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Q&A Correct punctuation for showing a character's confusion

Behold! The Mighty Ellipses! The demon...she? he?...gestured towards the supply wagons. Ultimately, it's a matter of personal style. Dashes, parentheses, ellipses are all correct. Part of ...

posted 5y ago by Cyn‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-20T00:40:43Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44565
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 · 2019-12-08T11:41:38Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44565
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T11:41:38Z (about 5 years ago)
# Behold! The Mighty Ellipses!

> The demon...she? he?...gestured towards the supply wagons.

Ultimately, it's a matter of personal style. Dashes, parentheses, ellipses are all correct.

Part of the reason I prefer ellipses here is, as Amadeus points out, the gender ponderings aren't really an interruption. It's an aside. The narrator's mind is wandering. Ellipses are great for that as they tend to indicate a pause in addition to a change of course.

Dashes also work great for asides, but don't indicate the same level of pause. Note: use a full sized dash (aka a double or em dash) and not a hyphen. Hyphens have other purposes.

Parentheses are okay, especially since you have the question marks to make it clear, but wouldn't be the choice that helps the reader with the flow and rhythm of the sentence.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-04-11T18:59:26Z (over 5 years ago)
Original score: 12