A Dash of Style (12 page)

we'll see below), but it must first be taken seriously before it can be dismissed.

Parentheses, on the other hand, respectfully interrupt you, so that you needn't cease speaking or change your train of thought. Their interruption is more of an enhancement, like a trusted advisor whispering in your ear. Like the dash, parentheses are often dismissed as a mere technical appliance. As with the dash, this is not where the discussion ends. Misused, of course, parentheses can be a terrible blight on a work, one that can make it nearly unreadable. But in the right hands, they can be a great creative tool, adding a layer of complexity to your text without interrupting its rhythm, one that could not exist any other way.

No creative writer is complete without knowing how to call upon and master these two marks.

HOW TO USE THEM

To truly grasp how to use dashes and parentheses, we must examine them together, comparing and contrasting their similarities and subtle differences. They are both interrupters; they both propel their subjects into the spotlight; are both used to digress, elucidate, or explain; and they perform a nearly identical function when the dash is used in pairs. To consider these marks separately (as many punctuation books do) is a mistake. Not only do they perform overlapping functions, but we learn more about each by holding them side by side.

• Dashes and parentheses are commonly used to indicate an aside or digression. Sometimes asides need to be interjected midsentence, whether to clarify or enhance. These asides could be removed and transformed into sentences of their own, but then you wouldn't achieve the same effect. Sometimes one needs to digress in the
midst
of a thought, in order to make the thought fuller or more complex. Such an aside takes a simple, straightforward thought and gives it a new dimension. Consider:

Buffaloes roamed freely in the Midwest in the 1800s.

This is a simple sentence. Using dashes or parentheses, though, we can enhance it, without requiring a new sentence. Consider:

Buffaloes roamed freely in the Midwest (some say in the Southwest, too) in the 1800s.

Buffaloes roamed freely in the Midwest in the 1800s—some say in the Southwest, too.

The asides add something; at the same time, while they pull us in another direction, they are also close enough to the main thought that they wouldn't work as sentences on their own. They are really sentence fragments, half ideas, looking for a place to land and needing the assistance of a dash or parentheses to give them a home.

In the above examples the parentheses and the dash, while serving the same purpose, went about it a different way. The parentheses allowed the aside to come in the middle of the sentence, while the dash demanded it be relegated to the end. This is implicit with the use of the solo dash, as it forces a clause to a sentence's end. Consequently, its effect is not exactly the same, since the aside following the dash feels more like an afterthought, and also prevents the sentence from carrying on. More importantly, it is not entirely appropriate. The aside in this case, for example, belongs in the middle of the sentence. The fact that buffaloes might have roamed "in the Southwest" is an aside to the fact that they roamed "in the Midwest" and thus needs to follow on the heels of that thought. By the end of the sentence we are already onto another thought (the 1800s), and thus we jar the reader by forcing him to go from the notions of geography to time and then back to geography again.

• There is a way, though, to allow the dash to function more like parentheses, and give it the flexibility to offset a clause midsen-tence. It's called the double dash.

Buffaloes roamed freely in the Midwest—some say in the Southwest, too—in the 1800s.

Yes, dashes can come in pairs. In fact, this is where dashes and parentheses share the most similar function: like parentheses, one dash opens a clause while the other dash closes it. As you can see from the above, the effect achieved is nearly identical to the effect achieved by parentheses; indeed, they are virtually interchangeable.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE DOUBLE DASH AND PARENTHESES

I say "virtually" because there are some subtle differences between the double dash and parentheses. When you use a pair of dashes, it stops the flow of a sentence in its tracks, while parentheses allow a sentence to flow smoothly. For example:

Clocks made in Switzerland (particularly in Geneva) never break.

Clocks made in Switzerland—particularly in Geneva —never break.

It is the difference between a driver who politely interrupts you to point out a sight along the way and a driver who slams on the brakes.

Slam on the brakes (using dashes) when a point absolutely cannot be missed. Otherwise, like the jolted passenger, the reader will resent you, especially if you do it often, or without reason. It depends on your intention. If you want to subtly and smoothly offer a digression, if you want more streamlined prose, use parentheses. If you want to digress in a more forceful and dramatic way, use a pair of dashes.

There are some minor differences between them as well. A pair of parentheses can be used at the conclusion of a sentence, while a pair of dashes cannot. A pair of parentheses can enclose an independent sentence, while a pair of dashes cannot. And some might say that a parenthetical aside is a bit more formal, particularly those who believe dashes indicate casual writing. Consider:

Small windows let in less sunlight but (assuming it's winter) save you money on your heating bill.

Small windows let in less sunlight but—assuming it's winter-save you money on your heating bill.

In the above you might find the parentheses feel a bit more formal while the dashes a bit more casual, but this is a subtle distinction and can be argued either way.

Barring all of these differences, dashes and parentheses are interchangeable. You might want to alternate them for variety's sake, allowing you one more tool at your disposal.

• Regardless of their many specific functions, dashes and parentheses share one thing in common: they always propel a point into the limelight. These are not quiet punctuation marks, and it is nearly impossible for a clause to be offset by these marks and not shine in a sentence. Consider:

The Christmas tree business, and it is a business, is a multibillion-dollar one.

In this sentence, "and it is a business" doesn't really stand out as much as it could. But if we offset it with a pair of dashes:

The Christmas tree business—and it is a business —is a multi-billion-dollar one.

