Writing and Reading

Just as an homage to one of my little girl’s favorite characters on “Strawberry Shortcake”, I’ve titled this post in honor of the indomitable Rainbow Dash.

I don’t know who she is, though. I only hear her name about upteenth million times a day– “See Rainbow Dash, Daddy? Daddy! Daddy! Rainbow Dash is my favorite! Daddy, Daddy!”

I digress.

First off, let me just say a slightly belated Happy Halloween to you wonderful folks out there in Literary Land and hope you’re enjoying the verbal rollercoasters of ingenious books. And let me get down to business:

The topic of discussion is…. EM-DASHES.

My favorite typographical character. And also my worst enemy at times.

I’ll admit I didn’t know what they were for the longest time. To be honest, I really didn’t care. They just looked cool. It made the page in a book look like it was moving like water. Flowed.

What are they? This….

–

Two hyphens. Simple as that. And to see them used in the play of words is truly enjoyable. At least from my perspective. Naturally, became part of my style.

I know many of you know what I’m talking about. And you’ve seen me use ‘em liberally. Like shampoo–rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. And there…I used it. Right in that last sentence–see that funny line? And there’s another one–and another one–and another one.

So here’s the skinny on the em-dash. And the fat on it, too. The general concept and feel of the easily overused but yummy and seductive em-dash is that it conveys a…dramatic pause. DUM, DUM, DUUUUUM. The eye skims over it and sort of feels the draw-out, up to the next word. Very effective when trying to up the intensity in writing.

Here’s the fat on it, though…. If you–use it–too much–it turns your prose–into–a–choppy–mess.

Again, every rule can be stretched. Some rules can be broken, Neo. There is no spoon.

So let me tell you of what I learned regarding when it’s great to use em-dashes and to feel free and expressing drama through them.

Read Edgar Allan Poe. And notice the many em-dashes. You know why?

Because that stuff was written in first person. And not full-length, full-blown, full-figured novel writing either. Simple short stories. Pointed. Quick. Usually confined to two or three characters in the story and very few scene changes.

The reason why em-dashes can be so effective with that particular type of story is simple: they convey thought. And it authenticates a human voice for you. Sometimes the second person is added in there to personalize it even more. You can actually visualize the person talking to you. And em-dashes convey some of those natural pauses we hear from other people when they talk to us. It’s real. Raw. No holds barred. And powerful.

Generally, it enhances character without really doing anything for the movement of the plot. Which brings me to the danger of using them too much.

If you have a strong, dominant plot,

em-dashes will slow you down.

Remember that. While they may enhance character and action and even dialogue, be sure not to use them so much that it drags down the plot and draws way too much attention to the narrative voice.

This especially goes for anything done in third person. Even in third, there’s still a narrator. An omniscient person telling the story. However, that person telling your story isn’t actually part of the plot! So be sure to not overdo that person’s voice. You don’t want that sticking out too much over the plot or the characters themselves. The imagery of what you’re writing may look good with it, but it’ll make it harder to read when readers are trying to follow the plot and engage the story.

Got it? Very good. Gotta love em-dashes. I have to admit, I do. But learning to control them and use them to your project’s advantage is a priceless tool and typically undiscovered gem of good writing. That goes for any literary device. Learning to control them and when to use them.

Pleased that you’re all still here after me missing so many days writing the blog, by the way. I love you all. Now I must go–and figure out who this “Rainbow Dash” is.