Interruption Vs. Distraction

Showdown between the em-dash and the ellipsis

Despite everything everywhere all at once, we still write, right? (Image credit: Robert Bye)

I am a master of multitasking and attempting to work amid distractions. I’m not very good at it, but I do attempt, hard. Nobody attempts like me.

As a mom and the owner of a codependent dog, I am constantly being interrupted and contradicted. I am also always getting lost in my own thoughts, revising mental lists, slowly realizing things that should have been obvious, and plain old forgetting what I was doing.

My point, and I do have one, is that unfinished sentences happen in real life all the time, and should be reflected (carefully) in your writing. However, in both dialogue and in narration, they require one of two different mechanisms in order to show why they were left unfinished, and to set the tone of conversation and characterization.

These things are not the same

When you’re writing dialogue (or getting into one of your character’s thoughts), figure out: is it a thought that was cut off? Or did they simply trail off?

“Why would you even say that? Do you think that I…”

“Why would you even say that? Do you think that I — ”

Put yourself in your character’s place, mindset, and pace, and choose one or the other…