Technology in Stories

[pink_silk_glove]

I have both a land line and a cell phone now. When you think of it, before cell phones, unless you told people where you were going, you just "disappeared" when you walked out the door. No one could contact you and you could only contact them via a pay phone.

Yes. I have a spy novel idea but what sparked it was old spy movies where you could use payphones and avoid tracings and actually sneak through airports and such. Not even GPS. Easy to steal cars. It just seems so easy to sneak and hide and cross borders with nothing but a faked piece of paper. Stuff that you just couldn't do today without counter-tech gadgetry. It all seems so free and so much more fun. So obviously my novel would be set in 1960.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Yes. I have a spy novel idea but what sparked it was old spy movies where you could use payphones and avoid tracings and actually sneak through airports and such. Not even GPS. Easy to steal cars. It just seems so easy to sneak and hide and cross borders with nothing but a faked piece of paper. Stuff that you just couldn't do today without counter-tech gadgetry. It all seems so free and so much more fun. So obviously my novel would be set in 1960.

Yes, GPS. When I drove a taxi in 1978, I had to rely on paper maps, my own memory, and whatever the passenger could tell me. The first couple of months were tough. Now when I've been in an Uber (with my sister and also my daughter who paid for it), the guy just listens to whatever the voice on his phone tells him. I think it even knows which turns are illegal and at what times of the day. (That was a real pain in New York.)

Was that a better world? It depends on how you look at it.

 

[ronde]

Writing technology into a story depends upon the time period and the age and personality of the characters. If the story is about 20 somethings raised on Mommy's cell phone or their own tablet, it would seem odd if they didn't use technology in the story. Their grandmothers, probably not so much, although my wife is a great grandmother and goes into a panic attack if she can't find her phone. If it's a story about business, email, texting, and certain phone apps are almost essential. As they say, "It all depends ..."

 

[Devinter]

Opening a letter is tactile and sensory in a way that opening a text is not.

I certainly agree with this part. Even in real life, when you receive a proper letter from someone, it feels more intense somehow to open it. That being said, I have incorporated both phonecalls and text messages in several of my stories and I find that there's many scenes where they can add a lot to the 'drama' of what's occurring. An unexpected phonecall can completely change the mood, without it seeming unrealistic.

I will say, however, that when I wrote a modern vampire story set in present time and they communicated with each other over phone, it felt strange to the point where I considered giving them some sort of telepathic alternative - vampires with phones just felt a little silly somehow. But after thinking about it for a while, that'd actually be more problematic, especially since the story featured two protagonists that were separated quite a bit during certain parts. If they're constantly in each other's head, then that removes a lot of potential intrigue. And cutting them off from technology all together would feel like quite a stretch too, no matter how ancient these beings may be. I think figuring out how to call someone isn't particularly challenging even for those among us who think microwaves are complicated and feel that having colours on your phone screen is a modern luxury.

 

[mildlyaroused]

I certainly agree with this part. Even in real life, when you receive a proper letter from someone, it feels more intense somehow to open it. That being said, I have incorporated both phonecalls and text messages in several of my stories and I find that there's many scenes where they can add a lot to the 'drama' of what's occurring. An unexpected phonecall can completely change the mood, without it seeming unrealistic.

I will say, however, that when I wrote a modern vampire story set in present time and they communicated with each other over phone, it felt strange to the point where I considered giving them some sort of telepathic alternative - vampires with phones just felt a little silly somehow. But after thinking about it for a while, that'd actually be more problematic, especially since the story featured two protagonists that were separated quite a bit during certain parts. If they're constantly in each other's head, then that removes a lot of potential intrigue. And cutting them off from technology all together would feel like quite a stretch too, no matter how ancient these beings may be. I think figuring out how to call someone isn't particularly challenging even for those among us who think microwaves are complicated and feel that having colours on your phone screen is a modern luxury.

Do vampires show up on FaceTime?

 

[gunhilltrain]

I certainly agree with this part. Even in real life, when you receive a proper letter from someone, it feels more intense somehow to open it. That being said, I have incorporated both phonecalls and text messages in several of my stories and I find that there's many scenes where they can add a lot to the 'drama' of what's occurring. An unexpected phonecall can completely change the mood, without it seeming unrealistic.

I will say, however, that when I wrote a modern vampire story set in present time and they communicated with each other over phone, it felt strange to the point where I considered giving them some sort of telepathic alternative - vampires with phones just felt a little silly somehow. But after thinking about it for a while, that'd actually be more problematic, especially since the story featured two protagonists that were separated quite a bit during certain parts. If they're constantly in each other's head, then that removes a lot of potential intrigue. And cutting them off from technology all together would feel like quite a stretch too, no matter how ancient these beings may be. I think figuring out how to call someone isn't particularly challenging even for those among us who think microwaves are complicated and feel that having colours on your phone screen is a modern luxury.

