Text conversations

[MelanieShaman]

So, I was curious what might be the best way to present a text conversation? Like it appears on a phone, or just like a normal conversation.

Person 1- Hi, how are you?
Person 2 - Good, you?

Would something like that be annoying???

 

[KeithD]

I think the best way is to render it as regular conversation, with the tagging making clear it's a phone conversation. It isn't really any different from a face-to-face conversation in writing.

"Hi, this is blah, blah, blah," Murgatroid tapped out when Kremehilda answered her phone.

"Oh, hi there, girl. How are blah, blah blah?"

Murgatroid made a face at Bruce, who was standing at her elbow. "blah, blah, blah."

"Blah, blah, blah."

"Yes, we've got to blah, blah, blah." Murgatroid clicked off, turned to Bruce, and said, "There, I said she'd be a bitch about it."

 

[NotWise]

So, I was curious what might be the best way to present a text conversation? Like it appears on a phone, or just like a normal conversation.

Person 1- Hi, how are you?
Person 2 - Good, you?

Would something like that be annoying???

I have quite a few text conversations in my stories. I punctuate them pretty much like any other conversation. I might huff and roll my eyes at your example, but that's just me.

A respected beta reader pointed out that I shouldn't use italics in text conversations. Also, if you tag the dialog, then be careful about how you do it. People can say things over text messages, but they can't really grunt them, groan them, whine them, or say them in other ways that imply how their reply sounds.

The recipient of the message can always imagine how the sender might grunt, groan, whine, or say things in ways they imagine the sender might express themselves, but that would be written a little differently.

 

[MelanieShaman]

Cool, thanks y'all

 

[HeyAll]

For text messages, I use italics.

I also avoid using dialogue tags, and use the colon.



I check my phone and see the message.

Person 1: That sounds good

 

[LAHomedog]

I write them like a conversation and how they appear in text and indent them. I also indent email conversations and discussions.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

i had a go at that recently. seems to have had some success.

bottom of page 1 https://literotica.com/s/welcoming-the-new-neighbours

i used <kbd>text</kbd> as the tag. someone put that tag out here recently. can't recall who - apologies - but it was one the AH regulars.

 

[Bramblethorn]

i had a go at that recently. seems to have had some success.

bottom of page 1 https://literotica.com/s/welcoming-the-new-neighbours

i used <kbd>text</kbd> as the tag. someone put that tag out here recently. can't recall who - apologies - but it was one the AH regulars.

That was me. Thread here: https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=1554102

 

[geronimo_appleby]

That was me. Thread here: https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=1554102

that's it!

yup.

and thanks. that came at the prefect time. i was scrabbling around with different formats and ... VOILA!

thankees.

 

[ElectricBlue]

-- I just do this, and use context to indicate it's a text conversation --

-- In other words, keep it simple? --

-- Yes. It's the same as a conversation, only no-one is speaking --

 

[SimonDoom]

My approach to this sort of thing is minimalist. I don't use special font formatting, like italics or whatever. Usually, I handle texting the same way I do dialogue, but I may use "texted" as a tag instead of "said." But another way I'm experimenting with is the use of forward and backward arrows: << >>. Left-pointing arrows mean an incoming text and right-pointing arrows mean an outgoing text. I'm working on doing that in a story where two people are talking to and texting one another in the same scene and I want to distinguish the forms of communication.

There's no one right way. I think the only two rules are 1) to be very clear, and 2) to be consistent. If you are clear and consistent the reader will catch on right away and won't have a problem following the texting.

The Chicago Manual of Style, to my knowledge, doesn't specify any particular way to handle texting in fiction.

 

[RoperTrace]

For text messages, I use italics.

I also avoid using dialogue tags, and use the colon.



I check my phone and see the message.

Person 1: That sounds good

That's an interesting topic. I took a 15 to 16-year hiatus from submitting stories, and texting wasn't that widespread then. But in my first story upon returning, I had a lot of texts.
Forgetting that Lit's text format wouldn't look like my Word, it made my convo's look like the regular type. I had used one size larger font, Italics, and even changed the color on one of the responders on my texts. Poof all gone.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

My approach to this sort of thing is minimalist. I don't use special font formatting, like italics or whatever. Usually, I handle texting the same way I do dialogue, but I may use "texted" as a tag instead of "said." But another way I'm experimenting with is the use of forward and backward arrows: << >>. Left-pointing arrows mean an incoming text and right-pointing arrows mean an outgoing text. I'm working on doing that in a story where two people are talking to and texting one another in the same scene and I want to distinguish the forms of communication.

There's no one right way. I think the only two rules are 1) to be very clear, and 2) to be consistent. If you are clear and consistent the reader will catch on right away and won't have a problem following the texting.

The Chicago Manual of Style, to my knowledge, doesn't specify any particular way to handle texting in fiction.

i wonder if Cormac McCarthy ever concerned hisself with that manual?

 

[ElectricBlue]

But another way I'm experimenting with is the use of forward and backward arrows: << >>. Left-pointing arrows mean an incoming text and right-pointing arrows mean an outgoing text. I'm working on doing that in a story where two people are talking to and texting one another in the same scene and I want to distinguish the forms of communication.

Careful with that. I did the same thing in a recent story, and somehow managed to introduce some inadvertent html which I only discovered once the story had gone live. I can't remember now what I did, but it went pretty spectacularly pear shaped.

 

[SimonDoom]

i wonder if Cormac McCarthy ever concerned hisself with that manual?

I'll bet his editors did.

McCarthy defies conventions. For instance, he doesn't use quotation marks for dialogue. But he obviously knows exactly what he is doing. His convention choices are deliberate and knowing. If one is going to defy conventions successfully, it helps to know in the first instance what those conventions are.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I think texting is inherently different from other modes of communication. There are far more shortcuts, for one thing, less punctuation. I'm not sure how to say this, but I think many if not most people, um, think differently when reading texts?

I don't use a lot of them, but when I do use texts, I try to indicate it using formatting. Yes, that includes bold and italics and no doubt that's breaking a rule or six, but it's not my rule and it is my story.

surely u dont mean that?

I sensed her uncertainty, tried to be firm.

sure

I wasn't surprised then she replied instantly.

lol!​

FWIW

 

[GinnyPPC]

Here is another thread on texting

There was a thread a while ago that had some good HTML tags identified for texting.

http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?p=90583747

Part way down are a couple posts from AwkwardMD which describe how to get a right justification in your story if you are so inclined to give it a go.

Hope this helps.