Well, you know …
It seems a bit weird.
Who writes a post about 3 tiny dots?
But here’s the thing …
The ellipsis—dot dot dot—can have an outsized impact on your writing.
It can adjust your tone, up suspense, and even keep your readers engaged.
That seems quite a lot for 3 tiny dots, eh?
Let me show you …
1. Use an ellipsis as a drum roll …
The 3 dots can nudge readers to pay attention and read on.
It’s like each dot is a drum beat, telling us that something exciting is coming up: An announcement, a special tip, or an important point.
This technique has been around for a surprisingly long time. I spotted it in Consider the Oyster, written in 1941 by M.F.K. Fisher.
She extols the virtues of oysters:
They keep you fit, do oysters, with vitamins and such, for energy and what is lightly called “fuel value.” They prevent goiter. They build up your teeth. They keep your children’s legs straight, and when Junior reaches puberty they make his skin clear and beautiful as a soap-opera announcers dream. They add years to your life …
And …
They contain more phosphorus than any other food!
Ta da. Can you hear the drum roll when you arrive at the 3 dots?
The drum roll works in conjunction with phrases like:
Here’s another tip …
And …
But …
Onward …
What’s more …
More importantly …
Gary Halbert (1938 – 2007), who was one of the most successful direct response copywriters ever, also loved using the ellipsis as a drum roll.
For instance, in his Million Dollar Smile advert for cosmetic dental services, he writes:
Some adults want to correct problems they have had since childhood like discolored, crooked or irregular-shaped teeth. Others want to fix conditions they’ve developed over time, like cracked, worn-down and discolored teeth. There is a good reason for this. You see …
Your Smile Can Make Or Break You!
The drum roll is perfect for any type of writing including sales letters, social media posts, blogs, and emails. It eases the transition from one paragraph to the next, keeping hurried readers hanging on for a bit longer.
And what’s also nice …
Together with a short phrase the drum roll can create a super-short paragraph to let your writing breathe.
It’s visually pleasing.
2. A conversational … uh … pause
The ellipsis can help create a conversational tone.
That’s how M.F.K. Fisher mostly uses the 3 dots. It’s almost as if you can hear her talking. For example:
It was as good as he had said, the best in the world, and as all the other people had told me … mildly potent, quietly sustaining, warm as love and welcomer in winter.
And:
It had a stronger, finer smell, they said … and it tasted purer, more completely oyster.
The 3 dots are simply an alternative for writing uh:
It had a stronger, finer smell, they said … uh … and it tasted purer, more completely oyster.
Or you can use you know instead:
It had a stronger, finer smell, they said … you know … and it tasted purer, more completely oyster.
You can use this type of ellipsis also at the end of a sentence to let your words trail off. This is from The Gastronomical Me by M.F.K. Fisher:
The fat man beamed and giggled with pleasure, and lifted his glass magnanimously to us …
And:
The air was warm and sweet. I thought of another lake, with Saint Gingolphe under the shadow of the Savoy Alps, cold and familiar, instead of these lower, stranger Mexican highlands. But the lake was the same. All lakes are alike when they are quiet …
The ellipsis that trails off is not the same as the drum roll.
The drum roll urges readers to move on because there’s more to come. The ellipsis that trails off creates a languid pause as the writer allows the reader to fill in their own thoughts …
And there’s one more option …
3. Use an ellipsis for dramatic effect
You can think of this as the wait-for-it ellipsis.
It’s different from the drum roll as it appears in the middle of a sentence, like in the following headline from The Times (UK):
I went to the most romantic place in the world … with my mum
The 3 dots create not just a conversational pause, there’s a sense of suspense:
I went to the most romantic place in the world … wait for it … with my mum
Gary Halbert likes this version of the ellipsis, too. Here’s an example from The Boron Letters:
The first day I went to conquer the hill, I made it a whopping 1/8th of a mile before collapsing in defeat. I decided to try again the next day, only this time … I vowed to get off and walk if I had to.
And M.F.K Fisher in Consider the Oyster:
And there is an equally astounding number of men, and some of them have actually graduated from Yale, and even Princeton, who know positively that oysters are an aphrodisiac … one of the best.
Isn’t the ellipsis a fun and easy technique to use?
How to use an ellipsis
In one of his newsletters, Gary Halbert suggests using an ellipsis to break up long sentences.
But that feels a bit like lazy writing to me.
And it also risks overuse. There’s a risk of irritating your reader.
In this article you’re reading now, I’ve used way more ellipses than I would normally do.
So …
Save the dots for their proper purposes:
- To promise there’s more to come (ta da … the drum roll)
- To add a conversational pause (uh … you know)
- To create suspense in the middle of a sentence (wait for it …)
Happy writing!
Bonus tip 1: What punctuation mark is best for a pause?
Each of these punctuation marks creates a pause:
- Ellipsis: …
- Em dash: —
- Parenthesis: ( )
What’s the difference?
The pause of an ellipsis is softest; the em dash hardest—it feels more abrupt; the parenthesis comes in between.
Here’s another example from M.F.K. Fisher from her book The Gastronomical Me:
She was shadowy … a bad liver probably … but mysterious-looking.
If you replace the dots by parentheses, the pause becomes a little harder and the phrase about the bad liver becomes more like an aside:
She was shadowy (a bad liver probably) but mysterious-looking.
And the em dash makes the pause even harder; it’s also more writerly, less conversational:
She was shadowy—a bad liver probably—but mysterious-looking.
There’s not really a right or wrong way to choose.
It’s a matter of personal preference: How hard do you want the pause to be? Do you want your tone to be more writerly or conversational? And: What looks good to you?
Bonus tip 2: With or without spaces?
