/lit/ - Literature

When they're needed.

When omitting portions of a quote. And that's it. Don't take any liberties. I'm warning you

>>20352998
In formal writing for ommisions in quotes and nothing else. For all other writing you can use them for showing the speaker (or narrator) trailing off.
>>20353019
Ellipses have been stranded for trailing off in dialog for ages and been common in informal (fiction) writing for at least a century.

>>20353106
Having characters trail off is a very reddit move and tends to be overdone. Better not to take any liberties. Be very careful op. Posters like these are trying to lead you into ridiculous indulgences.

>>20352998
I used them all the time

>>20353106
I like how Dostoevsky uses them. It's often when characters are distressed and start rambling somewhat incoherently or are hinting at some unsavory fact that they won't come out with explicitly out of tact or shame.

>>20352998
only ever use three, no more, no less... it should be noted that...

Well... you see... I am of the view that their usage is most expedient when... the conditions are aligned in such a satisfactory manner that... it becomes self-evident that their usage would... in fact... be recognized as... appropriate to use...

>>20352998
In erotic roleplaying.

>>20353019
>I'm warning you
Or what? Watcha gonna do tough guy?

>>20352998
When you're a Boomer...posting a comment online...and you want appear more profound...than you really are...

>>20353423
You don't wanna take these liberties. Mark my words. The bill will come due. You think you can pepper your writing with ellipses like a well done steak. Wrong. Every one takes a toll

>>20353113
>>20353106
...what about expressing a pause in dialogue?
That space of silence also has contextual insinuations and ramifications on tone, like a moment taken to consider ones next thoughts...

Or at least thats what I use them mostly for.

>>20352998
I got a bad feeling about this..

>>20353711
>...what about expressing a pause in dialogue?
"Text text text—" He paused. "—text text text."
Alternatively, if the sentence doesn't directly continue after the pause:
"Text text text—" He paused. "Text text text."

>>20353711
People do not read punctuation for the most part so generally it is better to just break the dialog with some narration, which is why writers sometimes move the "he said" into the statement instead of at the end.
>"yada yada." He said "yada yada yada."
But this is not something you want to abuse, luckily we can put something more substantial there than "he said" or other literal direction.
>"this way we actually break the readers flow" hey narrator here, something just happened elsewhere in the story "as if there was a literal pause in the dialog."
>"what are you talking about anon?"
>"oh, nothing" he responded half heartedly "go back to sleep"
>"ok, you are kinda—what was I going to say?" She said as she drifted back to sleep. She did not realize it but her em-dash use to show self interruption was a bit contrived, but it did demonstrate the use quite well.

>>20353781
>"Yada yada," he said, "yada yada yada."
>"Ok, you are kinda—what was I going to say?" she said as she drifted back to sleep. She did not realize it but her em-dash use to show self interruption was a bit contrived, but it did demonstrate the use quite well.
ftfy

>>20353751
Why would you write "he paused" when you could just put in a ... ?

If an employer or boss does this (ever), it is a red flag. You're going to get binned in the near future.
>...
Immediately elevates your blood pressure +10 points too.

>>20353816
lol. I get a kick out of that triggering you.
>>20353831
Because that is not what an ellipses is and as I explained above people do not read punctuation so there is no pause. This use of an ellipses is essentially people trying to suggest that the character trails off into a pause, but nothing about it suggests a pause, just that they trailed off.

You need to consider why you are having a character pause, most of the time people do this it serves no purpose, they think they are adding drama or something but they are not.

DEELEY
(Singing) The sigh of midnight trains in empty stations...

(Pause)

ANNA
(Singing) The park at evening when the bell has sounded...

(Pause)

DEELEY
(Singing) The smile of Garbo and the scent of roses...

ANNA
(Singing) The waiters whistling as the last bar closes...

DEELEY
(Singing) Oh, how the ghost of you clings...

(Pause)

They don't make them like that any more.

(Silence)


— Harold Pinter, 'Old Times'

Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us...
Wearied we keep awake because the night is silent...
Low drooping flares confuse our memory of the salient...
Worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous,
But nothing happens.

— Wilfred Owen, 'Exposure'

>>20352998
All the time if you're born between 1946-1964.

What other objects relative to Rudolph Bloom (born Virag) were in the 2nd drawer?

An indistinct daguerreotype of Rudolf Virag and his father Leopold Virag executed in the year 1852 in the portrait atelier of their (respectively) 1st and 2nd cousin, Stefan Virag of Szesfehervar, Hungary. An ancient haggadah book in which a pair of hornrimmed convex spectacles inserted marked the passage of thanksgiving in the ritual prayers for Pessach (Passover): a photocard of the Queen’s Hotel, Ennis, proprietor, Rudolph Bloom: an envelope addressed: To My Dear Son Leopold.

What fractions of phrases did the lecture of those five whole words evoke?

Tomorrow will be a week that I received... it is no use Leopold to be ... with your dear mother... that is not more to stand... to her... all for me is out... be kind to Athos, Leopold... my dear son... always... of me... das Herz... Gott... dein...

What reminiscences of a human subject suffering from progressive melancholia did these objects evoke in Bloom?


— James Joyce, 'Ulysses'

I walked back to the bed. It was a lovely bed. It was made of rose-leaves. It was the most beautiful bed in the world. They had got it from Carole Lombard. It was too soft for her. It was worth the rest of my life to lie down in it for two minutes. Beautiful soft bed, beautiful sleep, beautiful eyes closing and lashes falling and the gentle sound of breathing and darkness and rest sunk in deep pillows...

I walked.


— Raymond Chandler, 'Farewell, My Lovely'

>>20354221
>Tomorrow will be a week that I received... it is no use Leopold to be ... with your dear mother... that is not more to stand... to her... all for me is out... be kind to Athos, Leopold... my dear son... always... of me... das Herz... Gott... dein...
This is about as perfect of an example as there is, if you read them as pauses there is no rhythm but has an amazing rhythm when read as trailing off and letting that last syllable hang and fade.

>>20352998
When you want to emphasize not the subject itself, but its longer-term implications.

>>20353425
Boomers really love their stupid detached bullshit don't they. Every time I look at a comment section I can always tell who's a boomer by how retardedly far they stray from the original topic.

>>20354266
The only difference between '...' pause is obviously just trailing off that resumes.

>>20354374
No. Trailing off affects how you would say the words, they drift off to nothing and perhaps slower and drawn out, getting quieter and slower until they are nothing. Each time you resume you return to near full power and trail off to the next ellipses and on the shorter passages you would perhaps not return to full power. As if drunk and nearly passing out or falling asleep as you speak or on your death bed struggling to maintain focus and continuing on, there could be pauses but there may not be. A pause is a pause, it is abrupt and does not trail off.

>>20352998
When it’s appropriate.

>>20353012
>When they're needed...

>>20353355
Dubs of truth

When a negro speaks directly to you

>>20354278
picrel

>>20352998
Comma for brief pause.
Ellipsis for uncomfortable silence

"Hal?"
"..."
"Hey Hal?"