: 1) Use the ellispses and emphasis, and tighten up the spaces. This man, this...monster...has done something despicable. There's no typesetting reason to have spaces on both sides of those

@Debbie451

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1) Use the ellispses and emphasis, and tighten up the spaces.

This man, this...monster...has done something despicable.

There's no typesetting reason to have spaces on both sides of those ellipses, particularly since you aren't removing words. Plus you're writing fiction, and the use of ellipses for removed text is only in non-fiction quotes.

2) Add a little narration. Combine with other punctuation to convey the aural effect you want.

If the speaker is trailing off:

"This man, this..." His face twisted in disgust. "this monster has done something despicable."

If the speaker stops sharply:

"This man, this —" He shivered in atavistic fear. " — monster has done something despicable."

The few words of narration cause the reader's internal ear to stop playing dialogue and briefly play narration, which causes a break, if that makes sense. Also, the narration places another small action between the halves of the sentence, and that action happens in the pause you're trying to create.

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