Grammar Tip: Should it be an ellipsis or a dash?

First off, let's talk about ellipsis. Most of the grammar sources I look at frequently (Grammar Girl, Chicago Manual of Style) don't spend a lot of time on using ellipsis in fiction. So let me clear up some things for you.

1. An ellipses in fiction writing is used to indicate a pause or a sentence trailing off.
Ex: I love to eat French fries . . . most of the time.
"She says she loves to eat French fries. . . ." <--That is not four ellipsis dots. Regular punctuation must be included (we'll talk about this later). It is the period at the end of the sentence and then the three ellipsis dots.
2. Ellipses should be formatted like this: word[space]dot[space]dot[space]dot[space]word
Or in less confusing terms it should like like this:
Jane loves . . . to run.
There is a space between the words and the ellipsis, as well as a space between each dot.
3. All regular punctuation should be included.
At the end of a sentence: I need to go to the store. . . . (period, followed by ellipsis)

Now on to the question of the day: Should you be using an ellipsis or a dash?
What's the difference between these two sentences?
"Stop right now or I'll shoot. . . ."
AND
"Stop right now or I'll shoot--"

The ellipsis at the end of the first sentence indicates the speaker is pausing or letting the sentence trail off. The dash at the end of the second sentence indicates that the speaker is being interrupted or making a dramatic stop in speech.

For more information, I suggest checking out the following two podcasts (or their transcripts) from Grammar Girl. Very helpful!
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/ellipsis.aspx
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/dashes-parentheses-commas.aspx

(Actually, I would recommend listening to ALL of GG's podcasts. It's a great way to improve your writing.)

Grammar Tip: Double Quotation Marks

(DQm) Double Quotation Marks


Up until recently this happened to be one of my frequently made mistakes. Using 'single quotes' on anything outside of people talking.
Double quotations marks should be used for:
* titles
* direct quotations
* "scare quotes" or "sneer quotes"--meaning the author is not "buying into the meaning." (Grammar Girl)


Examples:
Ranee` asked, “How come everyone is going to the store?”
We read “Wuthering Heights” for book club.
She said she “loved” him.


Single Quotation Marks are most commonly used for:
*Quotations within a quote
*To save space in headlines


Example: Ranee` said, “I heard John say, ‘I hate going to the store.’ She’s right.”

(see http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/single-quotes-versus-double-quotes.aspx for more information)

Grammar Tip: Commas between all items in a series to prevent confusion (CiS)

It's not often that I write a Grammar Tip post that lets you make the decision, but this just happens to be one of those comma's that isn't always required.
The Sentence: I went to the store and bought eggs, milk, peanut butter and jelly.

Grammar Tip: Contractions (CT)

I'm sure you all went to first grade and learned about contractions, so I'll skip the lecture on what they are and start with USE THEM.
Contractions are for everyone. As Kelly Mortimer put it at the ANWA Conference, unless you want your character to sound like a stuck-up, over-educated snob, use contractions. Everyone speaks in contractions.
 Read this sentence out loud:
"I have had a really great time every time we have gone out together. I think we are meant for each other," she said dreamily.
Now aside from the general cheesiness of that statement, it really sounds out of place, doesn't it. Try this one:
"I've had a really great time every time we've gone out together. I think we're meant for each other," she said dreamily.
Rolls off the tongue a lot easier. :)

Grammar Tip: Comma Splices

I first discovered the evil of comma splices this summer. While living in two different locations for six months, I did a lot of driving. I downloaded a bunch of podcasts for those drives, including several Grammar Girl podcasts. She dedicated an entire podcast to comma splices. It is VERY worth the eight or so minutes to listen to or to read. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-splice.aspx

From my Editing Guide: (CS) Comma Splice
According to Diana Hacker in “A Writer’s Reference,” a comma splice is, “Two or more independent clauses joined by a comma without a coordinating conjunction…[or] joining by a word that is not a coordinating conjunction.”
In my words: You can’t throw two random thoughts together, stick a comma in, and call it good. 

As Grammar Girl notes, some authors will use the tool stylistically, the same way you might use sentence fragments. (I can't say anything about that. I'm a blatant sentence fragmenter.) But I also agree with Grammar Girl that in most cases, it's better to not use a comma splice.

Here are some examples:

I ran to the edge of the lake, it looked so dark and scary. Wrong

I ran to the edge of the lake. It looked so dark and scary. Better Creating two shorter sentences actually adds to the punch of these sentences. 

OR I ran to the edge of the lake, and it looked so dark and scary. 

Commas have a place. There are lots of rule governing where they go. A good idea is to go to a site like Grammar Girl or the Blue Book of Grammar and check out the rules, that way you'll know when your using a comma incorrectly. 

Grammar Tip: Coordinating Adjectives

This past February I had the awesome opportunity to go the ANWA conference in Phoenix. It was a blast and I leaned a BUNCH. Between pitching to Kelly Sonnack of Andrea Brown and Kurt Shaw from Covenant, I got to listen to some great speakers. One of the sessions I didn't get to stay for all of it, but loved the twenty minutes I got was Kelly Mortimer's self-editing class. She gave out an AMAZING hand-out of all these little things she sees when she reads manuscripts.

It gave me an idea. When I edit, I can't help but comment on all these tiny little things. So I created an editing guide. Armed with abbreviations, I cut down my editing time significantly. 

So, since I haven't had the time to write a THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW NOW post, I'll insert some grammar tips to tide you over. ;) Because as we all know, Grammar Is Not Optional. 

Today's Tip: Coordinating Adjectives

I'm just going to start at the top of my guide and head down. It's in alphabetical order (thanks to a suggestion from Shaunna). I've already covered AP (attribution punctuation. If you missed that post, it's under the THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW NOW series, Grammar Is Not Optional. It's a very necessary read if you don't know the proper way to punctuation "I went to the store," she said.)

That means CA is next: Coordinating Adjectives, which is exactly what is sounds like. Adjectives that coordinate with each other. 

We'll start with this sentence: I love my large, brown dog.

Think of it this way, Large and Brown texted each other and both decided to modify dog. They coordinated with each other. They need to be separated by a comma.

The trick to knowing if two adjectives are Coordinate Adjectives is if you can switch them around, insert and, and not change the meaning of the sentence.

I love my brown and large dog.

Yeah, that sounds a little kooky, but it's still correct and still makes sense.

There are times you don't need a comma, and that's when the adjectives don't coordinate. Grammar Girl uses the example "exquisite custom houseboat." Custom modifies houseboat, but they kind of end up as a couple, modified by exquisite. Make sense? Could you switch them around and still have the same meaning? No. So they're cumulative, not coordinate.

Here's the link to Grammar Girl:

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/commas-with-adjectives.aspx

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