Spacing of Dash

[omh847]

I'm unclear how to space the dash in this situation. I have checked the instruction manual (5th edition) section 2.5a, and I'm not sure which example is closest to meeting my needs. I am entering the material that I am having problems with. Your help would be greatly appreciated. I have consulted with 2 other certified transcribers and we are torn between the 3rd and 4th set of examples. Here is the material.
"I think he had better come here, because I don't dare set foot outside this apartment until I've talked to him, or I might not ..." -- she hesitated and then finished -- "live to meet him at all."
Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Mary
edited by omh847 on 9/6/2012

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the question. Dashes and spaces always seems to be a difficult topic.
First you must decide if these dashes are: mid-sentence dashes; end an incomplete thought or sentence; or begin an incomplete thought or sentence.
Let's break down what is happening in print.
The words --she hesitated and then finished-- tells us that the speaker is pausing.
That let's us know that each of the sets of quoted material are not complete sentences.
Other clues to look for would be, punctuation that ends a sentence and capital letters that indicate the beginning of a sentence.
There are no ending marks of punctuaiton or capitals before or after either dash.
Another indication that these are mid-sentence dashes.
I think the confusion is due to the quotation marks.
The quotation marks do not indicate the beginning or the ending of a sentence.

With that in mind, I would treat these as mid-sentence dashes and braille each of them unspaced.
Saralyn

[omh847]

Thank you very much. This made things much clearer for me. I will share this information with the other transcribers.
Mary

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