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Q&A How to show a brief hesitation around a word

1) Use the ellispses and emphasis, and tighten up the spaces. This man, this...monster...has done something despicable. There's no typesetting reason to have spaces on both sides of those el...

posted 8y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T12:00:42Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/26470
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T06:02:43Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/26470
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T06:02:43Z (about 5 years ago)
**1) Use the ellispses and emphasis, and tighten up the spaces.**

> This man, this..._monster_...has done something despicable.

There's no typesetting reason to have spaces on both sides of those ellipses, particularly since you _aren't_ removing words. Plus you're writing fiction, and the use of ellipses for removed text is only in non-fiction quotes.

**2) Add a little narration. Combine with other punctuation to convey the aural effect you want.**

If the speaker is trailing off:

> "This man, this..." His face twisted in disgust. "this _monster_ has done something despicable."

If the speaker stops sharply:

> "This man, this —" He shivered in atavistic fear. " — _monster_ has done something despicable."

The few words of narration cause the reader's internal ear to stop playing dialogue and briefly play narration, which causes a break, if that makes sense. Also, the narration places another small action between the halves of the sentence, and that action happens in the pause you're trying to create.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-02-03T10:38:17Z (almost 8 years ago)
Original score: 19