Story rejection for use of ellipses(sic)

[jacinta]

I have had a story rejected for two reasons. 1. spelling, which was justified, and now corrected, and 2. use of ellipses (to quote: please fix your ellipses). That my story hung by it's use of ellipses to suggest and infer more than the written words seems to be immaterial. A sad commentary on their use in cyber and by James Joyce in similar 'stream of conscious' writing. Which in no way suggests that I compare myself to that worthy writer, but may have some bearing on the open minds of the Literotica judges regarding creative innovative writing. J

 

[oggbashan]

Your use of ellipses probably triggered a response from the program that checks submissions, not from human intervention or critical judgement.

The rejection of some stories by the checking program sometimes seems perverse. After a few attempts most of us manage to learn to deal with its peculiarities (if only after some (expletive deleteds)).

Good luck on the next attempt. (Copy and paste into the submissions box seems the most reliable way of getting through the system).

Og

 

[jacinta]

"fixing ellipses"

Many thanks for your response, I was not aware that a machine did the checking. However, since the story is held together by strings of dots, there is no way it would work by eliminating or even reducing same, so I doubt I would re-submit, or sadly.......... continue to write..........lol, seems pointless!. J

 

[oggbashan]

Many thanks for your response, I was not aware that a machine did the checking. However, since the story is held together by strings of dots, there is no way it would work by eliminating or even reducing same, so I doubt I would re-submit, or sadly.......... continue to write..........lol, seems pointless!. J

Strunk and White and other grammarians suggest no more than three dots...

However if the system will pass IIIIIMMMMMM CCCCUUUUUMMMMMIIIIINNNNNGGGG!!!!!! I don't think that your problem is insuperable. Perhaps someone else can advise.

Og

 

[jacinta]

insuperable I think it is, it is all one person's inner thoughts, and I don't think in sentences. A sample from my story:

..........and sadly, I realise his eyes, though exquisite blue are sightless.........the world around a tapestry, uncolored and unformed.......the mirror, a reflection of nothing.

And so it goes..............J

 

[Guest]

insuperable I think it is, it is all one person's inner thoughts, and I don't think in sentences. A sample from my story:

..........and sadly, I realise his eyes, though exquisite blue are sightless.........the world around a tapestry, uncolored and unformed.......the mirror, a reflection of nothing.

And so it goes..............J

Going by what I was taught, proper form there would be three periods then three spaces. Using your example snippet:

"...and sadly, I realise his eyes, though exquisite blue are sightless... _ the world around a tapestry, uncolored and unformed... _ the mirror, a reflection of nothing."

More periods does not really infer a longer pause, and therefore is a waste.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Sorry. I have to say that I would have canned that one. I understand your point about thoughts not coming in sentences, and it's reasonable to attempt to approximate the disjointed sense of human thinking. But a few pages of huge dot-pauses is quite hard to get through as a reader, and I would argue really serves no point that can't be made without the device. I'd give it a serious try without the ellipses, and keep in mind what I think was one of Lit's FAQ comments as well as good advice for any writer: your writing should rely on strong ideas and powerful imagery, not unusual punctuation.

 

[Guest]

jacinta -

I must agree with Dran and Shang.

Do you really need more than three? I find it exceptionally disjunct almost to the point of annoyance when I attempt to wade my way through it. If most of your story contains that type of unusual punctuation your readers will have difficulty.

On the other hand, after you've submitted a few stories and built up a loyal following of readers you can get away with something like that.

Then they'll think you're clever.

 

[yui]

Hi jacinta,

Welcome to the AH! I'm sorry your story was rejected. Like others have said, perhaps you could edit and resubmit.

I could be completely wrong, but I thought the long strings of uninterrupted characters messed up the Lit formatting and stretched the text into the margins. Or not.

Much luck,

Yui

 

[minsue]

insuperable I think it is, it is all one person's inner thoughts, and I don't think in sentences. A sample from my story:

..........and sadly, I realise his eyes, though exquisite blue are sightless.........the world around a tapestry, uncolored and unformed.......the mirror, a reflection of nothing.

And so it goes..............J

The thing is, Jacinta, that is a sentence (Or more, depending on your preferences regarding fragmented sentences. ) and a lovely one at that.

