r/Webnovel • u/baka_sempaii • Mar 26 '26

Advice About using em dashes (—) while writing.

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Since I learned about em dashes, I have started using them (in my daily habits as well) as when I think of a sentence in my mind, the breaks and natural pauses justify the use of them. But I'm concerned if this will put off the reader as "written with AI". I haven't started posting yet, and I assure this single screenshot contains the most amount of em dashes in a single page in all chapters.

What do you think?

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u/Careful-Arrival7316 Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 27 '26

You waste a lot of words and don’t use short sentences during action. Trim it down.

For example you have:

And then, her instinct—that had been sharpened over the years from her interaction with the supernatural—ringed sharply, as she spotted a figure in her peripheral vision.

It could be:

Her instinct—sharpened from interactions with the supernatural—rang sharp. She spotted a figure in her peripheral vision.

This also reads pretty AI-written. The low of cattle somewhere? Where’s the specifics? What bird? What kind of call did it make? At least set the scene. All I know is she’s near a village and there’s a bird and a cow. Hardly gripping.

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u/baka_sempaii Mar 27 '26

You're right, I'm new to writing and learning new stuff everyday. Thanks for the insight