Example: Maria is a self-conscious writer. Maria is not a self writer or a conscious writer: both words must work together to describe her, so they are hyphenated.

Should self-conscious be hyphenated?

Self– often retains its hyphen when forming compounds, but un– tends not to. ... Though you may write self-conscious, if you wish to have a hyphen in the word, you must not write unself-conscious but un-selfconscious.

How do you know when to hyphenate?

Generally, you need the hyphen only if the two words are functioning together as an adjective before the noun they're describing. If the noun comes first, leave the hyphen out. This wall is load bearing. It's impossible to eat this cake because it is rock hard.