This is true. If anyone tries to take my emdashes, I'll stab them. With the emdashes.
That's how you can tell human authors from AI.
AI will put in some em dashes, then apologise and take them out when told off.
Human authors will climb the filing cabinet, hissing, and defend their right to em dashes with a loaded stapler.
AI will put in some em dashes, then apologise and take them out when told off.
Human authors will climb the filing cabinet, hissing, and defend their right to em dashes with a loaded stapler.
Em dashes, like anything, should be used in moderation. Check first with your editor if em dashes are right for you. 😉
#WriteSky #WritingTips
#WriteSky #WritingTips
August 1, 2025 at 12:37 PM
This is true. If anyone tries to take my emdashes, I'll stab them. With the emdashes.
“because the reason the piece-of-shit AI loves an emdash is because it stole all our work, and all our work features a lot of goddamn emdashes.
It doesn’t use emdashes.
We use emdashes, and it stole our work and then mimics us.
Emdashes and all.”
It doesn’t use emdashes.
We use emdashes, and it stole our work and then mimics us.
Emdashes and all.”
Went ahead and talked about AI in writing and publishing (aka, that Shy Girl shit), and the perhaps unseen perniciousness of how AI can utterly fuck up the fidelity of our information environment --
Shy Girl, AI In Writing, And A New Perniciousness
I wanna talk about Cameron’s The Terminator and Carpenter’s The Thing, but first, let’s get it out of the way — If you know anything at all about me in this Current Era, it …
terribleminds.com
March 21, 2026 at 3:23 PM
“because the reason the piece-of-shit AI loves an emdash is because it stole all our work, and all our work features a lot of goddamn emdashes.
It doesn’t use emdashes.
We use emdashes, and it stole our work and then mimics us.
Emdashes and all.”
It doesn’t use emdashes.
We use emdashes, and it stole our work and then mimics us.
Emdashes and all.”
I love emdashes! And I’m a human being, damnit. *checks fingers* *counts seven fingers on each hand* oh no
February 9, 2025 at 7:23 PM
I love emdashes! And I’m a human being, damnit. *checks fingers* *counts seven fingers on each hand* oh no
I definitely use emdashes in my everyday posting, like any other normal real human
May 29, 2025 at 5:05 PM
I definitely use emdashes in my everyday posting, like any other normal real human
THIS IS HOMOPHOBIA, EMDASHES ARE A PILLAR OF THE LGBTQ
February 9, 2025 at 4:53 PM
THIS IS HOMOPHOBIA, EMDASHES ARE A PILLAR OF THE LGBTQ
None shall take my emdashes from me!
April 16, 2026 at 4:44 PM
None shall take my emdashes from me!
not everyone who uses emdashes is using ai, but everyone who uses ai uses emdashes
March 3, 2026 at 1:52 AM
not everyone who uses emdashes is using ai, but everyone who uses ai uses emdashes
Speaking of emdashes not inherently being AI
this piece is great even if it does include some compelling evidence that jaya is an LLM
August 2, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Speaking of emdashes not inherently being AI
I even have a keyboard shortcut to make emdashes.
June 1, 2025 at 11:25 PM
I even have a keyboard shortcut to make emdashes.
There are a lot of reasons I hate AI but one of my more petty grievances is that I use (and have always used) a ton of emdashes when I write
and APPARENTLY THAT'S A HALLMARK OF AI?????
Well guess what ChatGPT, you can pry my emdashes from my COLD DEAD (typing) HANDS
and APPARENTLY THAT'S A HALLMARK OF AI?????
Well guess what ChatGPT, you can pry my emdashes from my COLD DEAD (typing) HANDS
July 30, 2025 at 7:56 PM
There are a lot of reasons I hate AI but one of my more petty grievances is that I use (and have always used) a ton of emdashes when I write
and APPARENTLY THAT'S A HALLMARK OF AI?????
Well guess what ChatGPT, you can pry my emdashes from my COLD DEAD (typing) HANDS
and APPARENTLY THAT'S A HALLMARK OF AI?????
Well guess what ChatGPT, you can pry my emdashes from my COLD DEAD (typing) HANDS
LLMs overusage of emdashes has ruined articles for me
September 26, 2026 at 1:24 AM
LLMs overusage of emdashes has ruined articles for me
I'm not letting AI horseshit maneuver me into a defensive position with my writing. I write like I write. I love emdashes. I keep using emdashes. Whatever we write, AI will take and copy it -- all you can do is keep writing the best shit you can write in the form you want it to take, and fuck it.