Now it is the very point of the sentence. The dash is especially powerful in this regard. In fact, if your intention is to make something stand out, dashes will be preferable to parentheses. Parentheses, in fact, tend to subdue an aside, to make it quieter; but nonetheless, the fact that it
is
an aside will always make it stand out to some degree.

Consider the opening sentence of E. M. Forster's novel A
Passage to India:

Except for the Marabar Caves—and they are twenty miles off— the city of Chandrapore presents nothing extraordinary.

It is a bold decision to begin a book with a double dash. Few writers could pull it off without being overly stylistic, but Forster does, initiating one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century. In this case the dashes help to propel into the limelight the notion that these caves, the only thing extraordinary about Chandrapore, are "twenty miles off"; he's letting us know that not only is there nothing extraordinary about Chandrapore, but even the one thing that might be considered so is twenty miles away. He's hammering home the point that Chandrapore is a wasteland; indeed, after this sentence there follows a long description of the utter bleakness of the town.

Here's an example from David Leavitt's story "Gravity":

Theo had a choice between a drug that would save his sight and a drug that would keep him alive, so he chose not to go blind. He stopped the pills and started the injections—these required the implantation of an unpleasant and painful catheter just above his heart—and within a few days the clouds in his eyes started to clear up, he could see again.

The dashes here convey shocking, painful material as an aside, in an offhand way, allowing the sentence to carry on after such a dramatic clarification; by doing so, they show the insertion of a painful catheter to be just one more in a long list of painful routines, help demonstrate the tremendous amount of pain and discomfort Theo's had to undergo with his treatments.

• Dashes and parentheses can be used to elucidate. The best writers always reread their sentences and ask themselves how different readers might interpret them. A sentence might, for example, be too complex or ambiguous, or open to misinterpretation. Crafting a sentence that can achieve a consensus of clarity is the mark of a great writer (unless it is your intention to be ambiguous). Sometimes the dash or parentheses can help achieve this clarity, and can do so maximizing word economy and narrative flow. In this example, a reader might be confused:

His friend came with us.

A reader might not know precisely which friend. But by adding a short, clarifying clause (via parentheses), the intent can no longer be mistaken:

His friend (the redhead) came with us.

The double dash can also fulfill this function, although not quite as smoothly:

His friend—the redhead—came with us.

Dashes and parentheses are particularly handy in clarifying a minor point in a pithy way. Few other punctuation marks offer this, can enable you to structure a sentence allowing for such a brief clarification. In the above example, for instance, you would not want to construct it as two sentences:

His friend came with us. She was a redhead.

The aside doesn't justify a sentence in its own right.

The function of clarification is primarily a technical one, but it needn't always be. Clarification can also be creative, can, for example, be a great tool for humor, irony, or sarcasm. It can help establish a running narrative by the viewpoint character, allow him commentary. For example:

He told me not to sit on the fire escape (as if I'd want to) because the structure was weak.

Mom seated me next to my (unbearable) cousin so we could talk all night.

Asides like these can also help distinguish viewpoint from description. If you decide to use them, they are better handled by parentheses than dashes.

Doris Lessing was fond of parentheses. She used them often in her story "To Room Nineteen":

That they had waited so long (but not too long) for this real thing was to them a proof of their sensible discrimination. A good many of their friends had married young, and now (they felt) probably regretted lost opportunities; while others, still unmarried, seemed to them arid, self-doubting, and likely to make desperate or romantic marriages.

Here the parentheses are used to elucidate in a creative way, and with just a few words powerfully capture the couple's viewpoint. Notice how they allow the sentence to continue onward unimpeded, without stopping the narrative flow. They also allow more information, and make for a richer thought.

• Dashes and parentheses can be used to indicate an afterthought. This can help you take a simple thought and add a feeling of spontaneity:

I'd like you to come to dinner with me.

I'd like you to come to dinner with me —if you don't have other plans.

Parentheses can also handle the task:

I'd like you to come to dinner with me (if you don't have other plans).

Consider this example from Frank O'Connor's "Guests of the Nation":

At dusk the big Englishman, Belcher, would shift his long legs out of the ashes and say "Well, chums, what about it?" and Noble or me would say "All right, chum" (for we had picked up some of

their curious expressions), and the little Englishman, Hawkins, would light the lamp and bring out the cards.

The parentheses here, used to indicate an afterthought, also serve to clarify, to explain why they're talking the way they are. Note also O'Connor's unusual usage of quotation marks here, his burying them in the midst of a longer sentence (we'll explore this in depth in a later chapter).

The dash, though, was born to indicate an afterthought, and in most cases is preferable for this purpose. In fact, the problem most people have with the dash is that it enables afterthoughts, which supposedly enables lazy writing, since good writing should be well thought out and not require afterthoughts. I agree this is the case when dealing with lazy or sloppy writing. But when it comes to writing crafted by a professional who toils over revision after revision, it is hard to sustain this argument. With such a writer, the writing is by its nature prefabricated, and if an afterthought is present, it is there deliberately. Sometimes it serves a creative purpose. For example, an afterthought can effectively capture the perspective of a scattered person, who constantly corrects himself:

I left my keys in the house—no, in the car.

• As we progress increasingly toward the creative, dashes and parentheses can help create a stream-of-consciousness style. The nature of these marks is to indicate asides, digressions, and afterthoughts, and this can be helpful when creating the illusion of writing unfolding in real time. Consider: