ANSWER: How do you do spacing and punctuation around ellipses?
Today, we're going to talk about spacing and punctuation around ellipses, with examples from Stargate SG-1.
There are many reasons to use an ellipsis in fiction writing, the most popular being dialogue and thoughts. We use ellipses (the plural of ellipsis) to indicate hesitation, distraction, or a thought trailing off, whether spoken or internal. theemdash has done a fantastic job of covering this topic in several posts: What is the correct punctuation for speech that "trails off"?, Punctuation for Pauses, Omissions, and Parentheticals, and How do you indicate pauses or hesitation in narration and dialogue?, but I'm going to cover the basics in this post as it is an excellent question.
When using punctuation with the ellipsis, there are a few rules, and we're going to start off with spacing.
Spacing
The standard way to type the ellipsis is to have a space before, after, and in between each dot, but it is also deemed acceptable to omit the spaces in between. Word, for instance, has a feature that automatically reformats the ellipsis so that there are no spaces.
It also depends on the style book you choose to follow, the AP Style follows the convention that no spaces are used between the dots, while the Chicago style (same link as the AP) and the MLA style states that there should be a space between the dots.
To make things even more interesting, Grammarbook.com states that not having the spaces before and after the ellipsis is also correct. It all boils down to a matter of style, but once you choose the one you plan to use, it's important to stick with it and be consistent.
For simplicity's sake, the examples below will be written using the alternative method of no spaces in between the dots.
Punctuation
Having a space before and after is true even when pairing with punctuation. The period at the end of a sentence, for instance, should immediately follow the last letter, with a space before the ellipsis.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Daniel had to ask. "You're saying that it should work. ..." He gave Jack a startled look. "Oh. I see."
When a question is started, but trails off, the question mark is located after the ellipsis, with the usual spacing before and after it.
"What the ... ?" Jack stared at the menagerie gathered in the once empty land around the Gate and said with disbelief in his voice, "Where'd they come from?"
Again, theemdash covered this topic in great detail in the posts listed above, including how to use the ellipses with quotations and omitting words, but for our purpose here … well, just keep in mind that spaces always surround the ellipsis and you'll be all set.
There are many reasons to use an ellipsis in fiction writing, the most popular being dialogue and thoughts. We use ellipses (the plural of ellipsis) to indicate hesitation, distraction, or a thought trailing off, whether spoken or internal. theemdash has done a fantastic job of covering this topic in several posts: What is the correct punctuation for speech that "trails off"?, Punctuation for Pauses, Omissions, and Parentheticals, and How do you indicate pauses or hesitation in narration and dialogue?, but I'm going to cover the basics in this post as it is an excellent question.
When using punctuation with the ellipsis, there are a few rules, and we're going to start off with spacing.
Spacing
The standard way to type the ellipsis is to have a space before, after, and in between each dot, but it is also deemed acceptable to omit the spaces in between. Word, for instance, has a feature that automatically reformats the ellipsis so that there are no spaces.
It also depends on the style book you choose to follow, the AP Style follows the convention that no spaces are used between the dots, while the Chicago style (same link as the AP) and the MLA style states that there should be a space between the dots.
To make things even more interesting, Grammarbook.com states that not having the spaces before and after the ellipsis is also correct. It all boils down to a matter of style, but once you choose the one you plan to use, it's important to stick with it and be consistent.
For simplicity's sake, the examples below will be written using the alternative method of no spaces in between the dots.
Punctuation
Having a space before and after is true even when pairing with punctuation. The period at the end of a sentence, for instance, should immediately follow the last letter, with a space before the ellipsis.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Daniel had to ask. "You're saying that it should work. ..." He gave Jack a startled look. "Oh. I see."
When a question is started, but trails off, the question mark is located after the ellipsis, with the usual spacing before and after it.
"What the ... ?" Jack stared at the menagerie gathered in the once empty land around the Gate and said with disbelief in his voice, "Where'd they come from?"
Again, theemdash covered this topic in great detail in the posts listed above, including how to use the ellipses with quotations and omitting words, but for our purpose here … well, just keep in mind that spaces always surround the ellipsis and you'll be all set.