How many of you actually manually use em-dashes?

[Akkizakura]

Non-Native English Speaker from East Asia here. @StoneInky and I use em-dashes.

 

[Rhaps]

I use em-dashes. I use my phone keyboard to write, so I just hold down the normal dash.

Or when I need to edit on my laptop, it isn't a problem because I have memorized its special character code, Alt+0151

 

[LilRora]

I have had a lot of people tell me that I should use this - I know this under the "pause" name because that's kinda what it does but that my be a quirk of my native language - to do exactly this kind of insertions, but I never did figure out how to write them universally without them being a pain in the ass, so I never bothered using them. I did replace them using Word's find and replace feature in my story once.

 

[GwynLordofTinder]

I use them all the time, excellent way to demonstrate someone being cut off when they're spea-

 

[laccoff_mawning]

I didn't realise there was a difference between hyphons and em dashes until I read something in this forum about them.

I use hyphons instead of em dashes.

 

[Okram]

Occasionally, but most of the time brain go brrrr and goes "Me forgor"....

 

[RepresentingCaution]

I have one in a document so I can copy and paste it.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

AI hysteria is on the rise, just as AIs have started actively covering for their own. A text that’s clearly written by AI? It confidently labels as 100% human. Meanwhile a piece obviously written by a human? It’ll call it at least 50% AI-generated. I’ve mentioned this before, the experiment with the short essay about a chair’s adventures. AI wrote it by itself then flagged it as entirely human-written.
So yeah, just trust your own eyes.
And yes, I use em-dashes. I love pauses that’s why I lean on em-dashes and three dots. But now I avoid them just to stay out of this witch-hunt race.

 

[foxoftheasterisk]

I started using em dashes after my beta pointed out they were the correct thing to be using where I was using them.

But I mostly write on a phone keyboard, so all I have to do to get the em dash is hold down the period key—I have it custom set to that, but even without it it'd be just push the symbol button and hold the dash.

And on desktop, when I need an em dash, I hit windows-period. Which also gives access to emoji!

Oh, and I'm a native speaker.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

But here’s what I’ve noticed
AI-generated texts have started to noticeably degrade. Either some new restrictions were put in place, or the networks have hit a critical mass of recycled AI content being fed back into them.
There are clear signs of AI involvement beyond just the em-dashes. There's also the feel of the text. AI can’t replicate that. And it tends to lose the layers of a story. I’ve seen it. just the writing feels plastic, but the plot itself starts to fall apart.
I notice it a lot with people who show up here begging for feedback. I don’t get why they do it. I’d rather just move on. Telling someone their story was AI-generated? What’s the point? That person already knows an AI wrote it.

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

What's funny is, I never used to use em-dashes at all.

All of this stuff about AIs and Em-dashes made me need to learn what the proper use of an em-dash was. Now I have started to use them.

Quick tip: holding the window key + pressing the period [.] key brings up a tool to select emojis and symbols — very useful.

It gives me fast access to this as well: ‽

Oh, and I am 50, so on the old side for here probably.

messing around now: ಠ_ಠ ‱※₶₹ʛɢʮ↮↸↺⇇¾ⅷ⅝⨀⨎⨛⨩⩎απᾀέΌᾠᾨͷϿϾ

So there's a lot of symbols available with that little command. :D

ᓚᘏᗢ
This so cool n helpful.

I use em but for cutting off sentences. Although, with a quick search after lacoff pointed it out, I'll probably use it for that mid-sentence break. I hadn't figured out how to do that even if that's how a good 90% of the people around me talk.

 

[WhaleSprite]

I use them a lot. But not during my very first drafts just cuz I'm just staying to get the bare necessities in first. Then I add them later. I like using them because I have a tendency to add things mid sentence. Especially in my stories more rich in humor. To me they seem less formal than a comma or semicolon. And more punchy. Unconsciously I associate em dashes with my more goofy stories.

My stories where they're more lore/world building heavy and serious or when the story has a much heavier tone. I have a tendency to use them less often.

For example my current litRPG I'm writing uses them--a lot. ?

But I have a story not published on here that is super fantasy world building type story with tons of lore and a heavier story tone. I don't really use em dashes for that one, because it doesn't fit the tone.

Idk if that made sense ? basically I associate em dashes with my less formal or humor heavy stories.

And I'm a native English speaker

 

[CodeCrisis]

As a NA native english speaker, I haven't used them myself, but I have been wanting to, but since I do all of my writing on my phone at the moment, I couldn't figure out how to do it (figured out how to do it writing this— lol). I've just been using hyphens and/or commas to simulate an em-dash. And now, I shall proceed to use them every other sentence!

 

[BigBadBoi]

what the fuck is an em dash?

 

[ChubbyLiv]

I write on my e-book, so it's easy to get access to em-dashes, and have been using them since a "human" editor recommended them to me and gave me tips on how to use them in writing. ?

 

[lambenttyto]

I'm a native speaker and I don't use AI. I use MS Word, and I use em dashes all the time--they help set off and draw attention to a line of text. They can also be used a bit like parentheses--like this--and so this makes them very useful. I use em dashes regularly in all my writing (and I also use parentheses as well.) Sometimes I might type something into MS word and then paste it into a forum, if it's a long post.

 

[Anonjohn20]

if you double hyphen (--) it will replace with an em-dash.

This whole time, whenever I needed one, I would be forced to look up the code I can never remember, and this shortcut existed! FML

 

[Zagaroth]

what the fuck is an em dash?

Here's an amusing short (5:35) video on the subject:

But there are three dashes.
- (dash/hyphen)
– (En-dash, because it's the width of an 'N')
— (Em-dash, because it's the width of an 'M')

 

[Kara_dija]

Yes, non native English. I edit and post whatever it is through my phone and it's very easy to put — just about everywhere. My story contains them too. While my story may get witch hunted for this. But I write them on my own, and I recently learnt the proper use of it through google, other writers, and gpt. I find them convenient and funny. Kinda wanna make it like my signature look ig.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Honestly not sure if I use em or en dashes, but I use them, colons and semi-colons quite a bit.
I was raised speaking American but reading British English so I'm a bit of a mess...