My Favorite Punctuation Mark Has a PR Problem
Apparently, using an em dash now means ChatGPT wrote it. It’s upsetting me and my homegirl because I’ve been using it since at least high school, long before AI would become what it is today. So, indulge my rant, if you will.
Let’s start with the purpose of this little instigator. An em dash (—) signals an interruption, emphasis or abrupt change in thought. Like an aside. It creates rhythm. Lets a sentence breathe. Captures the way people actually think and often speak. Sometimes a comma just doesn't get the job done. A period can feel too final. But an em dash is that girl.
So when a client or marketing partner asks me to remove em dashes from my copy drafts, it hurts my heart. Because em dashes (when used appropriately) give writing flavor and flow.
Great writing has always had fingerprints. Some writers love semicolons. Others swear by fragments. Some write impossibly long sentences (sometimes that’s me). Or get a little comma crazy (or so I was told by my high school yearbook advisor). Some are fiercely loyal to the Oxford comma (not I, but respect).
This is what makes writing such an art form. Every good writer has an approach, a voice. This does not come by accident. They’re stylistic choices developed over years of reading and writing. Making mental and sometimes margin notes.
AI may be able to write and add punctuation, but it could never invent a writer’s voice. Her habits were formed by decades of books, briefs, deadlines, revisions and curiosity. By countless hours staring at a blank page or trying to meet a word count. With her pen, she lends her worldliness, failures, taste and humor to the reader as they journey together. That’s the difference.
The em dash has been a faithful co-conspirator for much of my life, through 10-page papers (from scratch, mind you), blog posts, client projects, love notes and countless bad drafts. If anything, the recent debate reminds me that good writers develop habits they barely notice. Mine just happens to be a long horizontal line with impeccable timing.
I wanted to use one here. I resisted.
Before you go…
If someone came to mind while reading this, send it to them. The best conversations often begin with, “This made me think of you.”
Then tell me in the comments: Do you not trust writing that includes em dashes?
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Delesia Watson is the founder of Life is Deleesh, a luxury copywriting studio. Based in New York City, she serves luxury clients worldwide, helping them convey a first-class approach across all brand touchpoints.
