My fascination with "Ellipsis dots"

So... I've been reading a grammar book. Yes that's right, a book called Keys for Writers. Despite the fact that I seem to understand how to write, I still have a lot of questions and general insecurities about English grammar. Some people seem to think that I should have to take classes on grammar, punctuation, and editing, but I don't. It's scary to realize that the more I learn, the less I can clearly recall the basics.
A sentence must have a subject and a predicate. Check. (So, "check" isn't a sentence). I often know when something isn't right, but the agony of trying to explain it! Sentence fragments are often a pretty big problem, but then I'm informed that "advertisers and writers occasionally use fragments deliberately for a crisp, immediate effect." Hmmm. I read on, "you will also find fragments used intentionally in question form." Well, what do we have here? "By all means, use fragments to achieve a specific effect." Unfortunately, what this author forgot to say is: if you're writing for a grade, make sure the person grading your paper will know that you wrote a sentence fragment. On purpose.
Now on to today's title. I've overused ellipses for over ten years. If you've ever read a letter or an email I've written... you know how true (and understated) this confession is. Well, now... I know why. "Note: Use three dots to indicate a pause in speech or an interruption." Hooray! All these years, instead of using a comma... I've only been trying to show that I'm pausing... those are my "hold on a minute my brain is searching, sorting or interrupting" dots. That's the only argument I have for overusing those tiny little dots. . . yup. . . that's all I've got for today.
The end. (For effect).