Anyone remember this post RE:how to write texts in a story?

My daughter was asking me if I ever write texts in a story and how I do it. I told her I take the easy way out and just use 'xxx' to differentiate them from speaking when I use "xxx".

I told her there was a conversation here about how people do them and someone was very fancy in how they did it and had time stamps and everything and how I'm far too lazy to do that, but she was interested and now, of course, I can't remember what the post was about and who posted it.
I searched with a few keywords but I'm not finding it, anyone remember?

CoffeeWithMonkeys said:

My daughter was asking me if I ever write texts in a story and how I do it. I told her I take the easy way out and just use 'xxx' to differentiate them from speaking when I use "xxx".

I told her there was a conversation here about how people do them and someone was very fancy in how they did it and had time stamps and everything and how I'm far too lazy to do that, but she was interested and now, of course, I can't remember what the post was about and who posted it.
I searched with a few keywords but I'm not finding it, anyone remember?

Click to expand...

How to include text exchanges in stories might be what you're looking for.

Don't think using single quotes is going to be understandable, at least to an American audience. As far as I can tell, the Chicago Manual of Style hasn't addressed this specifically, but, if not, it wouldn't support using single quotes. I'd guide with descriptors saying it was phone texting. You really are going to have to do this anyway to explain what the single quotes are supposed to mean.

I last phone-texted around 2002. How does it happen now?

Hypoxia said:

I last phone-texted around 2002. How does it happen now?

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With the thumbs, usually.

I text often. I never talk on the phone to my local daughters, rarely to my wife, and never to my coworker. The remote daughter calls me for my birthday and Father's Day, otherwise I text with her as well. I even mostly text with my book keeper.

Talking with my 77-year old employer, and conference calls are about the only time I'm talking on the "telephone" much, and these days, a lot of that is going through meeting software instead of over the phone.

I italicise texts/messages, and sometimes internal thinking.

At least, that's what I did in my last story here. I use single quotes for dialogue.

NotWise said:

How to include text exchanges in stories might be what you're looking for.

Click to expand...

That might have been it. I really thought someone had posted about having time stamps and really making it look like texts, but maybe it wasn't even here. Could have been something I pinned on pinterest.
Thanks!!!

KeithD said:

Don't think using single quotes is going to be understandable, at least to an American audience. As far as I can tell, the Chicago Manual of Style hasn't addressed this specifically, but, if not, it wouldn't support using single quotes. I'd guide with descriptors saying it was phone texting. You really are going to have to do this anyway to explain what the single quotes are supposed to mean.

Click to expand...

I do. I usually will say something like
She got a text saying
'hey let's meet for lunch'

Hypoxia said:

I last phone-texted around 2002. How does it happen now?

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Oh my gosh, I just got phone service on my cell phone about a week ago. I'd been without since gosh about a full year. I LOATHE talking on the phone. Avoid it at all costs. Like right now I need to call the IRS because I got a letter that they need to verify my ID and I'm supposed to call and I have been procrastinating. I won't get my tax refund if I don't call but I really really hate talking on the phone!

Anyway I have been texting one of my daughters. I got rid of Facebook and messenger so when she's out and I need to contact her, or I'm out and need to contact home, I text her.

CoffeeWithMonkeys said:

That might have been it. I really thought someone had posted about having time stamps and really making it look like texts, but maybe it wasn't even here.

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That was AwkardMD. She put a link to the story in a recentish thread, and also explained how she did it - she specifically wanted to show the timeline down to the last detail.

CoffeeWithMonkeys said:

That might have been it. I really thought someone had posted about having time stamps and really making it look like texts, but maybe it wasn't even here. Could have been something I pinned on pinterest.
Thanks!!!

.

Click to expand...

If my memory serves me right, AwkwardMD wrote a story that went to great lengths to show texting in a visually accurate way like this, but I'm not 100% sure of that and I don't recall the name of the story. But it was discussed in one of the threads on this subject.

I take the way and handle it like dialogue, but with "text" tags rather than dialogue tags, i.e., "she texted" rather than "she said."

I don't remember where that thread was, but here is a sample.

