AI Cannot Have Em Dashes — They are for real writers

Here's how to use the em dash — and other rhythmic punctuation — well

“The em dash is having a bit of a cultural moment,” said no one ever — until now.

The internet has been ablaze with discussion about the em dash — because em dashes are often overused by generative AI.

The em dash has become a bit of an “AI writing tell.”

Now the aim of Write Your Mother is not to teach you how to disguise your AI writing to make it more palatable. It is in fact to teach you how to write well as a human… so that you can never be replaced by AI, and you don’t need to turn to it to outsource your expression.

The funny thing about this is that the em dash has always felt like a romantic, “writerly” form of punctuation to me, beloved of real writers and word nerds everywhere.

So with that, let’s talk about how to use the em dash, as well as other forms of punctuation you might choose, and why!

I want to thank Dr. Laury Magnus (aka my Mother) for co-writing this piece and sharing her ideas about how to use punctuation correctly (as well as for effect).

Stylistic Considerations

First things first, mom my wanted to tell you this:

“I have some thoughts about style. Style is your personal voice mixed with the etiquette of whatever you’re writing for. The personal voice will imitate your own speech, but it’s best to primarily stay within the rules of your purpose for writing.”

Keep in mind the following punctuation marks are both rhythmic and stylistic.

In general, all of the following devices are used to separate (while interconnecting) thoughts.

— Em dash —

The em dash is the most emphatic form of punctuation — it puts the most emphasis on your wording.

“Tomorrow is a great day — we’re going swimming.”

Here, “we’re going swimming” is emphasized.

The double em dash shifts the emphasis to whatever lives within your dashes.

For example:

“Tomorrow — a great day — we’re going swimming.”

Here, “a great day” is emphasized.

On the other hand — if you want to de-emphasize…

(Parentheses)

Parentheticals de-emphasize (think of this as an “aside” in a play, a tangential piece of text).

So the above example becomes:

“Tomorrow (a great day) we’re going swimming.”

Now (in the parentheses) a great day functions as a commentary on tomorrow.

Reminder: when you use a parenthetical, the punctuation to end your sentence always goes on the outside of the parenthesis. This is often used willy-nilly in copywriting. My mom used to have her students repeat: “Parentheses defer punctuation.” Aka — whatever punctuation you might need goes after you’ve completed the parenthesis.

I have historically enjoyed parentheticals (because I think they’re a bit cheeky, and I guess I am too).

Commas,

Mom tells me the simplest rule about commas is this:

Pairs (two things) no comma. Series (three things) commas.

For example:

Tom and I put socks and shoes into the truck.

Tom and I put socks, shoes, and sneakers into the trunk.

When it comes to separating ideas, you use a comma to separate a secondary idea.

Unlike a parenthetical — or a dash— a comma is a softer way of separating ideas, like a gentle reminder for your reader to take a breath.

Commas are less intrusive to the read visually, and, my mom reminds me, there are many comma rules (this comma separates two sentences joined with an “and”).

Colon:

Colons are generally used for one major purpose:

To introduce a list.

Semicolon;

These are very complicated and will require their own post;

… And last but not least…

… Ellipses…

Ellipses are associated with quoted materials, or partially quoted materials.

It’s how you tailor your references to other texts… and bring one piece of a text next to another. Which means it can also be used to slant your argument in your favor.

When it comes to filmmaking…

Ellipses are an iconic form of punctuation in screenwriting… causing fierce debate in my film program, because, alas, they are often overused to create a sense of suspense and have been accused of being cheesy.

The ellipses are famously linked to early television shows and the concept of the cliffhanger.

Writers would complete a cliffhanging episode and leave the audience in suspense with a famous … (“dot dot dot”).

Let’s put a period on this.

Sometimes you don’t need to connect clauses and ideas, because you have in fact written a sentence that is too long.

Use shorter sentences for emphasis and clarity. Contain one idea in one sentence. Challenge yourself.

My mom and I are both fans of long sentences — if they are grammatically correct they can be quite artful, but they always have to alternate with short sentences here and there.

One of the problems with AI writing is that it doesn’t have human musicality, granted to us by understanding these stylistic variations. Which is likely why so many of us are up in arms about the idea of AI being associated with the em dash.

Become a student of your own style. So that your writing, even if much imitated, can never be replicated.

P.S. Em dashes are for humans — forever.