Dashing Conventions
My love of the em dash and my silent rebellion every time I use one.
I would be lost without the em dash. I would be unable to get the words out of my head and on to the page. The thoughts that take shape in my head — and how I talk in real life — rely on them.
Breaking the Law
I generally follow the Chicago Manual of Style, but not to the letter in all things — as I demonstrate now. Did you catch my flagrant misuse of my beloved em dash in the last sentence? It's the spaces. Style guides tell us to smash it all together—like this. Ew. While it does improve readability a little, I prefer the aesthetic of space dash space — the ocular jump inserts a breath.
En Dash
Does this apply to the en dash? I'm not a psychopath. The em dash's little sister should not have spaces. Not ever. Never-ever — not never - ever. The em and the en are very different things. Compounding words versus connecting related sentence parts.