As a writer how do you write text messages in stories?

[RicoLouis]

As a writer how do you write text massages in a story. I looked around a little on the net but didn't find much in the way of how to actually do it properly as there seem to be a few different schools of thought. here is how I am doing it currently. A little background. The guy is in the bathroom cleaning up an ice cream stain off of his pants and the girl got a feel of his dick.

Hey It's Brit. Sorry.<

>It's fine. Accidents happen.

How is it coming? Get it off yet?<

I shook my head. At least someone could laugh at the whole thing.

>Ha, ha.

Want me to send Christy in to help get a grip on the problem? She is good at getting things off.

>Thanks. I am good.

I laughed. Brit was Alice's friend for sure.

Okay. Just fucking with you to lighten the mood big fellow. Yell if you need a hand. Or two. : ) <

She meant well but had a fucked up way of showing it. I was sure she was as embarrassed as I was.

 

[HeyAll]

Me: How are you doing today


(you could also go like this)


I check my phone and see a text message:

Where are you?


(or you could use italics or bold)


Me: Where are you?

Me: Where are you?

 

[NotWise]

I just write text messages like dialog. The tag is usually enough to make it clear that it's a text message, and I see no reason to make something more special out of something as mundane as a text message.

 

[ElectricBlue]

< I designate a text or email like this > and use context to make it obvious. Keeps it very simple. As NotWise notes, it's not the Magna Carta, so there's no need for embellishment.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I think we've had some threads about this previously.

If you just want to do a text exchange, quotes are fine. If you want to mix texting with spoken dialogue (I've written some scenes where people are chatting among family while using text to flirt surreptitiously) it can be helpful to distinguish the two; my default for that kind of thing is italic text. If you want to get really fancy, AwkwardMD had a post somewhere about how she did alternating left- and right-justified text to match a phone message style.

In general, I'd go with the simplest option that's going to be clear to readers about what's happening.

 

[gunhilltrain]

You can use the <kbd></kbd) tag for the text portion if you really like the way it looks. It uses a different font, a forgot what it's called, which sort of approximates a typewriter or computer screen maybe. I've never had an occasion to use it yet but it works when I've tested it. It should show up in preview mode.

How embellished was the Magna Carta, actually? Here's a 1215 edition. Looks like a real pain to read. You can open it in a different window and zoom in, but it doesn't help much.

Magna Carta 1215

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I’ve used bold font, but try to minimize how much text I include in a story.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I go for single quotes rather than double as for dialogue, but also make clear from the text that it's a text. Also some characters use abbreviations, txtspk and smileys, and spelling mistakes, others type beautifully.

 

[KeithD]

I just identify it as a text message and use double quotes. The American system doesn't use single quotes this way. You can if you wish at Literotica, certainly. Can even use italics, if you wish, which the American system also doesn't support. Should be consistent across you work with whatever you do, though.

 

[Duleigh]

I tried using the html kbd command <kbd> to force a different type face </kbd> but that didn't work in a story so I'll have to fix that.

I'm currently writing a scifi story where there's a lot of internal conversation with a person and an AI that needs formatting to illustrate an internal dialogue, I can't wait until I figure that out.

 

[PennameWombat]

And I'll be That Guy to bring up that any reader using the Literotica mobile app (and not a browser on a mobile device) will not see any of your fancy formatting. The app is incredibly simple-minded. How many people use it? Dunno. The site claims over a million downloads but I've never seen any stats on how commonly it's used. I know one poster came to AH absolutely distraught when they saw their carefully formatted story had lost it all, because they used the app to read. Through a browser it looked like they'd meant it to look (lots of italics...)

But the app will show quotes, so single or double quote marks will appear in the app's display. But it ignores italics, bolds, monospace (<kbd>), centering, etc.

Whether you care to keep this in mind or not is up to you.

 

[SimonDoom]

I don't think it matters much. The keys are to keep it simple and clear and above all to be consistent. If you are clear and consistent your readers will get on board and understand what you are doing. I've tried things and haven't settled on one way to do it. I don't use any special spacing or styling (like italics or boldface).

 

[Bramblethorn]

You can use the <kbd></kbd) tag for the text portion if you really like the way it looks. It uses a different font, a forgot what it's called, which sort of approximates a typewriter or computer screen maybe. I've never had an occasion to use it yet but it works when I've tested it. It should show up in preview mode.

Usually, <kbd> will result in a monospaced font (all characters have equal width) which we tend to interpret as "computer".

Pedantic detail: there are two different approaches to tagging. Old-school web design was mostly done under the assumption that people would be reading the text with their eyes, and it concentrated on directly specifying how the text should look, e.g. <i> means to make the text italic (slanty).

The more recent approach is "semantic tagging", which means that we tag the text according to meaning and then let the reader (or their browser) figure out how to represent that meaning. So instead of <i> I might use <em>, indicating that this text is to be emphasised.

Then the browser/etc. decides how to represent that emphasis. If it's a typical browser on default settings, it will do that... by italicising the text. Just like if I'd used an <i> tag. But for a blind reader using text-for-speech, it might instead interpret <em> as "make this a bit louder".

