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That Darn Ellipsis . . .

3/28/2015

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Who knew that three little dots to show a pause could be overused? Before I turned in my manuscript, I revised, revised, and revised. I checked to make sure that all the periods, commas, questions marks, and exclamation points were all in the right places. I double checked my grammar and sentence structure. I even used the "Find and Change" feature in Word to make sure I removed the weedy words like suddenly, instantly, and immediately. However, I never thought twice about that darn . . . ellipsis! You know that series of three dots that allows a writer to omit words or phrases without changing the meaning. Or, as some writers, like me, use it--to demonstrate a pause in thought or the flow of a sentence like "I wonder . . ."

Well, my editor knew, and she very kindly pointed out my crime. Duh . . . duh . . . duh! I was caught red handed with too many ellipsis. Oops! My sentence? "Go through the manuscript and delete 90 percent of them or even more." 

So, two days later, I am finally in the almost ellipsis free zone. I have cut, changed, added, swapped phrases, and scrubbed my manuscript clean. It is now ready to return it for the final edit. Whew. What a learning experience. Tomorrow, I will email it off with all the corrections. You might say, I am feeling good. Hmmm, I just hope she doesn't want those dashes I used for emphasis or to show interruption removed. Oh, well, if she does that will be another part of my journey.

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    Sherry Alexander

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