Conveying text messages in a novel

tripper1963

Has anyone ever needed to use a passage of speech in a novel that describes the text messages between two characters? if you have what syle did you use as in did you require speech bubbles?
EG "I went to the doctor today."

alchemist33

I used italics and no speech marks.

tripper1963

fair play thanks i was thinking the same but wasnt sure if it was correct- difficult to build up suspense describing actions with a nokia mobile

bigsmokewriting

In published books it's usually italics, sometimes speech marks, occasionally a separate font. Whatever works for you.

tripper1963

me thinks writers had to work harder before mobile phones were introduced-

hcass

I've seen it in books like this: wud luv 2 meet u I think that conveys a text message better than italics which in my head would represent something else (thoughts in someone's head or a letter)

tripper1963

very good point hcass that is how lot of people text universally recognised thanks

pickarooney

A separate font usually works best although I'm one of these people whose eye is drawn to something like this as soon as I turn the page and I often spoil the suspense on myself.

Be careful with using txtspk if it doesn't fit with your character's profile. People who were too old to accept the abbreviations and those who grew up with predictive/corrective text might not have the reflex of trying to save characters.

tripper1963

Thanks pickarooney very valid point about text speak luckily my story incorporates an older man who needs to discover texting when he falls in love and the comic potential of a total novice learning to text is great especially when the phone predicts what he might want to text which of course is the opposite to what he wants. old people and mobile phones comic gold :rolleyes:

4JAKE

tripper1963 wrote: »

Thanks pickarooney very valid point about text speak luckily my story incorporates an older man who needs to discover texting when he falls in love and the comic potential of a total novice learning to text is great especially when the phone predicts what he might want to text which of course is the opposite to what he wants. old people and mobile phones comic gold :rolleyes:

very good

Antilles

pickarooney wrote: »

People who were too old to accept the abbreviations and those who grew up with predictive/corrective text might not have the reflex of trying to save characters.

I'm thirty and I rarely abbreviate texts. My mother, and my girlfriend's mother both abbreviate so much their texts are near illegible.