Authors and journalists are doing more first-person (hello 2010s blogging) and embracing "mistakes" in writing to prove they're not chatbots. There's even an “anti-Grammarly" app that leaves in typos and signs off "sent from my iPhone" to create more authenticity: www.wired.com/story/more-t...
More Typos, Fewer Em Dashes: Writers Are Creating an Anti-AI ‘Literary Counterculture’
Novelists, journalists, and power LinkedIn posters are embracing first-person narratives and idiosyncrasies to avoid being mistaken for chat bots.
www.wired.com
July 29, 2026 at 2:19 PM
I'm not letting AI horseshit maneuver me into a defensive position with my writing. I write like I write. I love emdashes. I keep using emdashes. Whatever we write, AI will take and copy it -- all you can do is keep writing the best shit you can write in the form you want it to take, and fuck it.
it's like, where do you think AI got the emdashes from!!
May 14, 2026 at 7:34 PM
it's like, where do you think AI got the emdashes from!!
shoutout to women who use emdashes
June 28, 2025 at 5:28 PM
shoutout to women who use emdashes
Tell me about it, I use emdashes
January 31, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Tell me about it, I use emdashes
you'll know i wrote the copy myself because i will be using emdashes confidently and incorrectly
June 18, 2026 at 6:12 PM
you'll know i wrote the copy myself because i will be using emdashes confidently and incorrectly
Weirdly, I got yelled at recently for using too many semicolons where I should be putting emdashes
February 9, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Weirdly, I got yelled at recently for using too many semicolons where I should be putting emdashes
"If there's a lot of emdashes, that's not a real writer, it's a robot!"
Writers: Lol. yeah, okay, how about I emdash my foot up your--
Writers: Lol. yeah, okay, how about I emdash my foot up your--
February 13, 2025 at 2:53 AM
"If there's a lot of emdashes, that's not a real writer, it's a robot!"
Writers: Lol. yeah, okay, how about I emdash my foot up your--
Writers: Lol. yeah, okay, how about I emdash my foot up your--
I confess I am using emdashes more than I ever did before out of total spite.
“because the reason the piece-of-shit AI loves an emdash is because it stole all our work, and all our work features a lot of goddamn emdashes.
It doesn’t use emdashes.
We use emdashes, and it stole our work and then mimics us.
Emdashes and all.”
It doesn’t use emdashes.
We use emdashes, and it stole our work and then mimics us.
Emdashes and all.”
Went ahead and talked about AI in writing and publishing (aka, that Shy Girl shit), and the perhaps unseen perniciousness of how AI can utterly fuck up the fidelity of our information environment --
March 21, 2026 at 3:33 PM
I confess I am using emdashes more than I ever did before out of total spite.
gpt-5, the 5 stands for how many more emdashes it will use
August 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
gpt-5, the 5 stands for how many more emdashes it will use
worth remembering that AI only favors emdashes because it stole our collective preference for them
Working with a student on her story, I recommend using an em-dash. She says she can't, because professors will think she's using AI. She says that's a tell now. Is it? Is the hopeless race to outsmart AI causing us to lose bits of language and punctuation?
June 1, 2025 at 10:15 PM
worth remembering that AI only favors emdashes because it stole our collective preference for them
i'm forever upset at large language models because i started to really like how emdashes broke up sentences and the particular tone it gave right before ai basically relegated it as The Forbidden Unicode Character
September 27, 2026 at 4:29 AM
i'm forever upset at large language models because i started to really like how emdashes broke up sentences and the particular tone it gave right before ai basically relegated it as The Forbidden Unicode Character
I am not losing my emdashes—I created a keyboard shortcut to make them easy to type and I'm not giving it up. I can assure you all my —'s are homegrown.
are we still on about em dashes and ai. imo human writers should just use the em dashes even harder. we should be out here pummeling out those em dashes like we're emily dickinson
December 10, 2025 at 3:59 AM
I am not losing my emdashes—I created a keyboard shortcut to make them easy to type and I'm not giving it up. I can assure you all my —'s are homegrown.