I started reading “The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates: 1973-1982” and in the introduction of the book, I noted the following:
…the editors deletions…are indicated by ellipses dots in brackets. Ellipses not in brackets are Oates’s own; she uses ellipses dots frequently…as a stylistic device in her writing.
My blog posts are littered with ellipses…I’m sure that I didn’t write with them as an English major in college (for I would have been marked down)…when I started writing posts about 5 years ago, they just happened naturally. I’ve read most everything Oates has written since I first picked up “The Assassins” about 15 years ago…I’m guessing that I’ve unconsciously adapted one of the hallmarks of her style…something I wouldn’t have known had it not been pointed out to me.