I agree, that the "anti ellipsis" crowd is wrong. Yet, you have to imagine. My little example of my ellipsis problem? You have no idea how *bad* I was addicted to... ellipsis. "Quotation" marks. And this *thing*, to emphasize a word. You just have to trust me here, you read a worek of mine from a couple years back? We're talking "ellipsis apocalypse".
Most of the other writers where I came from before here, they'll just make fun of you until you quit it. ONE writer, had a nice way of putting it. He said, look. You said you just read... book X. And it impressed you, right? I said, yes. He then asked me. Did you see... twenty-seven periods of ellipsis, every paragraph. Sentences ending with ellipsis, constantly in dialog. Quotation marks aroud a word, every other sentence. Constantly asking a parenthetical question, with a question mark? multiple times per prose paragraph.
he knew I hadn't seen that.
But I enjoyed the book. I was even impressed. He asked. Didn't I "hear" the dialog I liked, in my head? Just fine without all that attempt to control how the reader heard every word exactly as it was in my head.
he knew I did, before he asked. It was rhetorical. This, was a writer we had who was successful. He was being nice, and dropping a pearl.
He explained. The one book, was late fifties. The other? sixties. All those decades ago, and they were still rec'd to me, and I was excited reading them. in the 2020's. That, was a professional writer that authored both those books, that impressed me. I was reading them for "style", I wanted that writer's style, for my own. Or as much of it as I could get, and absorb off of that one author.
That author? Was published. Went through reprints. Is still getting rec'd, to this day after he's dead. And HE didn't do those things, did he. Noi, he didn't. I wanted that author's style, why stop at story telling. Why not adopt his everything. Including, how he proofed and edited, and everything else.
he was right. It didn't happen overnight, but I slowly started watching those things.
I'm still not published, probably won't ever be. But, I went from NO readers, now I have about thirty readers.
And that's thirty times better than no readers, I tell you. So I've slowly gotten obsessive about it all. The mechanical stuff.
I want my 80k word "novel" to read just like I picked up a paperback at a flea market.
If I can't please the reader, I have no chance.
Its like I cooked a 15 course meal fora big holiday? And I'm sitting down to eat it, just me and the cat.
no point to that, almost.
Maybe its because I'm a couple years older, I didn't grow up reading web novels. Impressed by one, and it made me wanna write.
I grew up reading old paperbacks, impressed by some of those authors. That made me wanna write.
so, its what I do.
Tell me, why should someone your story? What are you trying to sell to me?
