Tuesday Tastemaker #43
Everyone needs to stop doing this
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Happy Tuesday motherfuckers!
I’m on one today about the em dash (again).
Just because some dummies who don’t read enough books noticed that GPT uses the em dash a lot (that’s the long dash with no spaces—like this), writers everywhere have started using the dinky little hyphen to indicate a mid-sentence break-like this.
Or sometimes - like that.
BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT IT’S FOR.
A hyphen is for hyphenated words, like “mother-in-law” or “forty-five” or “best-cat-ever energy.” And that’s it.
Lemme tell you something…
If you’re writing your own words—i.e. not using GPT to outsource your thinking brain, your voice, and your message—then it’s not going to sound like AI. PERIOD.
The irony of these "AI tells" is that they reveal a fundamental lack of basic writing skill to begin with. Sure, ChatGPT might have been a little too em dash-happy for a while there, but the em dash in and of itself is not an “AI tell.”
It’s the generic, too surface-y, crap-tastic writing.
And another thing! 💪🏽💪🏽
Writing and reading on a screen is a visual medium (assuming one has use of one’s eyes). And a big part of how your words land with your reader has to do with how those words are arranged on the screen.
If you’re trying to indicate a mid-sentence break - because that’s a thing that often needs to happen, and it’s good for rhythm, and sometimes parentheses aren’t quite right - then you need to make sure your reader can visually SEE that break.
A dinky little hyphen is barely going to register.
Imagine you’re laying a path for them to physically walk on. Do they need to pause for a minute before you complete your thought? Take a breath? Leave a little space for effect?
Or nah?
The correct punctuation (in US English) for the sentence I just wrote would be:
If you’re trying to indicate a mid-sentence break—because that’s a thing that often needs to happen, and it’s good for rhythm, and sometimes parentheses aren’t quite right—then you need to make sure your reader can visually SEE that break.
In UK English, it’s the same but with spaces on either end of the em dash:
If you’re trying to indicate a mid-sentence break — because that’s a thing that often needs to happen, and it’s good for rhythm, and sometimes parentheses aren’t quite right — then you need to make sure your reader can visually SEE that break.
If you’ve got a Mac—and this isn’t PC shaming, it’s just really hard to make this on a PC—you’ve got another option. An in-between, a happy medium:
It’s the en dash, or [OPTION] + [-] on a Mac.
The spaced en dash – like this – is longer than a hyphen but shorter than the em dash, and it adds a nice visual break that does what you want.
The funny thing about this em dash rule is that it’s always been a subject of debate in nerdy literary circles, because a lot of writers just don’t like the way this looks—even though it’s grammatically correct.
We’ve always played fast and loose with the em dash, sometimes adding spaces on either end — like so — and sometimes opting for the less intense en dash, as I’ve suggested above.
So, even though there IS a rule, it’s the kind of rule where any variation is generally fine.
EXCEPT THE HYPHEN. That one’s not on the list.
Language changes as humans evolve; that’s the coolest thing about it. I’m currently listening to Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley, and am rolling around like a pig in shit with this concept.
All of which is to say, you can and should continue to do whatever the hell you want.
As long as you’re okay with me, continuing to give you a hard time about your ill-used hyphens. 😏
Deal?
P.S. In The Craft, we don't ever talk about em dashes and hyphens. Instead, we talk about voice and style. We look at pieces of writing you like and analyze what makes them that way, and whether or not you might be able to do something similar (and how).
While you may find me on a tangential, grammar-related rant, The Craft is a craft workshop—not a grammar lesson. 🤓
Take a look.