To Em Dash or Not to Em Dash — A Fundraiser’s Defense
What does William Shakespeare have in common with your favorite direct marketing and fundraising agency?
Aside from being stellar writers who know our audiences, we're also vehement advocates for the em dash. Shakespeare knew then what we know now: This simple punctuation mark has the power to change your entire message.
But it’s not without its critics. Some claim the em dash is a tell-tale sign that content is AI generated, while others relegate its usage to laziness. Never has a punctuation mark been so hotly contested since the Oxford comma!
As Sanky’s Copy Director, a former journalist, and a self-professed grammar nerd, I set out on a journey to understand its origins. And that takes us back to the Middle Ages.
In the 12th century, Italian scholar and grammarian Boncompagno da Signa proposed using a dash to end sentences. This early precursor to the period acted as a forceful mark — a means to end a thought with determination.
Fast-forward to the mid-1400s, when printing press inventor Johannes Gutenberg employed the em dash to separate phrases for clarity. William Shakespeare, who wrote the mark with two hyphens, later expanded its use to reflect dramatic pauses or interruptions, or to give the final word on a matter. (And what was more final than Caesar’s death?)
CINNA
O Caesar--
CAESAR
Hence! Wilt thou lift up Olympus?
DECIUS
Great Caesar--
CAESAR
Doth not Brutus bootless kneel?
CASCA
Speak, hands, for me!
They stab Caesar.
CAESAR
Et tu Brutè? --Then fall, Caesar!
Dies
Though some have accused the playwright of plagiarism, he certainly didn’t use ChatGPT to spin yarns of power and revenge, of love and death.
Almost 450 years later, writers are still using em dashes in the Shakespearean spirit. And for good reason! There’s a lot to be said about how we employ grammar to evoke feelings — and to drive action.
When used correctly, em dashes command our readers’ attention. Commas, useful in exhaustive lists, could never match up. Ellipses, though similar in creating a dramatic pause, lend to thoughtful prose rather than decisive action. Colons demand quick response, but fail to flow naturally in long-form copy.
While many readers gloss over these characters, writers (especially fundraising writers) agonize every mark and meaning. Something powerful happens in that extra-long space — it’s the millisecond where your audience processes their emotions and decides if they’re going to scroll right past or take action. It’s more than just punctuation, it’s strategy.
Therein lies the irony of AI panic. In worrying that em dashes signal robotic writing, its critics are demanding that we write more like robots, devoid of the subtle techniques that make prose compelling.
With the holiday giving season on the horizon, don’t let the grammar police dictate your strategy. Use every tool at your disposal — especially the em dash — to capture your readers and turn them into donors. Besides, if it’s good enough for Shakespeare, it’s good enough for us!