And sadly, I realize his eyes, though exquisite blue, are sightless. The world around a tapestry, uncolored and unformed. The mirror, a reflection of nothing.

 

[Guest]

The thing is, Jacinta, that is a sentence (Or more, depending on your preferences regarding fragmented sentences. ) and a lovely one at that.

And sadly, I realize his eyes, though exquisite blue, are sightless. The world around a tapestry, uncolored and unformed. The mirror, a reflection of nothing.

Actually, I think it's still missing a comma:

And sadly, I realize his eyes, though exquisite blue, are sightless. The world around, a tapestry, uncolored and unformed. The mirror, a reflection of nothing.

That seems a bit smoother, I think.

 

[minsue]

Actually, I think it's still missing a comma:

And sadly, I realize his eyes, though exquisite blue, are sightless. The world around, a tapestry, uncolored and unformed. The mirror, a reflection of nothing.

That seems a bit smoother, I think.

I agree. I abuse commas like nobody's business when I write naturally, so I try to restrain myself in public.

 

[Guest]

. . . so I try to restrain myself in public.

Why does this line make me giggle?

 

[Guest]

Why does this line make me giggle?

Because you have a BDSM sorta mind.

 

[minsue]

Why does this line make me giggle?

http://addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/diverse/aetsch.gif

 

[Guest]

Because you have a BDSM sorta mind.

Gasp!

What a horribly accurate thing to say!

 

[Weird Harold]

That my story hung by it's use of ellipses to suggest and infer more than the written words seems to be immaterial.

An Ellipsis is defined as three characters, usually periods or asterisks, indicating that something was omitted.

In your sample, there is nothing omitted or left incomplete, so ellipses would not be the proper punctuation even if you used the correct number of periods.

As Minsue pointed out, your example is much easier to read and understand with simple commas and periods instead of the misused strings of periods. Other examples might work better with an "em-dash" -- two dashes -- as a separator for parenthetical thoughts.

Ellipses are possibly the most misused punctuation by novice writers because they're incorrectly used to indicate pauses instead of ommissions. Commas, semicolons and periods are the proper punctuaion marks to use for pauses of varying lengths.

 

[LadyJeanne]

An Ellipsis is defined as three characters, usually periods or asterisks, indicating that something was omitted.

In your sample, there is nothing omitted or left incomplete, so ellipses would not be the proper punctuation even if you used the correct number of periods.

As Minsue pointed out, your example is much easier to read and understand with simple commas and periods instead of the misused strings of periods. Other examples might work better with an "em-dash" -- two dashes -- as a separator for parenthetical thoughts.

Ellipses are possibly the most misused punctuation by novice writers because they're incorrectly used to indicate pauses instead of ommissions. Commas, semicolons and periods are the proper punctuaion marks to use for pauses of varying lengths.

WH, I wish I had a guy like you following me around all the time, stepping in to fill me in on the answers when I'm clueless.

Thanks for being that guy around here - much appreciated.

 

[Op_Cit]

Maybe it was really just that the dots weren't properly round enough for the checker...?

 

[Guest]

Maybe it was really just that the dots weren't properly round enough for the checker...?

I've heard some fonts will do that.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Hey, welcome to the Ah.

Were I you, I would give some of raphy's work a read. he writes very well in stream of conciousness, without using odd constructions. He is perhaps the best at it I have ever read and you might see something in his technique that would allow you to convey the feel you wish, with more standard punctuation.

 

[elsol]

An Ellipsis is defined as three characters, usually periods or asterisks, indicating that something was omitted.

In your sample, there is nothing omitted or left incomplete, so ellipses would not be the proper punctuation even if you used the correct number of periods.

As Minsue pointed out, your example is much easier to read and understand with simple commas and periods instead of the misused strings of periods. Other examples might work better with an "em-dash" -- two dashes -- as a separator for parenthetical thoughts.

Ellipses are possibly the most misused punctuation by novice writers because they're incorrectly used to indicate pauses instead of ommissions. Commas, semicolons and periods are the proper punctuaion marks to use for pauses of varying lengths.

Thanks for this... I do the pause thing (see ... I'll fix that now.

Sincerely,
ELSol

 

[jacinta]

Thank you for your replies. J