Spelling sounds people make

[tomlitilia]

Consider this sentence:

She let out a pleased “mmm” as she wrapped her hand around it.​

I don't want to change to "she moaned," because a moan is something different. I don't want to say "she hummed," because that's also a different sound to me. An onomatopoetic approach seems better, but how many m should there be? A single m reads like she's saying the letter m. Two potentially reads like she's spitting M&Ms. Three seems best, but I'm not sure.

What would you do?

 

[Rustyoznail]

Consider this sentence:

She let out a pleased “mmm” as she wrapped her hand around it.​

I don't want to change to "she moaned," because a moan is something different. I don't want to say "she hummed," because that's also a different sound to me. An onomatopoetic approach seems better, but how many m should there be? A single m reads like she's saying the letter m. Two potentially reads like she's spitting M&Ms. Three seems best, but I'm not sure.

What would you do?

Three or four. Definitely not “Ooooooohhhhhhhhh mmmmmmmmmmmmm aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!”

 

[stickygirl]

Consider this sentence:

She let out a pleased “mmm” as she wrapped her hand around it.​

I don't want to change to "she moaned," because a moan is something different. I don't want to say "she hummed," because that's also a different sound to me. An onomatopoetic approach seems better, but how many m should there be? A single m reads like she's saying the letter m. Two potentially reads like she's spitting M&Ms. Three seems best, but I'm not sure.

What would you do?

The mmm didn't happen in isolation, because she also raised an eyebrow or she chewed her lip or furled her fingers around him tentatively at first, then with growing confidence, she gripped a little tighter and looked up into his eyes for approval. Oh, did you mention a mmm?

 

[gordo12]

Three seems best, but I'm not sure.

What would you do?

The same decision I came to. I don't use them much anymore, being more prone to groaning or moaning and variations of those words, but I did come to the conclusion that three was best.

 

[RejectReality]

The general consensus that seems to come up on this is 3 repeating letters — maybe 4 if you're really trying to drive it home in brief — and to use phonetical muttering/cries of passion sparingly in favor of narrative.

Personally, whenever I include one in the way you used it ( not part of dialogue ) I tend to set it off with italics instead of quotes.

 

[SimonDoom]

My answer would be as few as needed to do the job. And I think you're right, it's three. Adding another "m" doesn't do anything. Three "m"s says all you need to say.

 

[KeithD]

Consider this sentence:

She let out a pleased “mmm” as she wrapped her hand around it.​

I don't want to change to "she moaned," because a moan is something different. I don't want to say "she hummed," because that's also a different sound to me. An onomatopoetic approach seems better, but how many m should there be? A single m reads like she's saying the letter m. Two potentially reads like she's spitting M&Ms. Three seems best, but I'm not sure.

What would you do?

I think this is fine. It's fine with me to prolong it a bit, as well, if that's the message you want to convey. Best to keep it to a few occurrences in the story, though, not to water down the effect. (Like in using a lot of exclamation points. After a few they totally lose effect.)

 

[Emberto]

“Oooooooohhhhhhhhhhh mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

"So, I take it you like the coffee?"

 

[ElectricBlue]

Consider this sentence:

She let out a pleased “mmm” as she wrapped her hand around it.​

I don't want to change to "she moaned," because a moan is something different. I don't want to say "she hummed," because that's also a different sound to me. An onomatopoetic approach seems better, but how many m should there be? A single m reads like she's saying the letter m. Two potentially reads like she's spitting M&Ms. Three seems best, but I'm not sure.

What would you do?

Hmm, mmm or mmmm... ? Three works best for me, same with ohh and ahh. A simple visual cue is enough, I think.

 

[Handley_Page]

Hmm, mmm or mmmm... ? Three works best for me, same with ohh and ahh. A simple visual cue is enough, I think.

I reckon three "mmm" for a momentary thought and four 'mmmm' for a very satisfied sound.

 

[Rustyoznail]

"So, I take it you like the coffee?"

Oh yes

 

[jehoram]

“Ooooooohhhhhhhhh mmmmmmmmmmmmm aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!”

"I'll have what she's having."