I used an electric typewriter to write letters, which seemed quite modern at the time.

Telepathy: can you just turn it off? Can you have a busy signal, or not answer at all? Can you leave messages like on a voicemail? (It was called a messaging machine once.)

 

[EmilyMiller]

I certainly agree with this part. Even in real life, when you receive a proper letter from someone, it feels more intense somehow to open it. That being said, I have incorporated both phonecalls and text messages in several of my stories and I find that there's many scenes where they can add a lot to the 'drama' of what's occurring. An unexpected phonecall can completely change the mood, without it seeming unrealistic.

I will say, however, that when I wrote a modern vampire story set in present time and they communicated with each other over phone, it felt strange to the point where I considered giving them some sort of telepathic alternative - vampires with phones just felt a little silly somehow. But after thinking about it for a while, that'd actually be more problematic, especially since the story featured two protagonists that were separated quite a bit during certain parts. If they're constantly in each other's head, then that removes a lot of potential intrigue. And cutting them off from technology all together would feel like quite a stretch too, no matter how ancient these beings may be. I think figuring out how to call someone isn't particularly challenging even for those among us who think microwaves are complicated and feel that having colours on your phone screen is a modern luxury.

Do vampire URLs start vvv. for vorld vide veb?

Emily

 

[EmilyMiller]

Telepathy: can you just turn it off? Can you have a busy signal, or not answer at all? Can you leave messages like on a voicemail? (It was called a messaging machine once.)

You can your telepathic bf to make you a telepathy-proof shower cap.

Emily

 

[TheRedChamber]

Two of my own favourite characters are tech-nerd who will whip out a Nintendo Switch during dull moments waiting at the dogging site or who will manipulate social media to their sexual advantage. (The Accidental Doggers)

I'm very aware that the time-period I set my story impacts the sexual mores and manners of the characters I'm writing. Want to write a university student who is inexperienced but not that inexperienced in BDSM matters - early to late 90s is fine. Want one that has never even seen a photo of a body of the opposite gender (outside of an art gallery) - put them in the 1960s. It sometimes takes a while to nail down exactly when it is best for the story to take place.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I will say, however, that when I wrote a modern vampire story set in present time and they communicated with each other over phone, it felt strange to the point where I considered giving them some sort of telepathic alternative - vampires with phones just felt a little silly somehow. But after thinking about it for a while, that'd actually be more problematic, especially since the story featured two protagonists that were separated quite a bit during certain parts.

It's also an opportunity for characterisation. The vampire who's too hidebound to learn new things, the vampire who learns them grudgingly as necessary for survival, and the vampire who's like "why would anybody get nostalgic about the days when we had to send a messenger on horseback and wait two weeks for a reply, tell me about your phone plans!" are three very different vampires.

 

[TheRedChamber]

It's also an opportunity for characterisation. The vampire who's too hidebound to learn new things, the vampire who learns them grudgingly as necessary for survival, and the vampire who's like "why would anybody get nostalgic about the days when we had to send a messenger on horseback and wait two weeks for a reply, tell me about your phone plans!" are three very different vampires.

"Now we art all here," said Hastur meaningfully, "we must recount the Deeds of the Day."

"Yeah. Deeds," said Crowley, with the slightly guilty look of one who is attending church for the first time in years and has forgotten which bits you stand up for.

Hastur cleared his throat.

"I have tempted a priest," he said. "As he walked down the street and saw the pretty girls in the sun, I put Doubt into his mind. He would have been a saint, but within a decade we shall have him."

"Nice one," said Crowley, helpfully.

"I have corrupted a politician," said Ligur. "I let him think a tiny bribe would not hurt. Within a year we shall have him."

They both looked expectantly at Crowley, who gave them a big smile.

"You'll like this," he said.

His smile became even wider and more conspiratorial.

"I tied up every portable telephone system in Central London for forty-five minutes at lunchtime," he said.

There was silence, except for the distant swishing of cars.

"Yes?" said Hastur. "And then what?"

"Look, it wasn't easy," said Crowley.

"That's all?" said Ligur.

"Look, people—"

"And exactly what has that done to secure souls for our master?" said Hastur.

Crowley pulled himself together.

What could he tell them? That twenty thousand people got bloody furious? That you could hear the arteries clanging shut all across the city? And that then they went back and took it out on their secretaries or traffic wardens or whatever, and they took it out on other people? In all kinds of vindictive little ways which, and here was the good bit, they thought up themselves For the rest of the day. The pass-along effects were incalculable. Thousands and thousands of souls all got a faint patina of tarnish, and you hardly had to lift a finger.

