![]() Tina had to admit-even if she hated to-that Mark had been right all along. Things just weren’t the same without Silvano-our cheerful, singing neighbor-to watch over the neighborhood. Greta rose early-as she did every morning-and prepared breakfast for her husband. Smith (our family dentist) at the supermarket today. Smith, our family dentist, at the supermarket today. Note that this sentence could also be written using commas: Smith-our family dentist-at the supermarket today. In this case, two em dashes are needed-but avoid using more than two em dashes per sentence, as this can result in more confusion than clarification. ![]() To Include Parenthetical InformationĮm dashes are often used to include parenthetical information within sentences, since they put more emphasis on the information in between. ![]() When to Use an Em DashĪn em dash (or em dash es) can be used in a number of situations to increase clarity or give emphasis to certain words. (Likewise, the en dash is about the length of an N).īy learning when and how to properly use the em dash, you can bring added clarity and style to your work. Longer than an en dash and three times longer than a hyphen, the em dash (-) is named for its length, as it’s roughly the width of the capital letter M. But doing any of these things will make your writing stale and predictable, so treat them as unique hand tools you break out when the power drill/screwdriver won't work elegantly, and you need just the right tool for the job.If you’re not using em dashes in your writing, you’re missing out on a very versatile punctuation that can replace commas, parentheses, or colons-not to mention they look pretty cool, too. You can also do this with, say, parenthetical phrases, or by varying average sentence or paragraph length. Used occasionally, this kind of construction can be a useful tool that will add variety to your prose. I'd reserve the em dash for situations where you want to startle the reader - startle them just a little bit. Every writers' habits are different, of course, but getting yourself into a habit of using dashes sparingly may well train you to learn to think in terms of variety. ![]() The em dash also can make prose seem disjointed and stuttery, almost as if you put little thought into your writing - putting phrases that should come earlier at the end of a sentence, for example.Įm dashes are easily edited out, and the clumsy sentences rewritten. Overuse of the em dash (or parentheses, or the semicolon - or any punctuation marks) can make your prose a little predictable. There is a distressing tendency for some writers to overuse the em dash, and I often notice this kind of overuse in amateurish fiction where there are also other problems. (The em dash is particularly useful in dialogue.) In fiction, as in other kinds of writing, you'll still want to use the em dash to indicate interruptions, performing a function related to - but subtly different from - parentheses. Overuse of any tool will make your writing inelegant, but using the proper tool at the right time will help you generate pages that are well crafted and precisely assembled. Punctuation marks, like words and paragraph breaks, are tools. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |