Within the larger em dash/AI writing debate lies a crucial question: To space or not to space? Should em dash enthusiasts write them “open” — like this — or “closed”—like this—?
Some writers believe this spacing conflict is part of another debate: AP Style (pro-spaces) vs. other style guides such as Chicago (anti-spaces). True, but boiling the matter down to style guides is an oversimplification.
I’m a proponent of em dash spacing because I believe this style choice can enhance readability and scannability, foster good writing habits and heighten emotional impact. Conversely, em dashes without spaces increase the risk of inefficient scanning and unfair AI writing accusations. Less space can mean less emotional impact.
Allow me to demonstrate.
Spaces Enhance the Intended Impact of Em Dashes
- ,
- ;
- :
- …
- .
- ()
Grammatically speaking, these six punctuation marks cover the functions of an em dash or en dash. These options are shorter, and they help avoid dash overuse. As an editor, I have spent dozens of hours replacing misused or suboptimal em dashes with commas, colons, semicolons, ellipses, parentheses and periods (as in splitting the clause before the em dash and after into two sentences with minor edits from the originals). So why use em dashes at all?
Because they have a different effect. Em dashes make us pause longer than commas. Compared to commas, em dashes more effectively signal an unessential clause, and they work better for lengthier clauses. An ellipsis also triggers a longer pause, but with a foreboding emotional effect. Em dashes, on the other hand, are more neutral and context-dependent. Colons are more likely to make readers expect a list and an impending end to a sentence, not an interruption. I’m not going to embark on a long tangent about what semicolons are supposed to do, but we can agree they have a different effect than dashes. Parentheses also don’t function as well for signaling an interruption or emotional effect. Obviously we know periods are for pauses, but not all em dashes should be edited into two sentences.
Spaces amplify the intended effects of em dashes. You want the reader to pause. Spacing further ensures that pause by lengthening reading or scanning time.
Or you want the reader to understand that the text between your em dashes is a cheeky aside, or perhaps a detour. With one character, you’re trying to say, “You can skip this interruption and come back to it later if you only want to read the complete sentence. Reading this text won’t change the meaning of the larger sentence, but you’ll get some extra details that might be interesting.”
Again, spaces help readers efficiently deduce these intentions. In dialogue, a cheeky aside stands out more if you first take a breath. While driving, it’s easier to scan a detour sign if it’s not crammed next to a bunch of other signs.
Less Undeserved AI Writing Accusations?
Because we’re in the boom era of AI industry expansion, readers, editors, bosses and clients often incorrectly assume us writers are employing an AI tool to produce our work.
It’s impossible to proactively eradicate all of these undeserved accusations and convince 100% of incorrect accusers. Fortunately it might be possible to at least reduce the causes of wrongful AI allegations.
There’s a common notion in the editorial world that AI writing tools produce far more em dashes than humans. If you don’t write any em dashes, you’ll lower the chance of AI slander. But then you’ll miss out on the benefits of our beloved punctuation mark.
A colleague of mine posed a compromise solution. It needs more testing, but the logic behind it is sound.
ChatGPT is currently the most popular generative AI tool for many purposes, including writing. Their system’s default is the closed em dash. From my meetings with other editors, I can confirm that many of them look specifically for closed dashes while sniffing for scents of AI usage. Therefore — = less incorrect AI accusations than—.
I’m having trouble confirming exactly which other LLMs default to no-space em dashes. If you use one of these tools and can confirm its default em dash spacing, please send me a message or leave a comment.
Editorial Note: Read my article, “Writer to Writer: A Dire Warning About AI”
Only Dashes Have a Spacing Option, So Why Not Use It?
With the six alternative punctuation marks I mentioned, there is no grammatically correct option to insert spaces around them. To my knowledge, dashes are the only punctuation marks where both spacing and no spacing are grammatically correct.
So why not exercise the spacing style choice? Again, it’s about visual and mental differentiation. Think of spaces as a celebration of the em dash’s unique capability. When you put up an art piece on your wall, it feels more special when it’s spaced apart from wall edges and other art pieces.
Reducing Hyphen Confusion
I prefer em dashes over en dashes because the former are easier to visually differentiate from hyphens. The extra length is crucial.
Unfortunately the em dash choice doesn’t completely solve the problem. There are situations where readers may confuse closed em dashes and hyphens. Throughout my career, I have worked with many businesses that commit to a font before thinking about how certain punctuation marks will appear. By the time business leaders see that dashes and hyphens look similar to a non-designer eye (most people), it’s too late to pick a different font. Too much time and money has been invested.
I haven’t been able to recall the names of the fonts used during these cases. Fortunately one of my freelance designers helped me browse a selection from Google Fonts. Here are some of the fonts I spotted where there is less of a length difference between hyphens and dashes:
The more you zoom out, the harder it is to discern the difference, especially for readers with vision problems. When readers quickly scan many paragraphs of text in a long-form content piece, they are usually zoomed out.
