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You're Not Wrong—But You're Not Right Either
I was reading the Reddit forum r/writing the other day and came across a post I found interesting. OP was asking about how to use an em-dash in dialog and they asked about something I’ve been struggling to get right. It’s taken multiple editing sessions but I now understand it.
OP’s question was:
The sentence is:
“You know, she’s right. The camera man”—he gestured to her—“or woman, is the heart of every great ghost hunting crew.”
Am I using the em dash correctly?
I was excited because I knew the answer, but I decided to read the comments first to see if others had already answered.
The First Comment
The first comment had the correct answer:
The Chicago Manual Of Style recommends using em dashes around the action beat, to indicate an interruption. CMOS is more or less the industry standard, so it’s a solid reason to use the formatting in your first example.
Several others further down also reiterated that OP was correct according to CMOS.
I’m done, right? No more need to read the comments. But like a car crash, I couldn’t look away. And of course, I get to see the mandatory comment responses alongside the correct one that answered the question.
Um, actually…
This is the most common type of comment on the Internet. This commenter has to be right and make sure that everyone around them both knows it and acknowledges their superiority.
One person claims you should use commas instead:
Seems more appropriate to use commas here. To me, and I’ve abused them before making dialogue too realistic, the emdash is best use for as true interruption that will have a dramatic impact.
Another, that you should reposition the dashes:
This version:
“You know, she’s right. The camera man—” he gestured to her, “—or woman, is the heart of every great ghost hunting crew.”Reads better.
Both agree that em-dashes are used for interruptions. Only.
Why Do It That Way?
Another really common response to a clear question is to ask why they want to do it that way and then express their personal preference.
In the original post, OP asked for advice on how to use em-dashes. Yet many people responded along the lines of:
A gesture that accompanies speech calls for commas.
Or
I feel like commas would be more appropriate because they indicate a continuation of speech, thought, action, etc.
What cracks me up is that one person even provides a grammatically incorrect example, trying to justify using commas. And instead of explaining the correct use of em-dashes, they demonstrate how to write a comma-splice.
“I haven’t had much caffeine as I’d prefer, and my brain isn’t fully awake yet,” I paused as I gathered my thoughts, “but I hope that makes sense.”
Or two comma-splices, actually.
I Don’t Like Posting Questions Online
It’s annoying to me when I ask a fact-based question, e.g. how do I use em-dashes in this situation? And I am answered with opinions.
Only the first response cites a source. The rest? Just personal preference masquerading as editorial advice.
But I found this post to be especially demonstrative of the phenomenon of internet comments.
And this is why I draft my blog posts alone in my office with just my coffee for company, consult CMOS in private, and ever, ever click “Sort by New.”
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