'Ellipsis' - what do they convey and how to use them aptly in a Novel?
In the writing practises guides, it is usually mentioned that use of ellipsis is a bad practice.
But I have come across certain usages in professional writing.
To give an example;
In the novel Eat Pray Love by Liz Gilbert, following is usage;
On the other hand, he might just kiss me right now, tonight, right here by my door ... there's still a chance ... I mean we are pressed up against each other's bodies beneath this moonlight ... and of course, it would be a terrible mistake ... but it's still such a wonderful possibility that he might actually do it right now ... that he might just bend down ... and ...and
This is a sole instance, but she has used this as a part of the story itself. I think it is usually used to convey that, 'there is a lot to tell, but this is what I am telling'. But in this case, she is expressing her desires.
What are the ideas that are conveyed implicitly using an ellipsis? In what instances should they be used?
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/43184. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
2 answers
Ellipsis convey a pause.
In fact, the difference between a comma, period/full stop, ellipsis, and en-dash/em-dash is solely in the length being conveyed.
Let me adjust this to a music format:
- A comma is a half-rest
- A period is a full rest
- An ellipsis is a full and a half rest
- A dash is roughly two full rests
This isn't a hard-and-fast rule, but I find more often than not, this is a good rule to follow. The one that breaks this rule the most tends to be the dash because it gets used for more than just indicating a pause in speech, but also interruptions (quarter-rest). With the others, it's a safe bet that is how they are being used.
The problem with using an ellipsis is this: people rarely pause for extended periods of time when speaking, so over-usage of the ellipsis comes off as unnatural the more it is used. Furthermore, a lot of people don't consider periods as serving the "pause" role that commas do, so it's very tempting to use an ellipsis whenever you need a pause that a comma just is not right for, resulting in texts that are LITTERED with the punctuation. Mind you, periods can't be used willynilly either, due to their primary grammatical function, but it just shows that you need to be careful no matter what pause punctuation you choose to use.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43202. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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I think of an ellipsis as a moment in which emotion and feeling overwhelms narrative thought. That is how it is being used here, a pause for the narrator induced by internal sensation (desire) and imagination she cannot put into words.
Those can be more than desire, of course, it can be confusion, or pain, or grief, or horror, or love, or passion, or some other struggle between our emotional and sensory system asserting dominance over our rational system that can put things into words.
"No, don't ... don't ... don't die baby please don't die!"
On the other hand, I regard dashes -- (or an em dash) as an interruption or pause in a thought due to some other thought intruding. So it isn't being overwhelmed by emotion but being internally interrupted by a different rational insight. Or at times, stopping a sentence due to an outside interruption.
"That just isn't -- Oh, wait, I get it. I get it!"
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