/lit/ - Literature

There are many different ways, each more or less appropriate depending on what you are trying to say.

>>1094762

Explain.

I'm not sure what's most proper, but the ellipsis (...) comes to mind. The em dash (—) is related, but used in dialogue interruptions and parenthetical statements.

>>1094766

An ellipsis is a pause, but it also denotes absence or a trailing off. Periods make you pause when reading, but it's a rhythmic pause; the same applies to semi-colons and all kinds of punctuation, and they all vary in strength.
New paragraphs make readers pause, but it's also a pause in "sense"--your narrative (or essay, or whatever) is taking a turn. The strength of the pause for the new paragraph depends on how long it is. A lengthy paragraph doesn't make you pause much at all, but a single sentence draws a lot of attention to itself. In narrative you can indicate a pause by just saying that there is a pause, or a moment passes, or whatever, but this is obviously inappropriate for other kinds of writing.

He paused for a moment to consider the stupidity of the question he was asking.

In dialogue?

I love me some ellipses.

I also use a break in the sentence, describing a pause.

"This is stupid..." he said, thinking about it for a moment. "But I want in."

>>1094788
You love ovals?

>>1094793
Yes.

Isn't the plural of ellipsis ellipses?
I've been under the assumption that one dot is just a period, and three is an ellipsis, but that multiple uses of ellipsis in a writing was ellipses.

>>1094799
You are entirely correct.

vouships nothing.

>>1094793
>>1094799
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ellipses