Sorry for replying to my own message...

It was just a short list of the general usage of those punctuation 
marks.  Sometimes they can be interchanged or replaced by other 
punctation marks, words, or expressions.

Anyway, you can get more detailed descriptions from a dictionary or 
encylcopedia. 

BTW, I don't think there's any reason to have a guide on the remailer.  If 
someone didn't think about checking those books first, they're probably not 
going to think about sending a message to the remailer, either.

The people maintiaing the FFML FAQ might want to include punctuation rules 
in the FAQ, since those are frequently asked questions, and part of this 
ML's function is to help fanfic authors.


On Tue, 30 Apr 1996, Salomon Farin wrote:

This is what I know about dots/elipses, dashes, and hyphens:

dots or elipses (...)

1.  To indicate that something has been left out.

	ex. used... to indicate...  ^_^

In Smoke and Mirrors, I think he should use dots to indicate that what has 
been left out is that the character is then killed.

i.e.  	<character> woke up, heard the doorbell...
	<character> was eating, heard the doorbell...
	<character> was reading the newspaper, heard the doorbell...

	A big ka-boom.

What's left out is "and was engulfed by a big ka-boom."  I also think the 
dots better imply a continuity between the doorbell that each of the 
characters heard and the explosion.  And since dots indicate that something 
has been left out, you don't need to force everyone to hear the 
doorbell.  The big ka-boom explains what happened next. ^_^

Having everyone hear the doorbell would take away some of the surprise of 
the explosion, since your shouting to your readers that something big 
happens after/because of the doorbell.

2. "That is" or "namely" expressions:

Dashes can replace "that is" or "namely" expressions.

     ex. "He's going to marry Akane tomorrow -- if he lives until then."
 

      "He's going to marry Akane tomorrow, that is, if he lives until then."
	

     ex. "There are a few other people in my Japanese class --  three, to be 
           exact -- who are also studying Spanish.

This is wrong:

     ex. "She wanted to reveal the identities of the secret mercenary
          group -- the Knight Sabers -- for only one reason: revege.

Ignore it.



Salomon Farin                                              sfarin@netcom.com