But you couldn't tell that to demons like Hastur and Ligur. Fourteenth-century minds, the lot of them. Spending years picking away at one soul. Admittedly it was craftsmanship, but you had to think differently these days. Not big, but wide. With five billion people in the world you couldn't pick the buggers off one by one any more; you had to spread your effort.

But demons like Ligur and Hastur wouldn't understand. They'd never have thought up Welsh-language television, for example. Or value added tax. Or Manchester.

He'd been particularly pleased with Manchester.

- Terry Pratchett - Good Omens

 

[AchtungNight]

I find myself setting my stories in the nineties and early 2000s lately because those were my high school slash college years and that’s the age group for my characters. It actually makes things easier for me that way. Me, not the audience.

To those wondering why Keith and Stephanie don’t do Skype sex in “When Keith Met Stephanie”- the story is set in 1997. Skype wasn’t invented until 2003. They do use a more primitive video chat program, but far as sex goes- they’re fine making weekend road trips to see each other and having phone sex. They will move in together and get married later in life- she is transferring to his college once her scholarship is secured and schedules align, and that will ease the long distance relationship. Till then, well, Keith is loyal to his girl and she stays into him despite having two female fuck-buddies and other hookup possibilities on the side. The relationship works because they work to make it so. That’s how I see it.

Also, I’ve never actually had Skype sex. It seems too much like reading a good bit of erotic media and wanking off. So it wasn’t on my radar. If someone would ask me to do it, I might get into it, but that has yet to happen.

 

[StillStunned]

When I began drafting a follow-up to Too Late Not to Fuck, I had to remember not to end text messages with a full stop. That would probably have been a big no-no for first-year uni students.

In The Walled Garden, I have the women talking on their phones. The joy of modern technology is that this leaves their hands free for... well, whatever.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I'm sure Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie got complaints about the newfangled tech of telegrams and telephones in their stories.

My characters are often phoning and sending texts. I had to shift one story back from about 2018 to 2010, and after research was very relieved that the characters (single men who like gadgets) could still have smartphones. Recently one is trying to win an argument by surreptitiously googling under the table.

In the story I just posted, two characters are in bed, discussing stuff, then one looks up the type of sex harness she thinks the other should try - because people have the internet on the bedside table nowadays.

My characters write texts differently - some with perfect grammar punctuation, some with abbreviations or just no punctuation, some with emojis and leet speak - depending on age and social group. I suppose some are now using WhatsApp etc, but I tend to just write 'I sent a quick message:' so as not to date the story by the software used.

 

[ElectricBlue]

My latest story opens with this Author's Note:

"This story is set a while ago, in Australia. There is no internet, no mobile phones, people wore watches to tell the time. Some things though, never change."

Readers seen to be coping, although for most, it will be a history lesson.

 

[Devinter]

Do vampires show up on FaceTime?

I used an electric typewriter to write letters, which seemed quite modern at the time.

Telepathy: can you just turn it off? Can you have a busy signal, or not answer at all? Can you leave messages like on a voicemail? (It was called a messaging machine once.)

My vampires are already convoluted enough that explaining another aspect of how their powers work would only confuse the reader further. You already need at least mild autism to follow along with all of the powers, abilities, systems of government, hierarchies and rules that I've created. I have taken most of the classical vampire weaknesses, combined them with the seven sins, and applied some of them to each bloodline, so MOST of my vampires would show up on FaceTime, but not the ones with the vanity curse - they lack reflections. Of course, the two protagonists are both from the Libidine bloodline, and their curse is lust. They can only feel satisfied if they feed during sex, biting down during the moment of orgasm.

Do vampire URLs start vvv. for vorld vide veb?

Emily

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I have never written a text message into a story, and I don't think I ever will. I've never included a mobile phone (except once on this site), or social media, or a 42-inch 4k TV. The few times I've seen TikTok mentioned in something I'm reading, my hairs have stood on end like I'm an angry cat. There's something about modern day technology that I personally don't gel with in fiction.

It feels weirdly clumsy to me. I know it shouldn't - social media, Google, and streaming services are all large parts of our world now, so why does it feel so strange to read about them?

Technology can reduce tension. Instant communication and global connectivity are hard to write about, since there can be no tragic misunderstandings when an iMessage can be sent at anytime from anywhere to anyone. Opening a letter is tactile and sensory in a way that opening a text is not. Similarly, someone sitting on their couch and messaging their friend is physically detached in a way that an in-person conversation is not. The digital realm just doesn't translate well to evocative writing.

