In defense of ellipses...

A friend recently posted on Facebook his disdain for--above all other punctuation marks, including the oft-detested semicolon--the ellipses. He says that ellipsis are intended to be a placeholder for something left unsaid that isn't pertinent to the rest of the statement, implying that other uses are extraneous--and to a certain point, he's right.

But ever since then, even though I know better, I've been ellipsing like crazy. I've always been quite fond of ellipses but I also know to not overdo it. Punctuation, like words, should be clear, concise, simple. Ellipses have a way of murking things up a bit. But let's face it, life is murky.

I like when ellipses stand for thoughtful pauses. I enjoy reading dialogue, and often, there are awkward or meaningful blocks of silence between words or sentences that only a well-placed ellipsis can allow us to truly feel. Ellipses create a kind of time-block for authentic conversation. And when used sparingly, they can elicit imagination or engagement with that character's voice. I like that ellipses aren't clearly defined--or, at least, that they stand for something that isn't easily said. I like that they allude to possibilities. And superficially, I like the fact that all this confusion and meaning and unlimited nuance is represented so simply by three uniform dots.

I guess there's just something about ellipses that, above all other punctuation marks, in a way reminds me of... me.