Weds. 4:42 pm<br>
Hey<br>
<div align="right">Weds. 4:42 pm<br>
Holy shit!<br>
You didn’t forget!<br>
Hi!<br></div>
Weds. 4:44 pm<br>
There’s no way I was going to forget you after<br>
Saturday night.<br>
You really one-upped me at the end there.<br>
<br>
Weds. 4:50 pm<br>
Still with me?<br>
<div align="right">Weds. 4:50 pm<br>
Yes! Yes, I’m here<br>
Had to find a mirror to see if my skin was glowing<br></div>
Weds. 4:51 pm<br>
Are you radioactive? Should I be worried?<br>
<div align="right">Weds. 4:52 pm<br>
From blushing!<br>
Goober!<br></div>

Click to expand...

The finished version looks like this, starting at the bottom of the page and continuing on page 3.

https://www.literotica.com/s/orchid-ch-01-1?page=2

<br> forces a spaceless carriage return, so the text is tightly bunched. Originally I had more spaces, but it took up so much screen space that I got rid of them. So, one <br>at the end of each line.

<div align="right"> changes all of the text that follows to be right justified.

</div> stops the right justification and returns the text to the standard left justification.

All you have to do is format one characters answers.

Pro tip 1: find an html sandbox to experiment with your formatting. That way you'll know what it looks like before you submit it.

Pro Tip 2: include some of the story after your text exchange so you can make sure that whatever formatting you worked out doesn't apply to a larger area than you wanted it to.

Pro tip 3: i forced a line break if there was more than 50 characters on a line, on both sides, because I thought it helped keep the two senders visually distinct. I pulled that number out of my ass specifically because of the size of the reading area on Lit. On a different site, or in a different viewing format, i might pick a different number.

AwkwardMD said:

I don't remember where that thread was, but here is a sample.



The finished version looks like this, starting at the bottom of the page and continuing on page 3.

https://www.literotica.com/s/orchid-ch-01-1?page=2

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Did you have to let Laurel know you would be using these HTML tags?

Especially, the <div>? Also, the last <br> prior to the </div> isn't needed as the </div> puts in a line feed automatically.

Zeb_Carter said:

Did you have to let Laurel know you would be using these HTML tags?

Especially, the <div>? Also, the last <br> prior to the </div> isn't needed as the </div> puts in a line feed automatically.

Click to expand...

Laurel knew because I asked her for general help, and she said A) pretty much any html code will work, and B) make an note in the submission so she can look out for it.

Also, when I didn't include the <br>with the </Div>, the texts looked like they overlapped. It created (for me) an optical illusion. The spacing was something I landed on after a lot of experimentation in a sandbox.

AwkwardMD said:

Laurel knew because I asked her for general help, and she said A) pretty much any html code will work, and B) make an note in the submission so she can look out for it.

Also, when I didn't include the <br>with the </Div>, the texts looked like they overlapped. It created (for me) an optical illusion. The spacing was something I landed on after a lot of experimentation in a sandbox.

Click to expand...

Okay, thanks.

I just know that <center> is changed by a process to a <div> tag, so I always leave out a linefeed after <center> tags.

SimonDoom said:

If my memory serves me right, AwkwardMD wrote a story that went to great lengths to show texting in a visually accurate way like this, but I'm not 100% sure of that and I don't recall the name of the story. But it was discussed in one of the threads on this subject.

I take the way and handle it like dialogue, but with "text" tags rather than dialogue tags, i.e., "she texted" rather than "she said."

Click to expand...

Yes! I actually thought it was AwkwardMD and I know Kant had posted a couple times too. Was beginning to think maybe I dreamed it
Thank you!

AwkwardMD said:

I don't remember where that thread was, but here is a sample.



The finished version looks like this, starting at the bottom of the page and continuing on page 3.

https://www.literotica.com/s/orchid-ch-01-1?page=2

Click to expand...

Awesome, Thank you! I had thought it was you, but wasn't sure.

I'll sho my daughter when she gets up. This is exactly what I was talking about.

I also tried to use the timestamps to show awkwardness (pause before a response, 5+ minutes) or eagerness (immediate response, 1 minute or less).

The only people that I know of who noticed the timestamp and what I was doing with it were here in the AH. Other authors. I don't know how many readers noticed it or cared, but I'm proud of how it looks.

AwkwardMD said:

I also tried to use the timestamps to show awkwardness (pause before a response, 5+ minutes) or eagerness (immediate response, 1 minute or less).

