So Long, Em Dash

Back in 2023, I was one of the speakers at a blogging and grammar workshop, and one of my topics was the use of dashes in the English language. Dash, en dash, and em dash each have specific functions. And I remember sharing that the em dash is my favorite. Not just among the dashes, but of all punctuation marks. 

If you've been here long before AI became a thing, you would have seen that I've used the em dash in almost every post. I've used it back when typing double dashes was the only way I knew how to make an em dash (took me long enough to use the keyboard shortcuts in both Mac and Windows 😅).

But now, I'm avoiding it like plague.

And it's not because I don't like it anymore. It's because I'm afraid my writing might look fake. 

You see, writers and voracious readers can usually tell when a piece isn't human from a mile away. AI-generated texts have a distinct voice, tone, and style. But an average reader does not know that. Their only indicator is the existence of em dashes in your writing. 

All those years of practicing and trying to improve my craft, reduced to ‘Gi-chatGPT lang’? That would bruise my ego more than any critique ever could.

But I totally understand where they're coming from. Regular folks don't use the em dash. It wasn't commonly used in everyday writing (read: social media captions), yet now it has become ubiquitous. 

What I wish people would understand is that, writers do not write like the AI. The AI writes like us, except for its obnoxious overuse of the em dash. And you can't stop AI from using it. Can’t blame it, though. The em dash—that sexy little ninja that can slice through your sentence—is irrefutably irresistible. You can bend the rules in writing with it. I've danced and made love with it.

I feel you, Gretchen.

It breaks my heart that I have to hold myself back whenever I write something that is better written with an em dash. 

Yes, I tried to ditch it. Even tried to make peace with the semicolon that I've always avoided eye contact with. I'm not confident in my ability to use the semicolon correctly, but I was willing to risk revealing how my literary prowess is still stuck in its juvenile phase just so I can forget about the em dash.

But I realized I couldn't give the em dash up. No, not entirely. Sure, I now use it with fear and probably a little shame. But if sounding like robot is what makes me me and human, then beep boop beep. I suppose my only saving grace is that AI is overly polite. I am not.