“I, I never thought, well, it seemed so strange…” “I-I never thought-well, it seemed so strange…” “I…I never thought…well, it seemed so strange…” How do you show this? An ellipsis is the correct way to show a character trying to relate what he or she is saying if s/he is stammering. Say you have a character who has a problem articulating. You do not add another period, however, as this is redundant). If not, add a comma before a dialogue tag (“…,”).
An ellipsis shows someone is stammering or delaying part of a single thought (as in a brief pause), unless there the two thoughts are separated with punctuation (Note: Add question marks after an ellipsis if the ellipsis is preceded by a question. Writing the sentence as above is not correct, because the first thought needs to be punctuated before the second thought can begin. Incorrect: “What are you talking about…wait, Johnny said it was Maria!” The second one has the question trailing off, then shows the part about Johnny and Maria as a completely different thought. Notice the difference in the two statements. “What are you talking about…? Wait, Johnny said it was Maria!” An ellipsis here would show a delayed change in thought and is not correct. The em dash shows the break in thought and is clean and abrupt. “What are you talking about-wait, Johnny said it was Maria!” When a character has a sudden change of thought while speaking, an em dash is the correct punctuation to show the break. Some people have different tastes, but here are a few examples and rules to let you know when to use ellipses and when to avoid them. To answer your last question, Amanda, ellipses (…) can be correct. The em dash is not always correct, though. Authors like to use em dashes (-) in all three cases: changes of thought while speaking, stammering, or brief and long pauses.
Kira answers: This is a pretty common error I see. the em dash in the listed situations? Some say that ellipses are a big no-no in novel dialogue, so I am totally confused! So my question is, when do you use ellipses vs. 0 Ask the Editor: When do you use an em dash? When do you use an ellipsis? This is a column by Kira McFaddenĪmanda Taylor asks: When writing dialogue I sometimes have trouble knowing what is the right punctuation when it comes to random changing of thought while speaking, stammering, or a brief pause vs.
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