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Q&A When to use the em dash (—) in fiction writing?

I always see the em dash (—) in fiction writing. Here are some example from Haruki Murakami's After Dark: Komugi comes in and takes something from one of the cartons piled against the wall—a...

1 answer  ·  posted 11y ago by Alexandro Chen‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question fiction punctuation
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T02:31:07Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/6349
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Alexandro Chen‭ · 2019-12-08T02:31:07Z (over 4 years ago)
I always see the em dash (—) in fiction writing.

Here are some example from Haruki Murakami's [After Dark](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_Dark_%28novel%29):

> Komugi comes in and takes something from one of the cartons piled against the wall—a fresh bathrobe to replace the one from room 404.
> 
> Mari says, "She told me he took everything—her handbag, her money, her cellphone."
> 
> "Well, _she_ couldn't help it," says Komugi. "When it starts, it starts—bang!"

When to use the em dash (—) in fiction writing?

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2012-09-16T14:13:22Z (over 11 years ago)
Original score: 5