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newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
It's not even that the norm is necessarily the "best" way of doing things. I find McCarthy style em dashes easier to follow.

The reason I don't (often) use them is that I understand that when a reader sees unconventional punctuation an undue amount of their attention is drawn to it. You better be drat sure your dialogue is flawless before you shine a spotlight on it like that. Every tiny mistake will be stand out.

That said if you're doing something that already draws attention to the dialogue (say a dialogue-only story) they may be appropriate, just for the sleeker look on the page.

George Saunders' novel, Lincoln in the Bardo has very strange dialogue (if I could call it that) attribution, but it is very clear why he's done it, and he has the mastery to not only make it work, but to fill the possibilities that it opens up.

Can you really say that about your em dashes?

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newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

Trustworthy posted:

Truly a myriad of words

Is this a troll?

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