My friend Alison and I were talking about the use of ... in writing. Both of us are guilty as charged and while my use of smiley faces and LOL are an addiction, one I'm currently trying to break using a punishment/reward program that consists of elastic bands and Baileys, I stand by my use of ...
Because they aren't just three periods in a row. Those ... are a pause.
And pauses are a necessary part of my writing… it’s how I control you, the reader.
See that sentence right there? You read it and where those three little dots showed up, you paused a bit. If I wrote it like this:
And the pauses are a necessary part of my writing, it’s how I control you, the reader.
Not as effective, you read it too quickly.
What?
You did. Go back and read them. You'll read the line without the dots faster than the one with the dots.
And see that “What?” two lines above? Another control tactic.
If I had placed the 'What?' directly after the “Not as effective” sentence. You would have read it like this:
Not as effective. What?
See? Too quick.
But by placing the 'What' on the line below, you paused and the 'What?' becomes more effective - you can actually envision me with eyebrows raised, hands out, palms facing upwards and shrugging my shoulders.
More effective.
I have other tactics too.
Like if I wanted you to read something so it appears as if I’m talking very fast and slightly sarcastic I would type a bunch of words together as one whole word like this:
“If I wanted to go running, I’d hire someone to wear a hockey mask and chase me with a butcher knife thankyouverymuch”
By reading that line, you know the “thank you very much” is sarcastic whereas if I had written it out properly, you would think I was serious about hiring the ginsu wielding hockey guy. Also very polite.
Or if I’m angry or super excited, I’ll type in all caps and maybe even bold it for extra emphasis. Like when I write about my son putting our tenant’s rent cheque in the dishwasher yet again. Because really...WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THAT?
You can sense my frustration and upsettedness all because of a simple Caps Lock key.
And sometimes if I’m feeling sad or at my wit's end I’ll add in a little *sigh*
Like when I write about calling our tenant and to ask if she could please give us another rent cheque and yes, we're still working on the little dishwasher problem *sigh*
So you see? Those little… they aren’t just random dots thrown into my writing. It’s so you, the reader, will read my blogs exactly as they sound in my head.
It’s not an addiction.
I’m a cunning linguist.
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