Editing

Recently my crit group have been discussing manuscript formatting and what different agents/publishers prefer. What we've learnt is that it all varies!! Some like TNR size twelve, others ONLY accept courier - some demand twenty-five lines per page, other say to rely on the ms word word-count and not worry about the lines per page.
But what none of us can decide on (aside from the hanging posessive apostrophe debate) is how to write interruptions of speech. Here are the two examples:

"But I can't believe..."
"Enough!" cried Judy.

OR

"But I can believe--"
"Enough!" cried Judy.

The -- are called em dashes, (I presume because they take up the same space as a capital letter M.)

The "..." is ellipses. Some people say it ONLY be used to signify a trailing off or pause during speech. And yet this is the way I've been taught to always recognise interruptions!!

ALL THOUGHTS WELCOME!!

Wow, that really does present quite a dilema, and I have no idea sorry! With the example you have given, I think the use of -- makes sense, so as to differentiate between a trailing off or a pause and someone being cut off. I hadn't thought about it before, and I can't say that I recall noticing it one way or another in books I have read, not something that's jumped out at me.
Looking forward to hearing more ideas/thoughts on this!

http://vyanae.blogspot.com/

I've been reading Lynne Truss Eats, Shoots & Leaves
You're on the right track, there's a strong element of personal preference between ellipses and dashes. I use the dash for a cut off speech and the ellipses for a trailing off speech, but that's my personal preference.
Another thing in Lynne's book was that punctuation developed as a guide to the reader, so I try to write the way I'd hear it if someone were reading aloud to me (if that makes sense.) I think it's a clearer indication of suddenness to use the dash.
Just to add to the confusion, there's a section that relates to the use of the dash as opposed to brackets. Both usages have value.
The book is available in libraries and it's a great guide to grammar - as well as funny!

maggenpye -
"He's not my dad, he's just my father - big difference."

Looking at this purely from a reader point of view. I would assume the ... trailed off until I read the "Enough!" with exclamation mark. Then I would be confused. Using the em dash I read it as them being cut off.

I also recommend Eats, Shoots & Leaves.

No Excuses. Just Write.
SoCNoC - Freeing the Flame
Freeing the Flame - 30,065/40,000 words rewritten for May

Thanks guys!!

Being a crit group, everyone had all backed up their opinion with a book on punctuation - incidentally the two most commonly bought books were EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES and A DASH OF STYLE by Lukeman. Clearly you all have good taste!

Since your votes were all unanimous, I'm going with the em dashes, viz. the following conversation.

"Well I write interruptions with ellipses you illiterate--"
"Just write the story, Judy!"

Excellent.

So, what's your stance on the Oxford comma?

Eats, shoots and leaves.
or;
Eats, shoots, and leaves.

:D

maggenpye -
"He's not my dad, he's just my father - big difference."