During these situations, I have pushed for open em dashes to be part of a style guide, and people have listened to me most of the time. Scanners often conflate unspaced dashes with hyphens. This mental error grinds their scanning to a halt. An extra two spaces is a reasonable price for avoiding this inefficiency. I have yet to hear of a case where a reader saw a spaced horizontal line and still assumed it was a hyphen.
Em Dash Overuse is a Big Problem, and Spacing Might Reduce It
As a writer and editor with more than a decade of experience, em dash overuse is one of the most rampant bad habits I’ve seen.
Despite being a dash rehabilitation counselor, I’m able to empathize with dash junkies. When one of my journalism mentors showed me how to use an em dash, I was addicted for a few months. It was like I had discovered and mastered the prose equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife. Next to this versatile tool that could fit in my pocket, my old toolbox felt heavy.
But gratuitous repetition will dull even the sharpest tool. Imagine a 500-word article with four em dashes and not a single colon, semicolon, ellipsis or parenthetical. A reader sees that the first dash is an interruption where the clause between dashes is not required reading. The reader assumes the second instance will be similar. Instead they skip a list of important information. A colon would have performed better.
These little mistakes add up. They lose readers, subscribers, shares, clicks, credibility, positive reviews and ultimately money. Em dash overuse is a big problem that demands an arsenal of practical solutions.
In my experience, there is a significant correlation between em dash spacing and the reduction of overuse. I’ve worked with dozens of writers who begin our relationship as closed em dash users. There are many instances when I have to directly edit so I can publish faster, as opposed to leaving comments and waiting on revisions. When these writers notice me spacing their em dashes, subsequent submissions eventually contain less overuse and more punctuation versatility. A few years ago I asked my latest pool of former no-spacers why they were decreasing their overall usage, and about half of them said the spaces helped them efficiently recognize overuse while performing their own edits.
The logic makes sense. Spacing increases our attention, including thoughtfulness on errors. Spacing increases mental weight as well. When we view something as heavier, we consider deploying it sparingly.
Ideally us editors can combat dash overuse by giving feedback. When time is not on our side, it’s nice to know that spaces alone might be effective. I write “might” because my evidence is only anecdotal. If I can muster the resources some day, I’d love to fund a study on whether spacing in direct edits has a statistically significant reduction effect on em dash overusers who prefer no spaces or come from a Chicago background.
How Spacing Heightens Emotional Impact
In my second novel, “The Last of the Mentally Ill,” there is a scene around the beginning of the book that reveals how the main character doesn’t only have social anxiety as an emotion; he has a clinical diagnosis of social anxiety disorder. During a session with the head of the facility he lives in, he glimpses a sheet of paper with notes on his illnesses.
“He did not see the other acronym, but he knew it was there. SAD, social anxiety disorder — such an appropriate acronym, Chester thought.”
In this case, the open em dash heightens several emotionally-charged points:
- The reveal of the diagnosis
- The diagnosis causing Chester to pause and slow his thoughts
- Chester’s belief that it’s sad to have the disorder, that he should feel shame
If you know other examples of spaced em dashes functioning this way, please send me a message, and I’ll consider adding one or two in this section of the article.
Responding to the Counterargument of Unnecessary Space Being Bad
The main argument I’ve heard from my anti-spacing colleagues is that spacing goes against the ‘less is more’ aphorism about writing. If the spaces aren’t necessary, why have them? Why not save space?
Indeed, the spaces are not necessary. There can be a benefit to saving space. Nonetheless, I believe the aforementioned benefits of open dashes far outweigh the drawback of extra space consumption.
Writers mostly employ em dashes in long-form text formats: articles, case studies, whitepapers, academic research papers, books, manuals, etc. The vast majority of this content exists online or in physical formats where a couple of extra spaces is of no consequence.
I’ve written for physical newspapers and magazines. In these mediums, extra spaces can matter. Managers of these mediums have good reason to require closed em dashes. A few spaces can determine whether a narrow column has an extra line, and an extra line can block space for an important visual element, caption or ad.
Spaces also matter in short-form writing such as digital ad copywriting with limited character counts. When I’ve worked on this type of project, I’ve seen managers either not care about style guides, or make exceptions. I can imagine a case where an em dash works well with particular wording, but there’s no room for those extra two or four spaces.
Otherwise I have yet to see a compelling argument against em dash spacing.
Strive for Quality and Flexibility, Not Blind Style Guide Loyalty
Early in my career I was lucky to work with two women who turned me into a competent journalist and dramatically improved my writing. Both of them favored AP Style, and one of them had worked at the Associated Press for many years. As time marched forward and my love goggles for AP Style faded, I became less dogmatic. I questioned style choices and made changes. For the style choices that remained, I developed a deeper understanding of why they work.
Today I am logical and flexible about style choices. If you convince me I should make a style choice change, I won’t care if I’m combining aspects of AP and Chicago. If you were to show me a study on why no-spaces is better for writers and readers, I would seriously consider making the switch. Until then, em dash spacing will be the law of my land, and I will spread its gospel as far and wide as I can.
Editorial Note: Feature image credit to Sharp Wilkinson
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