How to leave a question / exclamation hanging?

[Ysoi]

Hi again!

I promise that this is final question. For now.
<- I have to put "for now" in case responses make me think of another question. m(_ _)m

Though this one is a grammatical question that I would like to know the authoritative answer to, I would be interested in preferences a well.

Sometimes I find it useful to have a character start a question but not finish it. This might be because the subject is obvious too all involved (ie just the narrator if it is a thought), or perhaps because I want to succinctly and with minimal use of words show that the character is pondering a series of questions rather than asking them rapid-fire one after another.

In the example shown, I have used "?.." because the question mark lifts the comment when it is read, whilst the partial-ellipsis shows a delay or hesitation as if the question is left hanging.

our hands moving fervently. Would she make me?.. Would she let me?.. She had swallowed instead, filling me with both regret and relief

With what would you replace "?.." and "!.."? This is not an abrupt termination, but more a gentle fade to silence, so I think that a hyphen would probably be out of place, but I stand open to correction. m(_ _)m

Ysoi

 

[Stella_Omega]

Actually, I think your construction reads pretty well.

 

[TinyBeth]

I rarely have someone trail off an exclamation, but for a trailed of question I generally use the opposite construction ...? implying the trail off and then making it a question. I'm not sure which is the proper usage.

 

[Stella_Omega]

So I went looking. Grammar Girl says;

Ellipses with question marks and exclamation points
“Where did he go? . . . Why did he go out again?” [Material is removed between the two sentences]
“Where did he go . . . ? Why did he go out again?” [Material is removed before the first question mark. Note the space between the last ellipsis point and the question mark.]

Treat exclamation points as you would question marks.

There is a lot more at the link.

 

[TinyBeth]

So I went looking. Grammar Girl says;



There is a lot more at the link.

Good to know. I will do it that way in the future.

 

[MatthewVett]

I tend to write it like, "What would she do..?" and use the final punctuation mark in place of the third period in an ellipsis.

 

[littlebirdstory]

I would agree with Beth. If the question trails I would use the '...?' construction. If there is a necessity for a beat to be taken I would separate using the full '...' ellipses. I would have to check to be sure of this but it's seems to make sense. This may also be up to personal preference.

 

[Ysoi]

Awesome.

So I went looking. Grammar Girl says;

There is a lot more at the link.

Thanks a lot for that link, Stella_Omega. m(_ _)m
Going to read it now so that I don't have to correct too much later. m(_ _)m

Ysoi

 

[Stella_Omega]

that's a cute emote (*_^)

 

[Ysoi]

Personal preference?

I would agree with Beth. If the question trails I would use the '...?' construction. If there is a necessity for a beat to be taken I would separate using the full '...' ellipses. I would have to check to be sure of this but it's seems to make sense. This may also be up to personal preference.

Watch out! Incoming!

Just warning you.
(I too thought that preference might have some relevance, and I still bear the scars even now!)

Ysoi

 

[BuckyDuckman]

I tend to let the moment suggest the punctuation and use ...

He wasn't sure what she wanted. Would she let him... Or perhaps he should... Or maybe she wanted him to... The possibilities were endless to him.

I think the character's questions read as such without ..?

 

[honeybeez]

I would suggest…that you use ellipses…carefully…. When they are overused…they are somewhat…distracting….

Eh…?

I would suggest that you find an author who does dialogue really well and note how they handle the ebb and flow. I like Elmore Leonard; although, oddly enough, John Steinbeck does it rather well, too.