April 27, 2026
We use em-dashes — Welcome to Bricolas
Why the em-dash got the AI tell association — and what it actually does in editorial writing.
Welcome to Bricolas. Bricolas marks the moment all the fragments of who I am come into focus at once.
For a long time the industry has fought on scholarship vs praxis. One camp said the other edutained. The other said those who can’t do, teach.
And I felt myself pushed. Too much in one place, not enough in the other. The irony — I was trained in the group relations and systems-psychodynamics tradition, where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. My dissertation didn’t have one method. I chose a mixed-methods design. Take in the whole.
Lincoln and Guba called the move a bricolage. And then 2026 arrived, and my interest sets kept expanding. Brainstorming with Claude — after rounds of research, googling, polling my professional community — I dug back through my papers. The word bricolage jumped back out (admittedly with a small nudge from Claude).
And then it crystallized. Bricolas. It’s about taking in the field of my work, allowing all of me to be me. In 2026, that includes AI.
Honestly, of all the things to become controversial in the last two years, the em-dash was not on my list. The irony is — I love the em-dash. I really do. I’ve used it since high school. Admittedly because it made me feel smart and fancy and like a writer. And it stuck. Like the rule from some writing guide that said however should appear in the middle of a sentence and not at the start, and that I could fudge that rule and start a sentence with and.
Em-dashes meant you used AI to write something. That was automatically assumed to be bad. I do not take that stance here. AI is new. It’s evolving. It’s transforming our lives in ways beyond comprehension. I’ve had clients in tech tell me: I read daily to stay just behind the curve.
And so here it is. We use AI. We use the em-dash. But let’s not pretend like one means the other. The em-dash actually embodies much of what the brand is about — acceptance of tradition and innovation — all at once.
The work at Bricolas embodies tradition: rigor, research, frameworks that are proven. And we aren’t afraid to meet today with a warm hug — drawing connections, bridges, patterns. Bricolage — composed practice.
What does this mean for you? Trust that the insights, frameworks, suggestions, and opinions are mine. Like most of the em-dashes. And trust that my decisions are validated, often against hundreds if not thousands of sources. AI use? Ethical, and in alignment with Anthropic’s 4D AI Fluency framework. Not haphazardly slopped together for ease and convenience.
Besides — I would rather spend my time on the things I love: impacting the client’s experience, not fidgeting with spell check or referencing a writing style guide. My hope is that my clients would rather I spend my time thinking, reading, and implementing the best — not tinkering with the best punctuation marks.
Em-dashes I used: 10 Em-dashes after AI’s pass: 10
The number didn’t move. That’s the point.
PS — for those who want to use em-dashes more (and aren’t sure what the deal is)
| Use case | Character | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Compound word | - (hyphen) | well-known |
| Number range | – (en dash) | 5–10 |
| Connection between equals | – (en dash) | Klein–Bion |
| Parenthetical aside / dramatic break | — (em dash) | The work — what matters — continues. |
| Attribution | — (em dash) | ”…” — Author |