted by Rbneader

That post is just terribly written. Ellipses wouldn't make it any better. I don't think you're making the point you're trying to make.

Hmm....
Well....
You know what they say....

[DiapDealer]

I think attempting to recreate dialogue/conversation is where the use of ellipses (and emdashes) can assist in imitating the rhythm, flow, and/or pauses/interruptions of speech patterns. Commas and periods alone can't always convey the various lengths of the gaps that can occur in an awkward conversation. They might need help. I would expect to see a lot more of them in dialogue-driven fiction.

[elcreative]

Personally I find ellipses really interfere with reading... having the page cluttered up with ovoid shapes all over the place makes a real mess of the text but I find the occasional ellipsis useful in dialogue as long as it isn't overdone...