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How do you feel about the use of ellipses? Do you mind when it's overused? Do you think there is a time when ellipses overuse is acceptable? If so, when?
Or do you not tolerate it at all? Does it annoy you? Does it represent a level of amateurism?

I just want opinions on the use of them, but those are just some of the things I was thinking about. I tend to personally use them a lot in romantic scenes, or with characters who are quiet, nervous, or stutter a lot, but otherwise they don't really go used much.

When used properly, and sparingly, ellipses are useful. But a writer overusing them will dilute whatever important emotions he or she wants to convey to the reader.

Mad Harlequin wrote:overusing them will dilute whatever important emotions he or she wants to convey to the reader.

This is a very good point. Ive noticed that ellipses can become increasingly distracting when used too often.

Mad Harlequin wrote:When used properly, and sparingly, ellipses are useful. But a writer overusing them will dilute whatever important emotions he or she wants to convey to the reader.

This. Haha.

I tend to use ellipses a lot with shy or quiet characters in my visual novels though, or to portray hesitant or trailing speech.

However, I find it distracting when there are more than three ellipsis points. ^^ ".......what......did you say?" is something that's okay for me at first but gets quite irritating after a while. But... yeah, I have nothing against ellipses.

If I'm not mistaken, using only three periods per ellipsis is the way to go, yes.

Definitely should only be used in situations where it would seem less if the dialogue didn't have it!

When overused, definitely makes me want to stop reading. The only times I've really tolerated tons of ellipses were in Umineko no Naku Koro ni.

Ran08 wrote:

Mad Harlequin wrote: However, I find it distracting when there are more than three ellipsis points. ^^ ".......what......did you say?" is something that's okay for me at first but gets quite irritating after a while. But... yeah, I have nothing against ellipses.

I definitely agree with this. Like, I'm okay if it's just "............................" But in a sentence, more than three makes me twitch, lol.

Ahhh, this thread makes me wonder if I overuse ellipses. xD -goes to check script-

Having a character go "..." over and over can get quite dull to read, so it's best to find other ways to convey their emotions.

It's easy to overuse ellipses and it makes the writing look amateurish. It's important to know when an ellipsis is unnecessary and remove it.

For example, this:
"I... um..."

Would be better off as this:
"I, um..."

Or:
"............Don't bother me."

Would be better as this:
"Hmph. Don't bother me."

PhoenixStardust wrote:Ahhh, this thread makes me wonder if I overuse ellipses. xD -goes to check script-

Haha, yeah, I actually was inspired to make this thread by a review I saw on a VN saying the ellipses annoyed them x__x

SundownKid wrote:It's easy to overuse ellipses and it makes the writing look amateurish. It's important to know when an ellipsis is unnecessary and remove it.

For example, this:
"I... um..."

Would be better off as this:
"I, um..."

Or:
"............Don't bother me."

Would be better as this:
"Hmph. Don't bother me."

I often end up using dashes, but now that I think about it, commas probably really are better.

Em dashes are meant more for interruptions.

They should never be used at all, with exactly one exception; when a character trails off in the middle of a sentence.
It especially bothers me in VNs. It always baffles me how people will include what is essentially -pause- in their dialogue, when they could just, y'know, pause the damn dialogue.

Well, they do have a use in formal writing (when quoted material is being elided), but yes, I agree with you. I've never been fond of lines that are essentially ". . ."

There are better ways to write.

Please don't use multiple lines of ellipses in a row. Please.

(I admit I'm writing a character at the moment who probably overuses ellipses, but it's specific to this one character. Still, I can't argue if anyone complains I overdid it. )