En-dash or em-dash?

[99bottles]

I just realized that, throughout my text, I have been using en-dashes instead of em-dashes. In fact, I hadn't even realized there were two different kinds of dash, until I accidentally caused my Word to produce a longer dash, which, as it turned out, is the true em-dash!

The good news: I can easily fix this in a few seconds thanks to the "replace all" feature.

The bad news: I did some research and found out that, by some strange coincidence, en-dash is indeed used in place of em-dash by some people. So now, once again, I'm confused.

The even worse news: You are the ones who will help me with my confusion! So, I'm waiting for your opinion. What do you think I should do? Leave the en-dashes as they are or replace them with em-dashes?

 

[emsr2d2]

It's your text. Do what you like. Once your book (I assume that's still what you're quoting from) is ready to be professionally proofread and edited, they will tell you if there's a particular style you should use.

 

[99bottles]

It's your text. Do what you like. Once your book (I assume that's still what you're quoting from) is ready to be professionally proofread and edited, they will tell you if there's a particular style you should use.

Bonus question: I just ran a count and saw that I have put 78 em-dashes in a 36.000-word-long text. Do you think I have overused them? Should I remove some?

 

[Tdol]

Not if there should be that many.

 

[emsr2d2]

Bonus question: I just ran a counted and saw found that I have put used 78 em-dashes in a 36,000-word-long text. Do you think I have overused them? Should I remove some?

Note my corrections above. Please stop using "Bonus question". The word "bonus" suggests something pleasant or beneficial. You're simply asking us another question.

As Tdol said, if they're all used appropriately, they should be left in place. Again, your proofreader/editor will deal with things like this once your text is ready to be dealt with by a paid professional.