But I think it extends beyond the difficulty of writing technology. Even reading, it just feels awkward. The jargon of downloads, App Stores and text slang is clumsy. Maybe it's the fact that I read/write to escape the world, and I sure as fuck don't want to read or write about Instagram models or pinned YouTube comments. Maybe it's my fear that technology is replacing books, subconsciously coming through.

I don't really know, but I know I don't like it. All of my stories take place in vague worlds that are slightly more whimsical than ours, their tech usually akin to the 70s or 80s. I'm not saying it can't work - the right author can make anything work. But for me there is some sort of buffer to enjoying tech in books.

What do others think about the modern day conundrum?

I think you're weird.

 

[mildlyaroused]

I think you're weird.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I used an electric typewriter to write letters, which seemed quite modern at the time.

Telepathy: can you just turn it off? Can you have a busy signal, or not answer at all? Can you leave messages like on a voicemail? (It was called a messaging machine once.)

You've reached Min Babalon, my mind isn't in right now, so leave your contact info and a brief message after the internal screaming.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

If the technology is relevant to the characters and plot while being relatable for the readers, then it can have a place in a story.

One scenario that comes to mind is a true story about a wife who discovered her husband's affair when he thought he had disconnected a call on his cell phone from her, only to leave it active so that she could hear the liaison he was having with his lover.

There are several stories here where technology plays the antagonist, which is very relatable for a lot of readers.

Technology can be accepted more by me than fantasy, or many science fiction elements simply because it is something real that I can relate to.

 

[OffNSFW]

I pretty much ignore the existence of technology that isn't relevant to the story.

Like, I have a long-standing WIP where a character is idly scrolling her phone in a waiting room. I don't think I've ever had a phone in one of my stories before.

 

[intim8]

I have never written a text message into a story,

The only problem I have with it is how to format it. I have several text conversations in some of my stories. It just seems more natural or at least appropriate when the setting is modern day college kids. And it solves one problem in writing: you can convey tone and other things without dialog tags or descriptions.

I've been inconsistent about formatting it to distinguish it from dialog because I haven't settled on a good way, but basically, I do something like this:

Brian: --did you hear the podcast?--
Abby: --I think it went well--

But that still doesn't feel quite right. Any ideas? I suppose I could google it....

 

[VallesMarineris]

The only problem I have with it is how to format it. I have several text conversations in some of my stories. It just seems more natural or at least appropriate when the setting is modern day college kids. And it solves one problem in writing: you can convey tone and other things without dialog tags or descriptions.

I've been inconsistent about formatting it to distinguish it from dialog because I haven't settled on a good way, but basically, I do something like this:

Brian: --did you hear the podcast?--
Abby: --I think it went well--

But that still doesn't feel quite right. Any ideas? I suppose I could google it....

I've just been checking, and pretty much all my characters in all my stories text at some point. It's modern life. I just use italics. For example, here's a character texting her friend about a guy:

Done with adam

I try to follow typical texting style, so the first word gets capitalized automatically, but the guy's name isn't, and no period, because that's too much trouble on a phone. These are clues to the reader that it is a text, and is another opportunity to add some personality.

Here's the first line of a story I published to Lit a while back (Genius, Ch. 01):

Wnt 2 blo U

This tells the reader a lot about the message's sender. Wouldn't be at all the same if written as grammatically correct dialogue.

Returning to this thread's original question, I don't understand the conundrum that @mildlyaroused proposed. If I were to write a story in which a character never texted, and never had to deal with apps, downloads, and the other techie chores they mention, that would be a character who didn’t own a cellphone. I can’t remember the last time a met a person over 15 who didn’t carry one. So I would have to come up with a reason why that character didn’t own a cellphone, or at least a smartphone. And then wonder what kind of job they had that didn’t require one, and other aspects of their life that would be different. It would become a story about someone who doesn’t own a cellphone, or had one but refused to use it except to make phone calls. Which may or may not be the kind of character I want to write about.

 

[Djmac1031]

And then wonder what kind of job they had that didn’t require one, and other aspects of their life that would be different

Modern technology like cellphones and computers are no longer luxuries. They're necessities for most people to even function at their jobs.

And simply to stay in touch with people. Any staunch holdout who refused to own a cellphone or laptop would probably be a recluse with little to no family or friends. Because for better or worse, this is how people communicate now.

You don't have to like it. But it's not going away either.

 

[samhasstories]

I've used texts, and chat messages, and various means of communication. It's part of our world, it's a part of how people communicate. I don't find it to be awkward or cumbersome at all. I suppose my readers could disagree, but I haven't received that feedback.

One thing I am unlikely to do is to render these communications in textspeak. People can suspend their disbelief as needed, but my characters all happen to share the distinction of having the time and inclination to write out words like 'you' and 'are.'