Em-Dash use and location: scoring for fiction writers

In case you’re unfamiliar with this favorite of fiction writers, the em-dash, often written as two hyphens side by side, is used to highlight information in parentheses, as I did in this sentence, or to indicate an interrupt:

That? Mommy is writing. No, you can’t eat more ice cream.

The em-dash also indicates a change or interruption in the character’s thinking or speech, like my interruption earlier. Another excessive use of punctuation by authors is ellipsis dots (three dots in a row), often “used to suggest broken or fragmented speech accompanied by confusion or insecurity” (Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, p. .457). Hyphens in em differ from ellipsis points in that they indicate “interruptions or abrupt changes in thinking” (ibid.).

Does your writing suffer from too many of these text linkers? Careless authors often use them in place of a comma which would have been a comma splice, joining two independent clauses. How to solve the loss or excessive use?

It takes a step away from work. Open “search”, (CTRL + F in Word) write an electronic script (keyboard shortcut ^ +) and use “highlight” to turn them to dark blue, an erased square in the text.

Do this and then read the individual sentences that used to be hyphenated, but now have a dark spot. You can leave any em dash paired around information in parentheses or any that ends a sentence with an interrupted thought or quote.

For others: How would you rate it if you couldn’t use your favorite long dash? Are they two complete and separate sentences? Why not break them? Would a comma suffice (remember to check for dependent vs. independent clauses – this could lead to comma splices)? How about a semicolon?

Tricky bugger, the semicolon. If they dialogue, it is better to avoid them; but used correctly in narrative, they take the place of a conjunction to join two independent clauses. You can also use them before a conjunction to trigger an independent clause that has internal punctuation, as I did in the previous sentence.

The same erasure technique can also be used for ellipsis points. Remember, special punctuation marks lose their effectiveness when overused.

Happy wedding!