ANACOLUTHON IN WRITING

Megan Wright & Dana Cramasta

WHAT IS IT? Break in grammatical structure

Abrupt change in a sentence Lack of sequence Reflection of spoken language or

thought Parenthesis, em dashes, ellipsis, or lack

of punctuation

HOW TO USE IT INCORRECTLY Technically always wrong – grammatical

errorMust be used purposefully

Abrupt change in subjectLack of organization

DIALOGUE Interject thoughts, actions, surplus

information into dialogue“What made you leave London (hold on

Edzel!) so very suddenly. And, of course, that whip.” (The Savage started. How did they know about the whip?) “We’re all crazy to know about the whip.” (Huxley, Brave New World)

Change direction of speech; mimic natural speech“Be careful with this device because

improperly used it can – well, I’ve cautioned you enough.”

CREATING EMPHASIS Repetition of words to strengthen

feeling“He was wrong (WRONG!!). There was no

way his brother would do such as thing.” Add detail to a scene

The house was messy (the floor was grayish, not from discoloration, but from a film of dust) and there was a particular scent in the air (tangy, like metal, aluminum or copper, maybe). He walked through the front room (his boots seemed to echo with each step, making a quiet thump that seemed loud enough to wake every ghost in the building).

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS This is intended to represent thoughts as

closely as possible. Since thoughts are not always coherent, and rarely grammatical, this style of writing lends itself to anacoluthon. " . . . I could have brought him in his breakfast

in bed with a bit of toast so long as I didn't do it on the knife for bad luck or if the woman was going her rounds with the watercress and something nice and tasty there are a few olives in the kitchen he might like I never could bear the look of them in Abrines I could do the criada the room looks all right since I changed it the other way. . ."(Joyce, Ulysses)

EMBEDDED FOOTNOTES Instead of putting extra information in a

footnote, include it in the sentenceReader does not have to shift focusRetains fluency“Dramatic agents? I don’t know. You’ll find

them in the ‘Clipper’ though (The New York Clipper, a trade newspaper of the 1890’s, covered the theatrical world). They all advertise in that.” (adapted from Dreiser, Sister Carrie)

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLE “For having lived in Westminster — how many

years now? over twenty — one feels even in the midst of the traffic, or waking at night, Clarissa was positive, a particular hush, or solemnity; an indescribable pause; a suspense (but that might be her heart, affected, they said, by influenza) before Big Ben strikes. There! Out it boomed. First a warning, musical; then the hour, irrevocable.” (Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway)

Em dashes are easily replaces with ellipsis – “For having lived in Westminster…how many years now?” Personal preference dictates usage.

TRY IT YOURSELF Using your shadow narrative, either

select a section incorporating a train of thought or dialogue and incorporate anacoluthon, or craft an entirely new (but brief) section using the device.

Don’t limit yourself to just one way of incorporating it. Em dashes, parenthesis, stream of consciousness, etc., can all be used in conjunction. Use whatever you think suits your narrative best.