Proper punctuation of broken dialogue

Question

What is the proper punctuation for broken dialogue? I have the following line:

"I just never expected you to be so—" she looked Dan up and down "—human," she finished.

I believe that is the correct way to write that, but I'm not sure. Is there a comma before the dialogue resumes? Do I need spaces before and after the dashes, or are they right next to the words like I have them?

If you could point me in the right direction, that would be great.

There may not be a “correct” answer, just varying examples of what can be found in print. — tchrist, Oct 30 '16 at 02:11
There is a related question though: Punctuation of direct speech, edge cases, at least one answer to which contains similar advice to RJC's answer here. — Andrew Leach, Oct 30 '16 at 10:57

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 30 '16 at 10:46

1

An em dash is usually used only when the dialogue is broken in the middle of a word.

"As I was trying to expl—"

For your example it would be customary to surround the break with em dashes, like so:

"I just never expected you to be so"—she looked Dan up and down—"human," she finished.

answered Oct 30 '16 at 10:46

R.J.C.

26

I'm guessing that spaces around the dashes are writer preference? – Thomas Reinstate Monica Myron Oct 30 '16 at 17:21
Newspapers typically insert spaces while literary authors typically don't. – R.J.C. Nov 01 '16 at 04:40

Proper punctuation of broken dialogue

1 Answers1