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The ellipsis.

The bane of my existence.

Not in the same way as the dreaded "yet", but in ways far more insidious. Ellipses are so very useful, and in such a variety of ways. No one can deny the worth of the humble ellipsis as a literary tool, and that is the problem. The Ellipsis, for me, is my writing's greatest vice.

Moreso than constructing clauses within clauses within clauses.

More even than my terrible habit of Hysteron Proteron (answering questions in reverse order, from the last asked to the first).

The ellipsis is, for me, a crutch I have never been able to distance myself from. I have used it for so long in order to create pacing in my writing instead of making my writing have its own internal pace. It's very hard for me to break this habit because when I write a story, I echo the words that are being written in my head, and in my head, each paragraph, sentence, phrase, even word has its own unique cadence and pace within the story. Adding my- perhaps overjudicious- use of commas, and it seems I lack the ability to show my readers where the character takes a pause to think, reconsider, or hesitates in some way. I wish there was a rest symbol in writing the way there is in musical scoring. That would solve all of my problems with the ellipsis, and I would face no temptation to use this tool outside its proscribed setting.

In this very blog post, I had to correct myself and stop use of ellipses no less than three times. I have written less than two true paragraphs. Perhaps it is even worse in a blog setting, where I am called upon to put voice to my own thoughts. Usually, when talking to someone, I plan out exactly what I am going to say before I say it. I face no temptation to use ellipses in that context. But here I am jotting down thoughts. I am putting pen to paper (figuratively) before I plan and plot the course of the conversation. This is my bad habit. This is my literary addiction. So I'm doing my best to quit.

The ellipsis is, in my work, from here on out, to be used only to signify when a speaker trails off, the listener is unable to continue to listen to the speaker in a relatively sudden way, or the intentional omission of some sort of information on the part of the speaker. I promise to do my best. Wish me luck.