dr_mabeuse
seduce the mind
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2002
- Posts
- 11,528
Reading Alex de Kok's puntuation problem thread made me think again of how limited a writer's resources are when it comes to representing speech nuance. We have, what? maybe half a dozen accepted punctuation marks we can use in writing to explain the way something is said. In music they have dozens. In writing big band jazz there are probably about 2-3 dozen marks that tell the player how to attack, hold, and release a note.
The last attempt I can remember to add a new punctuation mark was the interrobang: the combined exclamation point/question mark that was supposed to be used for things like "What the hell?!" It was a failure. But why shouldn't we start creating our own punctuation marks?
For instance, Alex asked about how you could show someone suddenly stooping a sentence in the middle, as if he were suddenly aware that someone were eavesdropping. He used a space-dash-space to show the cut off, like:
"So I told him - " he said, "Well, never mind what I told him."
What about using a double slash: //
"So I told him //" he said, "Well, never mind what I told him."
Or what about the situation where a character doesn't know what to say? In Japanese comics I've seen "..." or maybe even "...!" to show a character being struck speechless.
I know, this rapidly gets Borge-esque, as when a character is sputtering with rage, not knowing what to say first:
"!//...//...!//"
but think of the possibilities: heavy lustful breathing:
"Oh baby! $$$ I like what you're doing! $$$"
To denote that kind of panting greed.
I think it's a great idea and I'm open to suggestions.
---dr.M.
The last attempt I can remember to add a new punctuation mark was the interrobang: the combined exclamation point/question mark that was supposed to be used for things like "What the hell?!" It was a failure. But why shouldn't we start creating our own punctuation marks?
For instance, Alex asked about how you could show someone suddenly stooping a sentence in the middle, as if he were suddenly aware that someone were eavesdropping. He used a space-dash-space to show the cut off, like:
"So I told him - " he said, "Well, never mind what I told him."
What about using a double slash: //
"So I told him //" he said, "Well, never mind what I told him."
Or what about the situation where a character doesn't know what to say? In Japanese comics I've seen "..." or maybe even "...!" to show a character being struck speechless.
I know, this rapidly gets Borge-esque, as when a character is sputtering with rage, not knowing what to say first:
"!//...//...!//"
but think of the possibilities: heavy lustful breathing:
"Oh baby! $$$ I like what you're doing! $$$"
To denote that kind of panting greed.
I think it's a great idea and I'm open to suggestions.
---dr.M.
at the end. It's my 'taking the piss' mark.
