We've got an action tag that breaks a sentence and I guess acts as a pause. We've written:

'No, not to this case, but this . . .' He pointed to the diary, '. . . is very useful.'

Any better suggestions?

Cheers
Murphy

Not necessarily better, but other:

'No, not to this case, but this -' He pointed to the diary, 'This is very useful.'

(repeating 'This' gives a sense of the pause)

Susiex

Similar question cropped up in this thread:

http://www.writewords.org.uk/forum/65_222941.asp

so that might be worth a look.

Not ellipses, certainly, because they indicate tailing off, not being interrupted by action or speech. But there's more in that thread.

Emma

ta x 2