SPACE COAST WRITERS' GUILD

Topic: Dots and dashes

Buster451 - 8/5/2008 5:02:58 PM Are there specific rules for using three dots to represent a break in a train of thought or conversation in fiction? For example: “Did I... Did I say anything?” asked John hesitantly. In this instance, would a comma be required in a quotation? “But I...,” John tried to speak, but found he was unable to. Is there an industry preference for using dots or dashes (--)? I haven't found any definitive guidance on this, but I assume the same rules that apply to dots would apply to dashes being used. Thanks.

8/21/2008 9:18:46 AM - Bill Allen Since no one else is responding... Generally an em dash is used if there is an abrupt change in the line of thought or if the speech suddenly cuts off, and an elipsis is used if there is a pause in the speech or if the speech slowly cuts off, as in "All I wanted was my stapler...." Phrases ending in an elipsis use three dots. Complete sentences use four (or 3 followed by a question mark or exclamation mark). For some reason, the comma is normally not used in the example you gave. Having said all that, as with all rules, they are constantly broken. If you are writing to get published, the best thing to do might be to look at other books by your chosen publisher and see how they expect it to be done.

9/5/2008 10:01:20 AM - Bluesilver My favorite resource for questions like this is The Elements of Style (William Strunk) - I'd look it up if I had my copy handy.