the em--dash

Well, we always learn something knew so I thought I would put this into my blog. It has come via Anne Bradshaw's blog. I have to organise my word I think for I am not getting it properly em-dash hmmm!

Today’s Writing Tip – Em-Dash
May 23rd, 2011 | Author: AnneBradshaw

I’m happy to once again welcome author Tristi Pinkston who is contributing to our writing tips today. She shares information about the em-dash – something we all need to know – whether writing about family history or writing a novel.
Tristi Pinkston
Tristi is a talented writer and editor. The title of her latest mystery/comedy is Dearly Departed.
What is an em-dash?
An em-dash is the dash we see most often in fiction writing. It’s the length of two hyphens. An en-dash is the length of one hyphen, and is used to separate numbers. But an em-dash is what we use for parenthetical comments. For instance, “She hoped he’d ask her to the dance – as a teenager, she’d never been invited to go to the prom – and maybe this was her chance to have those experiences.”
To properly make an em-dash, do the following: type your first word. In my example above, I would type “dance” and then I would hit the hyphen twice, without spacing. Then type your second word (“as,” in my example) and then hit the space. Word will take those two hyphens and create an em-dash. [See step-by-step guide below]
Or, you can push down “control” and “alt” and then hit the minus on the number pad on your keyboard.
The en-dash is something you don’t see a lot in fiction. If you were writing nonfiction, you might say, “See pages 74-76 for more information.” You wouldn’t use a regular hyphen there – you would want the en-dash.
So, how do you make the em-dash? You hit “control” and then the minus on the number pad. Note: It won’t work if you use the minus over the letter P – it needs to be the minus on the number pad.
Setting up the automatic em-dash in Microsoft Word
Click on the Office Button and then click on “Word Option” bottom right.
Click on “Proofing” and choose “AutoCorrect Options.”
Choose the “AutoFormat” tab and make sure “Hyphens” is checked.
Click on “AutoFormat As You Type” tab and make sure “Hyphens” is again checked. Then click on OK. This creates an em-dash in your manuscript.