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.
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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