I think Literotica automatically converts visual tags to their closest semantic equivalent, e.g. if I submit a story with <i>s in it, they'll get changed to <em>s. This is usually but not always a good choice, because sometimes we might use italics for things other than emphasis.

 

[Duleigh]

And I'll be That Guy to bring up that any reader using the Literotica mobile app (and not a browser on a mobile device) will not see any of your fancy formatting. The app is incredibly simple-minded. How many people use it? Dunno. The site claims over a million downloads but I've never seen any stats on how commonly it's used. I know one poster came to AH absolutely distraught when they saw their carefully formatted story had lost it all, because they used the app to read. Through a browser it looked like they'd meant it to look (lots of italics...)

But the app will show quotes, so single or double quote marks will appear in the app's display. But it ignores italics, bolds, monospace (<kbd>), centering, etc.

Whether you care to keep this in mind or not is up to you.

I still have that app on a few devices, but the new design webpage works great on mobile devices so I don't bother with the clunky app anymore

BTW - my cousin's penname was Wombat also

 

[gunhilltrain]

Usually, <kbd> will result in a monospaced font (all characters have equal width) which we tend to interpret as "computer".

Pedantic detail: there are two different approaches to tagging. Old-school web design was mostly done under the assumption that people would be reading the text with their eyes, and it concentrated on directly specifying how the text should look, e.g. <i> means to make the text italic (slanty).

The more recent approach is "semantic tagging", which means that we tag the text according to meaning and then let the reader (or their browser) figure out how to represent that meaning. So instead of <i> I might use <em>, indicating that this text is to be emphasised.

Then the browser/etc. decides how to represent that emphasis. If it's a typical browser on default settings, it will do that... by italicising the text. Just like if I'd used an <i> tag. But for a blind reader using text-for-speech, it might instead interpret <em> as "make this a bit louder".

I think Literotica automatically converts visual tags to their closest semantic equivalent, e.g. if I submit a story with <i>s in it, they'll get changed to <em>s. This is usually but not always a good choice, because sometimes we might use italics for things other than emphasis.

I haven't actually used anything in a published story except italics, bold, and links, I think. I used to use Firefox but now I mostly use Chrome. Whatever appears in the preview mode - well, I've never bothered to check line breaks, but the HTML will look okay in the published story if it's in the preview. I haven't used <em> tags except in a test preview, and there I can't see much if any difference from italics. I guess I could try both in a submitted story and see what happens.

I've never had a need to use <kbd> except in a test. There was one earlier story where it might have been justified, but I didn't know about it then. It replaced the now - what is term, "invalid?" - <tt> tag, which looks the same in a test but I have no idea what Lit would actually do with it. I've seen it interpreted as looking like a typewriter, but different people see it differently I guess.

What blind readers have to deal with in text-for-speech - I don't mean to offend them, but there's a limit on how much I can deal with.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I haven't actually used anything in a published story except italics, bold, and links, I think. I used to use Firefox but now I mostly use Chrome. Whatever appears in the preview mode - well, I've never bothered to check line breaks, but the HTML will look okay in the published story if it's in the preview. I haven't used <em> tags except in a test preview, and there I can't see much if any difference from italics. I guess I could try both in a submitted story and see what happens.

You probably won't see a difference, unless you set your browser to change how <em> is displayed.

Now I look at one of your recent stories, the <i> is still there - I'd thought these were being autoconverted to <em> but apparently not?

 

[Carnevil9]

For a Literotica story, I try to avoid fucking around with formatting tags; you never know how they are going to render on the dozens of different platforms that readers are using. If I have to use texting in a story, I refer to it being a text in the story, and enter it in ALL CAPS on its own line. I think that is enough to let the reader know what they are reading.

Now, if I were submitting a story to an actual publication with editors and typesetters and everything, that would be very different.

 

[shakna]

I avoid formatting, for the same reasons as the people above, but there's another consideration - when you're writing, you're often in someone's head. Most people don't reply instinctively, they think and fret about what to say, before or after they do it.

Which means you can control the flow in a way that works for both sighted and unsighted readers:

$ COFFEE MONSTER SAYS

$ ME WANT COFFEE!

$ OM NOM NOM NOM!

She looked at the three messages she'd sent, and cringed. That had sounded so much better in her head. She'd probably just come across as a freak, and an immature one at that. Shit.

Bloop!

% Sometimes, me think, what is friend?

 

[Duleigh]

What blind readers have to deal with in text-for-speech - I don't mean to offend them, but there's a limit on how much I can deal with.

That's a good question! It made me wonder how my blind character would "see" himself if he could read his story with JAWS. I sent a query to a blind writer in Lit, @Blind_Justice, hopefully he can provide us with an answer.

 

[Duleigh]

Usually, <kbd> will result in a monospaced font (all characters have equal width) which we tend to interpret as "computer".

Pedantic detail: there are two different approaches to tagging. Old-school web design was mostly done under the assumption that people would be reading the text with their eyes, and it concentrated on directly specifying how the text should look, e.g. <i> means to make the text italic (slanty).

