Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Correct punctuation for showing a character's confusion

I'm trying to show that the narration (third person limited) is being interrupted by the character's thought process, and I'm not sure what punctuation is best for this situation. So far, I've tri...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Evil Sparrow‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-14T20:45:27Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/44563
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 · 2019-12-08T11:41:37Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/44563
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T11:41:37Z (almost 5 years ago)
I'm trying to show that the narration (third person limited) is being interrupted by the character's thought process, and I'm not sure what punctuation is best for this situation.

So far, I've tried two approaches: dashes and parentheses. I'm not a huge fan of either. **Is there a better way? Alternatively, is there a rule about which mark to use?**

Here's an example:

**1. Single Dash:** The demon - she? He? gestured towards the supply wagons.

**2. Parentheses:** The demon (she? He?) gestured towards the supply wagons.

(The MC is meeting a pack of demons for the first time. She's not sure how to tell the two genders apart.)

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-04-11T18:03:26Z (over 5 years ago)
Original score: 6