How To Use Em Dashes In Dialogue
Three types of punctuation signify interrupted dialogue.
How to use em dashes in dialogue. Changes of thought while speaking stammering or brief and long pauses. To answer your last question amanda ellipses can be correct. Nonbreaking space in word for windows. Em dashes in place of parentheses. 2 the weary traveler forgot something in the airport bathroom her plane ticket.
So use them judiciously. Use em dashes to provide insight into the mind of the characters or to show interruptions in dialogue. It is often used in place of colons or semicolons. Passions have always run high when it comes to punctuation issues it would seem. An em dash is also useful in dialogue to show a break in thought that s abrupt rather than a trailing thought that gets an ellipsis.
Authors like to use em dashes in all three cases. To show an interruption of the spoken words include an em dash inside the quotation marks at the point where the dialogue is interrupted. Some people have different tastes but here are a few examples and rules to let you know when to use. Dashes are considered less formal than parentheses. A pair of em dashes can replace a pair of parentheses.
Write for fifteen minutes on the following writing prompt. The mirror fell and i knew you d drop it. Ctrl shift spacebar ellipsis character in word for windows. Emphasize important or essential information em dashes can be used to emphasize important or essential information midsentence or at the end of sentences. Below i ll show examples of how to use these punctuation marks depending on the nature of the interruption.
Ashley stared at max who was sitting in the middle of the disheveled living room. Although colons and commas can serve the same function em dashes create a more dramatic effect. The hyphen the em dash and the ellipsis. Use an em dash with an exclamation point or question mark but not with a comma a colon or a semi colon and only rarely with a period. It is also common to use a pair of em dashes to replace parentheses or a pair of commas.