The more recent approach is "semantic tagging", which means that we tag the text according to meaning and then let the reader (or their browser) figure out how to represent that meaning. So instead of <i> I might use <em>, indicating that this text is to be emphasised.

Then the browser/etc. decides how to represent that emphasis. If it's a typical browser on default settings, it will do that... by italicising the text. Just like if I'd used an <i> tag. But for a blind reader using text-for-speech, it might instead interpret <em> as "make this a bit louder".

I think Literotica automatically converts visual tags to their closest semantic equivalent, e.g. if I submit a story with <i>s in it, they'll get changed to <em>s. This is usually but not always a good choice, because sometimes we might use italics for things other than emphasis.

I've tried using tagging in a recent story, but when I went to look at the story, what I saw was my tags <kbd> a line of normally formatted dialog followed by </kbd> the monospaced font I was hoping for was left in the ether.

After reading this threat I am assuming that my html tags aren't working because I am writing in my word processor and uploading the .doc file to Lit. meanwhile you are entering your text directly into the Lit website in the Story Text field. Is that the cause? Other than taking my 26K word document pasting it into the Story Text field and manually entering formatting with HTML tags, is there a way I can force the site to read the html tags in my document as tag commands?

 

[Blind_Justice]

By default, JAWS ignores text formatting when set to the "Beginner" or "Intermediate" complexity levels. Unless it's needed for work, I guess most blind people reduce the amount of word clutter JAWS throws their way to the absolute minimum if possible. I know both my wife and I have most extra info turned off. Since we don't use smart phones, I have no idea how things work on the Android/iOS side of things and I'm happy to keep it that way. I don't need to write novels on the go and if I had to, I'd use a freaking laptop, with proper keys.

@Duleigh: The <kbd> tag not going through might be more an Lit issue than a word processor issue. For the longest time, I manually put in <i></i> tags by hand and they went through no problem, but there have been numerous topics in regards to which html commands go through and which don't. From what I know, only the most basic ones, like italics and bold work 100%, although after checking in with Laurel, LoquiSordidaAdMe and I managed to place a custom link target in our Geek Pride story so people coming in from his teaser snippet could read on in the full story listed under my account.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I've tried using tagging in a recent story, but when I went to look at the story, what I saw was my tags <kbd> a line of normally formatted dialog followed by </kbd> the monospaced font I was hoping for was left in the ether.

After reading this threat I am assuming that my html tags aren't working because I am writing in my word processor and uploading the .doc file to Lit. meanwhile you are entering your text directly into the Lit website in the Story Text field. Is that the cause? Other than taking my 26K word document pasting it into the Story Text field and manually entering formatting with HTML tags, is there a way I can force the site to read the html tags in my document as tag commands?

I think I do enter the tags in the site submission box (that's what you meant by story text field?) but I may have done it in the word processor too. I usually write it as a plain text file, which is different from a .doc file (correct?). I suppose I could try it both ways and see what happens.

 

[gunhilltrain]

For a Literotica story, I try to avoid fucking around with formatting tags; you never know how they are going to render on the dozens of different platforms that readers are using. If I have to use texting in a story, I refer to it being a text in the story, and enter it in ALL CAPS on its own line. I think that is enough to let the reader know what they are reading.

Now, if I were submitting a story to an actual publication with editors and typesetters and everything, that would be very different.

Then how does a site like Amazon handle it? In Firefox (maybe other browsers too) you can open a box that shows a site's underlying code. For something like Amazon, it's extraordinarily complex. Yet people on many different platforms seem to be able to read it.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I've tried using tagging in a recent story, but when I went to look at the story, what I saw was my tags <kbd> a line of normally formatted dialog followed by </kbd> the monospaced font I was hoping for was left in the ether.

After reading this threat I am assuming that my html tags aren't working because I am writing in my word processor and uploading the .doc file to Lit. meanwhile you are entering your text directly into the Lit website in the Story Text field. Is that the cause? Other than taking my 26K word document pasting it into the Story Text field and manually entering formatting with HTML tags, is there a way I can force the site to read the html tags in my document as tag commands?

Ah, that would be it. Yeah, I do my own tagging and then paste into the Story Text field.

I'm not aware of a hybrid option that would let you include HTML tags for some stuff and handle others via Word formatting. But there are several options for converting from Word to HTML so that you can paste it into the Story Text field.

This page lists a few ways to convert Word to HTML: https://www.wikihow.com/Convert-a-Word-Document-to-HTML.

The approach I normally use is to compose in Word, then use advanced search and replace functionality to add tags around your italics, then paste that into the story text window: https://accessinghigherground.org/h...vanced Find and Replace in Microsoft Word.pdf

 

[gunhilltrain]

You probably won't see a difference, unless you set your browser to change how <em> is displayed.

Now I look at one of your recent stories, the <i> is still there - I'd thought these were being autoconverted to <em> but apparently not?

I've never tried to change those browser settings. On one of those HTML "cheat sheet" sites, it shows <em> as being identical to italics, at least to my eyes.