Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Sometimes I Don't Wanna Use A Comma

Take--that--Grammar--Girl. I like me some em-dashes.

31 comments:

Corey Schwartz said...

Did i miss some announcement that it is brevity week? :)

Melanie Hooyenga said...

*raises hand*

I am an em dash abuser. I blame my day job as a graphic designer and my habit of interrupting myself.

Tess said...

dashes rock -- totally.

and, thanks for the comment on my blog. your story about the book your reading led to one thought that led to another that morphed to another and now I have a hilarious (and yet somehow intense) scene idea for my novel. How cool is that?

and, as I've been following your whole Query Ninja persona I have to say how talented you are. Have you ever considered editing?

Anonymous said...

I fully admit that I have no idea how they're using em dashes these days. I use them sparingly but I hear their in vogue right now.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

I'm unabashedly in love with em-dashes. They make stuff pop.

Umm, here is my word verification. Anyone care to take it on?
bedgent

Casey Something said...

Count me in. I'm pretty sure I overuse em-dashes.

Susan R. Mills said...

I love em-dashes, too. They are so fun to use (much better than a comma).

Stephanie McGee said...

Oh my gosh, your posts this week have been an absolute gem! Sorry that your revisions are being so yucky!

B.J. Anderson said...

Lol, you are too funny. Yes, I'm a fan of the ol' em dash.

Stina said...

I'm with you on the em-dashes. I love them and I'm not giving them up. No way.

PJ Hoover said...

I love me some em-dashes! — :)

Scott said...

I love - absolutely, positively - me some em dashes. Like how I put them in my comment??? I'm so clever sometimes it's frightening! : )

Elana Johnson said...

Corey, no announcement. Just for fun. :)

Melanie, phew. I'm so glad I'm not the only one that interrupts herself.

Tess, I'm so glad you got something out of it!! Yay for you!

L.T. Well, vogue or not, the em-dash rulez.

Casey, Wait. One can overuse em-dashes? Oh, crap...

Scott, you are--so--clever!

I'm glad you all like em-dashes as much as I do. Spread the <3!!

Abby Annis said...

Em-dashes rule and commas drool! ;)

Tana said...

I hate the comma. I was recently reprimanded for misuse of the hideous creature.

Wendy Paine Miller said...

:D
Here, Here!
~ Wendy

Unknown said...

A comment on dashes - I hate, absolutely HATE (yes, I love all caps too) (and parenthetical remarks as well - does that make me a LISP programmer?)

Ummm, where was I? Oh, yes - I HATE how MS Word tries to use it's 'smart quotes to point the WRONG way when I end a quote with a dash.

Ex: "You've got to be kidding! Paul is coming here right-"
Paul came storming into the room, interrupting the unnamed character above.

Wassup with that? Why can't it figure out that you can end an interruption with a dash? I end up using an ellipsis...

(and why doesn't an ellipsis look like an ellipse, anyway?)

Michelle McLean said...

I tend to abuse the ever wonderful ellipsis more than the em-dash...but I'm always open to new punctuation marks :D

Stephanie Thornton said...

I am a dash person- my WIP was littered with them and it was hard to sweep them away. :)

It's like one thought- that just keeps going!

Ryan S. Kinsgrove said...

I don't use em dashes all that much...well at all really. I'll admit that I'd really rather use commas than the em dash, or a parenthetical comment. Sorry:(

lisa and laura said...

I'm more of a parenthetical girl myself.

Unknown said...

And semi-colons! All em-dashes and semi-colons rise up.

Katie Ganshert said...

Tru dat (Gangsta style)

Elana Johnson said...

Oh, I parenthetical with the best of them. I'm all over that.

And MisterChris, you've just gotta put a letter there and then delete it. I've discovered all the ways to trick Word so I can keep my own sanity.

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

run on sentences are nice dont you think they really get the point across at least in my mind.

Hardygirl said...

I like semi-colons.

sf

Janna Leadbetter said...

I love em-dashes! Perhaps a little too much...

cleemckenzie said...

I'm an em-dasher and not ashamed one bit because I know the rules (comma v. semi-colon v. period). I just get tired of using them. Bad? Maybe because I suppose everyone should know the rules before they break them and I may not be helping in that "learning" effort. Hmmm. Maybe I'll edit my latest ms and see about being more traditional. Maybe not.

Unknown said...

Thanks, Elana!

Seems to me that a dash works better than an ellipsis, when attempting to communicate an interruption.

Traditionally, the ellipsis is used to... sorta... fade away...

:-)

Word Verification - audath. Doeth the word verification prothethor have a lithp? I have the audathity to uthe m-datheth...

Natalie Murphy said...

LMAO! I like how you think.

Becky Mushko said...

I am a fan of em dashes also—they're just so right when you want to showcase an interruption in thought.

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