Ellipsis point .
Ellipsis . . .
Ellipses . . . . . . . . .
For examples I'm using POISON by Bridget Zinn (my favorite 2013 published read).
On the first page I opened to (90-91) I found 3 uses of ellipses.
Uses:
1. Ellipses can also show hesitation
In dialogue:
"The witch squinted at Kyra's midsection. 'Well . . . what a nice surprise: a spark.'" (I love this one because it also uses a colon *happy dance*)
Not in dialogue:
"It smelled like . . . herbs, fresh-picked, but with an undertone of something else, something powerful and scary."
2. Ellipses can show trailing off in dialogue (leaving something unsaid).
"'And finally . . .' Out came a flat glass disk." (no space between last ellipsis point and quotation marks)
3. Ellipsis show omission, such as to shorten a quotation.
"Kyra followed, considering her options. She had no idea how to unfreeze her upper body. . . . Possibly the witch would either have to lose interest or die before the spell would evaporate."
"She spied Fred . . . sitting at a rough-hewn table . . ."
Do you use ellipses in writing? Did Grammar Girl get it right? Have you read POISON?
Hee hee I'm first to comment today! Yay for me!
ReplyDeleteI have an ongoing love affair with the ellipses. I used to use them so much a critter once said, what is with all the ellipses?? And so I had to change me sordid ways. Now I use them sparingly ... but I just love the pause they offer. :)
Ellipses are my favourite form of punctuation, and I use the Grammar Girl Method. POISON sounds fascinating, I'm looking it up on GoodReads now. :D
ReplyDeleteIsn't Grammar Girl marvelous? I hope you enjoy POISON:D
DeleteI use ellipses when typing all the time. I just love them...
ReplyDeleteDani @ Entertaining Interests
#warriorminion
I love ellipses way to often. I think because I talk that way ... with stops and starts and pauses. I've been told that how we use them can depend on the editor.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Don't you just love A to Z?
http://jessyferguson.blogspot.com
I do use ellipses and in just the way you describe :)
ReplyDeleteI use ellipses probably too much ... :)
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure that I've been using them wrong for years and years! Thank goodness for editors, right?
ReplyDeleteI think I'm an ellipses ho, cause I use them all the time... (see, I did it again)
ReplyDeleteYou seriously crap me up-on your blog and commenting on mine. You are a golden ho grammar queen-lol
DeleteIt's kind of like the em-dash for me. I don't really know how to use it but it doesn't stop me from using it all the time, lol. I just recently learned about the spacing thing, though. So embarrassing.
ReplyDeleteI love ellipses, but do try to use them sparingly... ;)
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Poison yet, but it's sitting on my shelf right now. Can't wait until I have time to pick it up!
I maybe use ellipses a little too much...
ReplyDeleteI use ellipses. I'm pretty sure no space goes between the points, though, and many word processing programs will auto-correct it for you if you do put spaces in. There was probably a time when the space was used, but, like the double space after a period, that time has gone away.
ReplyDeleteAs for the period, I am not for that, although a lot of people say to do it. The ellipsis is the punctuation mark, and ending a sentence with multiple pieces of punctuation (like a "?" and "!") is usually frowned upon. Since that particular thing is a matter of debate (no hard rule for it), I choose to leave it three points and only use an ellipsis with another piece of punctuation when I need a "?" after it.
What I hate is when people use dashes when they should be using an ellipsis.
I'm an ellipses whore. I'm sure my editor loves that, ha!
ReplyDeleteI love ellipses and use them as necessary, but one correction: since ellipses are used to show a trailing off, if it comes at the end of a sentence, only use the 3, not four. That would defeat the purpose.
ReplyDelete