Taking Back the Em Dash

Amongst our community of authors and editors, we’ve recently caught wind of a bit of an uproar about the em dash.

Apparently, it’s now being flagged as a punctuation mark frequently used by AI. Which means—by way of some impressively shaky logic—that any piece of writing containing a generous number of em dashes is suddenly met with squinty-eyed doubt and suspicion.

“This article [social post, email, book, etc.] has to be written by AI! Look at ’em all, for God’s sake! All those connectors!”

And yet.

As two professionals who use em dashes frequently—and who don’t use AI to write or edit books (keeping our use mostly to research, fact checking, creative brainstorming, and polishing marketing copy)—we feel compelled to sing their praises.

Because doing so may help explain why regular ’ole humans like us tend to use em dashes both liberally and enthusiastically.

• First and foremost, em dashes allow writers to signal emphasis with clarity and intention—without resorting to punctuation tools that can feel a little overwrought, such as italics, exclamation points (or yes, the ellipsis). Used well, they help guide the reader’s attention with a light but confident touch.

• They also allow two closely related thoughts to live together within a single sentence—often with more elegance than a semicolon (a punctuation mark that is sometimes grammatically correct and still emotionally questionable) or an overloaded comma (no shade to the comma; we love her).

• Em dashes can even save you from breaking an idea into unnecessary fragments. (Although—let’s be honest—sometimes a fragment is exactly right. Sometimes.)

• Taken together, all of this means that when em dashes are used thoughtfully and skillfully, they often result in writing that feels more natural, more conversational—and therefore more connected—to the reader.

In a nutshell, the em dash is one of the best tools in a writer’s kit (with the Oxford comma running a very close second—but that’s a topic for another day).

As part of the “connector” family—which includes hyphens and en dashes as well—that elegant little line helps shorten the distance between what a writer intends to say and what a reader actually receives. It allows meaning, tone, and rhythm to travel more directly from one human nervous system to another.

So yes—AI is a clever little bugger. But it learned this from us mere mortals—who have long known that em dashes are worth choosing again and again. They’re the punctuation mark that lives at a slightly higher elevation. When we use them, we often feel more fully expressed—and, dare we say—free.

And when we overdo it (which we inevitably will), that’s where editing steps in and says, “OK, you. That’s enough.”

…until the next temptation arises.