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I have included the following two lines in a book. Now I've confused myself as to whether one, both or neither is right:
‘Have you got your…?’ Mum’s faint voice faded away behind me as I raced around the corner.
She hasn't exactly been cut off, hence the deliberation about using an em-dash. Do ellipses convey the fading away better, do you think?
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Earlier in the story, I wrote this:
‘Where are you—?’ I heard a muffled response as I sprinted away, intent on being the first customer at The Greenacres.
Am I write to give this one a different ending?
Comments
Ellipsis is used in dialogue to show that the speaker trails off.
The em-dash is used to show that someone breaks off or is interrupted.
In the examples given, you are using the right ones in the right places.
Her lips were enticing... delicious... robbing him of all his will and powers as he let himself be kissed gently on his lips by that beautiful lipstick.
Clearly the ellipses could be replaced by commas, but to my mind that would rob the moment of its length, its savouring of pleasure, indeed, the three effects her kiss had on the POV character.
What do you think, Mrs Bear? Is this usage too cavalier? Would an editor attack it with their blue pencil?
word space dot space dot space dot question mark.
Or so an English teacher told me. That's a teacher of English, not a teacher who is English. English can be confusing.
Fruit flies like a banana.
No spaces, Lizy. It's a series of 3 full stops...
OLG, I heard that in Australia in 1979, and have been chucking it at people ever since.
I should have missed out 'on his lips'. And I thought I was a stickler for not stating the obvious.
I suspect many of the old rules of typing have gone by the board now.
e.g. 'In a rambling acceptance speech, the author thanked a number of people: "I couldn't have achieved this without my family, my agent, my editor . . . and the TalkBack online community, of course!"'
A normal ellipsis would suggest there was simply a pause (possibly for dramatic effect) after "my editor".
I think it's more common to use square brackets in those circumstances, though, i.e. [...]