Ellipsis - No, not the dots - Pro Writing Tips

Ellipsis - No, not the dots

Mar 5th, 2009 | By John Roach | Category: Style

An ellipsis is a figure of speech in which a word or words have been omitted, but are understood. For example, in

Fire when ready!

“you are” has been omitted from between “when” and “ready.”

Verbs can also be omitted. In an example torn from my own writing, here’s a sentence from a story I’m working on:

The jacket held a man; the man, a still-smoking weapon.

Here, I have ellided “held” from the second clause and replaced it with a comma. (I should note that the comma is for rhythm, not grammar.)

You already use it

Aside from the war-time example above, ellision is pretty common; you probably just don’t notice it. Consider the following two sentences:

Jennifer likes SpongeBob SquarePants more than I.

and

Jennifer likes SpongeBob SquarePants more than me.

In the first, you know that either “like SpongeBob SquarePants” or “do” is understood. In the second, “she likes” is understood. Of course, you’re playing with fire, because the entire meaning of the sentence hinges upon the correct usage and interpretation of the final word. If you slip, or the reader misinfers, the effect is crushed.

Which brings me to …

When you shouldn’t ellide

I used my own piece as an example, not to get a head start on awards season, but as a cautionary tale. When our own Bradley so graciously critiqued the story, he got hung up on this sentence, saying I should put in the “held” for repetition. I balked, because I had omitted it for precisely the same reason. In the SpongeBob examples, I noted that there is a danger of misinterpretation. Anytime you leave out a word or phrase, you must be careful that the reader will put it back in. Don’t use ellision when there is a risk of the reader getting it wrong. I hate to put so fine a point on it, but if the reader gets it wrong, it wasn’t their mistake; it was yours.

Should you ever ellide?

That’s not to say that ellision is something to be avoided. It is a stylistic device, and you should feel free to use it when you can pull it off. I wouldn’t use it in a press release or a résumé, but in creative writing it can be a powerful tool. Think of it as that pair of jeans that really shows off your bum: Maybe you wouldn’t wear it to a board meeting, but they’re fine on that all-important first date.