Post by @lesley@mastodon.gamedev.place

@lesley@mastodon.gamedev.place

2026-04-08 00:36 UTC

Since I reduced my usage of em-dash (it&#39;s pretty hard to type any way), my new best friend is parentheses. (Parentheses are really cool since you can use it to express non-linear flow, and you can also nest it (like this (isn&#39;t this cool?))) What? It&#39;s hard to read? If you can read Lisp (I am sure, you, my target audience, can), this is a piece of cake

Replies (1)

@smurthys@hachyderm.io 2026-04-08 04:33

@lesley@mastodon.gamedev.place you probably know this already: Text should convey everything intended if the reader skips the parentheticals. In that sense, parenthetical notes are more like footnotes, completely optional asides. In contrast, text within em dashes is not optional to the reader. In that sense em dash content is more like text in commas. In any case, I find it's best to avoid parentheticals, em dashes, and clauses within commas. In most cases, we can rewrite the main text using simpler, multiple sentences; and/or using apt conjunctions between sentences/clauses. Among the three, I'm OK using parentheticals, but judiciously and mainly for short asides. I use footnotes sparingly and only if I have a long-ish aside. Those are my thumb rules to using those three constructs in writing. Obviously, there are exceptions to be made depending on the situation.

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