How To Use Dashes In Dialogue
Although colons and commas can serve the same function em dashes create a more dramatic effect.
How to use dashes in dialogue. In written dialogue if a speaker suddenly or abruptly stops speaking hesitates in speech or is cut off by another speaker a dash can indicate the pause or interruption. Use em dashes outside the quotation marks to set off a bit of action without a speech verb. It s longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause. Em dash in word for windows. I practice it but my only conceptual understanding is that the dash dialogue format allows you to group a character s entire range of actions thoughts and words into one chunk headed by a dash.
Ctrl shift spacebar. Emphasize important or essential information em dashes can be used to emphasize important or essential information midsentence or at the end of sentences. Alt ctrl period. Ctrl alt minus key on the numeric keypad nonbreaking space in word for mac. An em dash is also useful in dialogue to show a break in thought that s abrupt rather than a trailing thought that gets an ellipsis.
Ellipsis character in word for windows. A dash is a little horizontal line that floats in the middle of a line of text not at the bottom. Dashes are used to separate groups of words not to separate parts of words like a hyphen does. I i don t know what you re talking about denied the politician. Does anyone use em dashes or two hyphens to denote speakers in dialogue passages.
We can also use dashes in scene description. Nonbreaking space in word for windows. We can use double dashes to denote when a side of dialogue is interrupted by lines of scene description it continues over the scene description then is picked up in the next side of dialogue. To break up dialogue. An example from the opening page of the apartment written by billy wilder and i a l.
With an abrupt change of thought or an idea that breaks into the flow of a sentence use dashes to set off the words their example people grew impatient the parade was already thirty minutes behind schedule and began to leave. Joyce does this as does william gaddis. Use an em dash with an exclamation point or question mark but not with a comma a colon or a semi colon and only rarely with a period.