You can use an ellipsis with or without space:
- With spaces like … this
- Without spaces like…this
Both options are fine. My personal preference is to use spaces because it feels more airy.
So, for consistency, I have added spaces in some of the quotes above.
Hi Henneke—long time!
I use the ellipsis all the time… But I noticed you put a space before it. Are you sure that’s a correct usage? (use or usage?)
You can write the ellipsis with or without space before it. Both are fine. Different style guides have different guidelines. The key is to be consistent. I like the extra space because it feels more airy.
As a copy editor, I was trained to follow The Chicago Manual of Style rules for spaces:
a) spaces before and after if the ellipses are standing in for an omitted word or phrase
b) no space before and one after to indicate faltering speech, or at the end of an incomplete sentence that’s trailing off
c) no space before, three ellipses points and one period (no space) at the end of a complete sentence
Yes, it adds a little complexity, but the nuances are easy to remember. 🙂
Thanks for the reminder of the intrigue this punctuation choice can add! I chalk it up to the curiosity gap. What aren’t they saying… yet? I better click through to find out….
I didn’t know that The Chicago Manual of Style had different rules for spaces depending on how the ellipsis is used. Other style guides have different rules. I think the most important is to be consistent (i.e. follow one style guide consistently).
A very informative post. My first exposure to the name of …
Thank you Henneke. All the Best.
You can also just call them dot dot dot!
The ellipsis … which for over a century has been hotly debated by novel writers, short-story writers, poets, copywriters, and grammarians alike … is without any doubt among the most easy-to-overuse punctuation mark in human history. Only the exclamation point compares!!!
Henry Fowler — the erudite Mr. Henry Fowler, who wrote the exceptionally erudite A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (which was originally published in 1926 and is still in use today) — describes the overuse of the ellipsis as … wait for it … “gutting the golden calf.”
I absolutely agree!!
I work as an editor, a copyeditor, and a copywriter, and I can tell you for a fact that in any manuscript the mere sight of ellipsis, apart from the content of quality of a the writing, throws red flags up everywhere for every editor.
… use them sparingly … as hell … use them wisely … or use them … not … at … all….
I agree on the exclamation mark being the most over-used punctuation mark.
As for ellipses, I’m more relaxed. If every editor thought the mere sight of an ellipsis was a red flag, then M.F.K. Fisher’s work would never have been published. Or perhaps it might have been published after heavy editing. Either way, that would have been a pity.
I wouldn’t be surprised if usage of the ellipsis will go up in the coming years. It works well on social media, and then, over time, it may make its way into online articles and books, too.
Thank you, Henneke. I use ellipses but had not considered their three different uses (or even that there were three different uses!). I also love the distinctions you make between ellipses, parentheses and em dashes. This is wonderful!
It’s really thanks to M.F.K. Fisher! I only realized while reading her books that the ellipsis could be used to create a conversational tone. I somehow hadn’t thought of that before and it inspired me to write this. I enjoyed selecting the quotes for this.
This is gold, Henneke. You make it clear and easy to understand…as always.
Thank you, Rukhsana 🙂
Happy writing!
I love using ellipses. Instinctively, I use them as you outlined: drumroll, pause, and drama. I’ll try it with a space before and after … sounds like a great idea. Grammarly hates my use of the ellipsis. I should send them your article 😉
Aaaaah, Grammarly … I think you’re probably in good company. I haven’t checked it but I suspect Grammarly would get pretty upset about M.F.K. Fisher’s writing. I might try it. It might be interesting to see how irate Grammarly gets with Fisher’s writing. 😉
Henneke,
Well done and so full of great information. I’ve used ellipsis at times not realizing they had a name or came in such a variety and uses. Thank you.
I didn’t know about the different uses either. It was only recently that I noticed the use of ellipsis as a conversational pause. That’s when I knew I had to write this post.
How about the move to add a space not only before the dots, but also between them ?
I’m not sure when I first saw this in use . . . but the more I use it, the better I like it . . .
🙂
Oh, I haven’t noticed that before . . . that also looks good. Nice and spacious.
I’m not sure but I think it may be tricky if you use an ellipsis like that towards the end of a line. You could get one dot at the end of the line (so it’ll look like a period or full stop), and then the next two dots on the next line. The three dots without spaces in between them always stay together (I think).
Your writing is always … a lovely learning experience.
Thank you,
Bruce
Thank you, Bruce. I appreciate your compliment.
I also enjoyed writing this. It was fun.
I use all of these (ellipses, parentheses, & em dashes) a LOT. I think it’s the way I talk which leads me to believe . . . my conversations must sound like madly diagrammed sentences look with “by the ways” and back stories branching off in crazy directions.
It could be that you’re branching off into different directions, but it’s also possible to use a lot of ellipses—and parentheses and em dashes—and your writing can still be clear and simple. It really depends.
Well done! Thanks . . .
Ha! What can I say …
My uncle is great at sending long texts; he uses simple words and lots of line breaks. But he also uses ellipsis on pretty much every line… It drives me crazy 😉
Ah yes, that’s a clear case of overusing the ellipsis!
I learned about the three dots from Lorrie Morgan who taught my first copywriting course. I use them a lot.
So simple. So effective. Glad you like them, too!
I live this article Henneke. I’ve never thought of an ellipsis as a drum roll before but it’s a perfect description. And I agree, with spaces is more airy.
Yes, the drum roll … that’s what it is, isn’t it? I was thinking of how to describe it, and then thought of a drum roll, and then realized that each of the dots could represent a beat of the drum. Uncanny.
Glad to get another vote for spaces!
This is a powerful tip. Thank you
You’re welcome. Glad you liked it!
Have not used it much… but the way you tell the story actually inspires to try it. Thanks!
Great! Happy writing.