Interrupted Speech - Writers Forum

Archduke Robert of France · 12-29-2006, 01:26 AM

I've been trying to get this thing down for a long time, but I'm not sure how to use the hyphen when you have interrupted speech. For example:

"The murderer was -"
Suddenly the lights went out

Is it like that or something different?

Ilan Bouchard · 12-29-2006, 01:29 AM

Close, but wrong hyphen.

Use this one (I don't know the name):

"The murderer was—"
Suddenly, the lights went out.

Archduke Robert of France · 12-29-2006, 01:31 AM

Hmm, where is that on my keyboard?

-
--
-

Ilan Bouchard · 12-29-2006, 01:39 AM

I use a mac, and it's "option" + "shift" + "-".

I'm afraid I don't know what it is on windows.

Archduke Robert of France · 12-29-2006, 01:40 AM

Hmm, let's see if that works.

Nope, it just zoomed in. Well I did some perusing and found out that I could also just use two hypens.

Thanks! :p

rboy27 · 12-29-2006, 01:42 AM

On Microsoft Word if you type two regular hypens with no space in between, it should automatically format correctly.

Archduke Robert of France · 12-29-2006, 02:07 AM

Well I have the sucky Microsoft Works Word Processor which doesn't have anywhere NEAR the wholesomeness of the MS Word.

mwd · 12-29-2006, 02:14 AM

It's called an emdash. You should be able to insert one, even in Works, by holding Alt and typing 0151 on the numpad (or by using the character map and copy/pasting, but that's probably more work).

That's if you want an actual emdash. If this is a manuscript you're actually going to be submitting somewhere then two hyphens should be fine, because that's understood to be an emdash (and is actually preferred to an emdash by most editors since it's more obvious).

Archduke Robert of France · 12-29-2006, 02:17 AM

Hey, that worked.

Thank vous.

mammamaia · 12-29-2006, 02:26 PM

an 'em dash' is two words... there is also an 'en dash'... 'em' is = to 2 'ens'...

but what you need for interrupted speech is an ellipsis [...] not a dash of any kind...

if you have a 'tools' option on your document tool bar [top of the page], in there under 'options>insert you'll find the greek 'omega' symbol [Ω] that is the icon for 'symbols'... you can drag that to your document's tool bar and then whenever you need a dash or ellipsis or any accent marks, etc., you only need click on it to insert whatever you want...

A Simple Man · 12-29-2006, 02:31 PM

now i'm confused again. I had just started with the "emdash", or two hyphens. i'm sure i read that in the dialogue instruction on here. i will go look again...

mammamaia · 12-29-2006, 02:54 PM

check it out in a good style/punctuation guide... i could be off base on that... but i think it may come down to an optional matter of personal style...

mwd · 12-29-2006, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mammamaia

but what you need for interrupted speech is an ellipsis [...] not a dash of any kind...

Nope. An em dash (pardon my earlier spacing) is used for interrupted speech. Ellipses are used when the speech trails off gradually, whereas em dashes are for when it stops abruptly.

Here, I'll find some examples from the books on my desk...

The short story "Recall Mechanism" by Philip K. Dick, which also shows em dashes being used for hesitation, not just interruption. Dick loved his em dashes:

Quote:

Giller wasn't amused. "Are you ashamed to have come from the very section that was once—"
"I know. The egg-laying capital of the universe. Sometimes I wonder—how many chicken feathers do you suppose were drifting around, the day the first H-bomb hit our town?"

"A Way You'll Never Be", by Hemingway:

Quote:

"Let me send—"
"No," said Nick. "As a mark of confidence."

"Fathers and Sons", also by Hemingway:

Quote:

"But Billy—"
"I no mind Billy. He my brother."

Knightskye · 12-29-2006, 03:22 PM

When I'm typing on Microsoft Word, I just do two hyphens --, and then I hit enter (return) and it turns into an EM dash. Then I hit Backspace (the little arrow pointing to the left), it goes back to the EM dash and I continue typing.