The Grammar Mechanics of Writing: Ellipses
The more fiction I edit, the more I realize how powerful punctuation is to a reader’s understanding of the prose and overall story. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: choosing the right punctuation will enhance a reader’s experience, drawing them further into the story.
One piece of punctuation I often see overused by authors is the ellipsis. Like em dashes, ellipses should be used sparingly—or readers will become annoyed with them and they’ll lose any potential emphasis.
A note: The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) is a writer’s or editor’s best tool for understanding grammar in fiction. Most publishing houses utilize CMOS as the standard style guide for all publications they produce, along with in-house style guides. I’ll be utilizing definitions from this guide throughout our discussion on em dashes, en dashes, and hypehns, using its guidelines as the industry standard.
On a specific note: these rules may change over time. As new technology emerges and generations move on, language tends to evolve along with it. The CMOS is usually timely in its adjustments to these kinds of changes, but the best way to be aware of industry-wide changes to grammar rules is to read widely in the genre you’re writing or editing.
Ellipsis Defined
The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) defines an ellipsis as “a series of three dots used to signal the omission of a word, phrase, line, paragraph, or more from a quoted passage.” In fiction, it’s most often “used to indicate faltering speech or incomplete thoughts.”
As such, it’s the perfect piece of punctuation for speaking characters who are trailing off or gradually decide not to finish their thought.
Uses in Dialogue
CMOS 12.43: “Faltering or fragmented speech or speech that pauses or trails off—as in dialogue or, less often, narrative text—is usually represented by an ellipsis. The ellipsis may stand alone, or it may be preceded or followed by a question mark or exclamation point; however, in fiction and other creative genres, the convention is to notuse an additional period at the end of a complete sentence.”
Use in dialogue—incomplete thoughts:
“Lynny . . .” He sighs.
“If we both leave, I don’t know what it will do to them, but . . .”
However, an ellipsis is not used to indicate an interruption or abrupt end to speech. That’s what the em dash is for.
Use in dialogue—faltering speech:
“They were my mother’s. I . . . I’ve never read them.”
“I-I watched her help a few others who’d run afoul of a warlock, and . . . that’s why I thought . . .”
A note on faltering speech: This is not like stuttering. This is simply an indication of a lapse in thought or inability to find words (we’ve all been there) for a moment before continuing with the sentence or thought. For a stutter, you’d use dashes, and for longer pauses between words that are a quicker falter, use the em dash.
Uses in Prose
CMOS 12.64: “An ellipsis alone (i.e., three dots with no additional period) is used at the end of a quoted sentence that is deliberately left grammatically incomplete.”
Use in prose—faltering thoughts:
If they know about Ryon’s petition and they see me or have any idea where I’m headed . . . best to avoid them and their endless questions.
Use in prose—incomplete thoughts:
Almost identical in cadence, rhythm, and style . . .
Uses with Other Punctuation
CMOS 12.43: “The ellipsis may stand alone, or it may be preceded or followed by a question mark or exclamation point; however, in fiction and other creative genres, the convention is to notuse an additional period at the end of a complete sentence.” As for comma use, the standard is the “absence of a comma before the closing quotation mark (a departure from previous editions intended to align with common usage in fiction).
Use with other punctuation
“Is this . . .?” He doesn’t need to finish.
“Stop looking at me . . . !” It was at once a threat and an invitation.
A Few Formatting Notes
Authors fill both sides of the publishing aisle—some publish traditionally, meaning the publishing house will worry about the book’s formatting and typesetting. For those independently publishing, formatting will be handled by you. Whether you hire it out or take it on yourself, your book needs to be formatted before it can be added to a website in book form.
So for those formatting books themselves, here are a few very important tips relating to ellipses:
CMOS 12.68: “A Chicago-style ellipsis consists of three spaced periods . . . like that. To prevent these periods from breaking at the end of a line, nonbreaking spaces must be applied before and after the middle period; additionally, a nonbreaking space is required between the third period and any comma, semicolon, question mark, or exclamation point that follows . . . , like that.”
(This is my default while editing others’ work—utilizing the Chicago Manual of Style, as most publishers do. However, please note some publishers do not use CMOS as their preferred style guide.)
CMOS 12.59: “The dots in an ellipsis must always appear together on the same line along with any punctuation that immediately follows; if an ellipsis appears at the beginning of a new line, any punctuation that immediately precedes it (including a period) will appear at the end of the line above.”
The Unicode (useful on all modern word processors) for a non-breaking space is U+00A0 per CMOS 6.129.
As such, some proofreaders may note an ellipsis isn’t all on one line during a proofread. This simply means it needs converted to an ellipsis with non-breaking spaces to remain on one line of text, rather than broken between two lines (which is far more confusing for readers).
Some Closing Comments
It’s okay if you find punctuation use tricky. Often, it is. That’s why editors exist, and they’re the ones who help us polish up those manuscripts so they’re ready for readers’ hands. However, I believe it’s useful to understand why your editor made a punctuation change, and why it’s useful for readers. What we all need to remember is a grammar-loving reader will notice if the punctuation is used incorrectly. The biggest problem that arises from this is it’ll distract the reader from the story itself, leading them to focus on punctuation instead. It may also cause them to DNF (Did Not Finish) the book and leave low-star reviews.
I also want to issue one more warning: don’t overuse ellipses. If you do, they begin to lose their meaning and can become an annoyance to readers.
If used correctly in storytelling, punctuation can greatly enhance a reader’s experience and understanding of the story and characters.
Again, I want to warn that this shouldn’t be a worry during the writing process—wait until your self-edit phase to nitpick at ellipses in dialogue and prose. Or, if you’re simply confused by all of the different rules and exceptions, hire a good copyeditor to fix those ellipses for you.