The only people that I know of who noticed the timestamp and what I was doing with it were here in the AH. Other authors. I don't know how many readers noticed it or cared, but I'm proud of how it looks.

Click to expand...

I don't think I would do this myself (I may just be lazier than you) but I thought it was a creative and interesting way to do it. It worked in your story. It works best when, as in your case, you take full advantage of the features like time stamps to convey information that's useful to the story.

AwkwardMD said:

I don't remember where that thread was, but here is a sample.

The finished version looks like this, starting at the bottom of the page and continuing on page 3.

https://www.literotica.com/s/orchid-ch-01-1?page=2

Click to expand...

I’ve had a look and I think you’ve got it right. Make it clear in advance that it’s texting, fit it into the story logically, and run it smoothly into the continuation of the story. I don’t have any plans to feature texting in a story at the moment but if/when I do I’ll pull this out of my memory.

AwkwardMD said:

I also tried to use the timestamps to show awkwardness (pause before a response, 5+ minutes) or eagerness (immediate response, 1 minute or less).

Click to expand...

Wow, creating tension, plot and character development through the timestamps was brilliant. Reading fr ch. 00 etc to understand in context.

Also, I would not have done this like I did except that I wanted to avoid narrating around the texts. I let them narrate their actions through the texts, and make the conversation stand on its own.

If I was going to follow the POV character as she went through her day, periodically responding, I would have done it like others have suggest, either with identifying tags ("lets go," I texted), or else with itallics.

AwkwardMD said:

<br> forces a spaceless carriage return, so the text is tightly bunched. Originally I had more spaces, but it took up so much screen space that I got rid of them. So, one <br>at the end of each line.

<div align="right"> changes all of the text that follows to be right justified.

</div> stops the right justification and returns the text to the standard left justification.

All you have to do is format one characters answers.

Pro tip 1: find an html sandbox to experiment with your formatting. That way you'll know what it looks like before you submit it.

Pro Tip 2: include some of the story after your text exchange so you can make sure that whatever formatting you worked out doesn't apply to a larger area than you wanted it to.

Pro tip 3: i forced a line break if there was more than 50 characters on a line, on both sides, because I thought it helped keep the two senders visually distinct. I pulled that number out of my ass specifically because of the size of the reading area on Lit. On a different site, or in a different viewing format, i might pick a different number.

Click to expand...

This is most excellent, thank you for sharing. I'm working on my first story and the characters text a fair amount in sections. This will present it in way that flows, I hope.

Here is what indented text messaging conversations look like when processed from a Word document by Literotica (from "Elements Pt.01"):

Cile picked up her cellphone at the sound of the notification.

TOBY:I hope that you don't mind a brief interruption to allow me to inform you that I miss you.

CILE:I miss you too, Professor, and your interruptions are always welcomed.

TOBY:Have you ever been to Myrtle Beach?

CILE:Once, several years ago. Why?

TOBY:I have been asked to assist our women's volleyball team with the scouting of the other teams at a tournament that they have been invited to and wanted to know if you would like to come with me.

CILE:When is the tournament?

TOBY:The second week in June sometime. I can get the exact dates and send them to you.

CILE:That's okay for right now. I just wanted to make sure it was far enough in the future for me to get the time-off request approved if necessary. Do you know what other schools are in the tournament?

TOBY:No, but for some reason the coach wanted me to know that Baylor would not be one of the teams there.

Cile was laughing, so it took her a minute to respond.

CILE:It's probably because you mentioned to her that you might have me accompany you. UCLA's coach is Lacey King, right?

TOBY:Right. Do you two know each other?

CILE:We've never been formally introduced, but we've met on the volleyball court a few times. Someone must have heard you mention my name and she put two and two together.

TOBY:That's right. You were an All-American at Baylor for three years.

CILE:Yep. So, if Baylor was playing in the tournament, it would be a conflict of interest for you to scout for UCLA.

TOBY:Not really. I have no ties to Baylor myself.

CILE:Let me put it to you the way that Lacey sees it, Sweetie. It would not be in your BEST INTEREST to scout for UCLA if Baylor was in the tournament.

Now Toby had to take a break to laugh before replying.

TOBY:Got it, and you're right. YOU are my best interest.

CILE:And you are mine, Professor. Go ahead and get the details for the tournament and we can discuss them tonight.