Instant Messaging

JustJas · Mar 4, 2012

I just wrote a story where much of the communication takes place through IM...Just wondering if there are any rules for formatting this? Speech marks don't seem right because it's technically not speech. Maybe italics? I'm sure I've read books that use IM, but I just can't remember how they showed it.

Federator · Mar 4, 2012

My advice would be to give it a kind of mechanical feel, ittalics or a different format perhaps. This may not be what your looking for but something likes this perhaps?
Jim heared his phone beep, he reached into his pocket and opened the messege-
*-Welcome to the club.-*

This is just how i feel it could be like, but the actual rules might differ, or perhaps there are no rules, but it is open to change however the writer feels fit?

dpaterso · Mar 4, 2012

After introducing the IMing, you could precede each line with the typist's name, e.g.

me: what u doin 2nite?
andy: hot date
me: anyone i know???

-Derek

Dreity · Mar 4, 2012

I'm sure it depends on the publishing house, but I think the books I've read that use IM in the narrative used Courier or some other typewriter-style font. No quotation marks, just the username and then a semi-colon before the text.

JustJas · Mar 4, 2012

Thanks. I think I'll follow these suggestions and give the username and maybe change the font.

Dr.Gonzo · Mar 4, 2012

I use a little instant messaging in my WIP. Because my story has a lot to do with the digital age--how we depend on it, and how it's become very natural and a big part of a lot of our lives--I treated it just like dialogue to show how little we notice using stuff like that.

Federator · Mar 4, 2012

I agree with dr.Gonzo, but surely you acknowledge it is IM? I mean that before writing the conversation like dialouge, do you somehow acknowledge that they are using IM technology?

Dr.Gonzo · Mar 5, 2012

Federator said:
I agree with dr.Gonzo, but surely you acknowledge it is IM? I mean that before writing the conversation like dialouge, do you somehow acknowledge that they are using IM technology?

Me? No, I actually had some fun with it. The MC talking (in the nude) to his mate who is falling into a swimming pool, behind him there's this old guy and he's checking out some girl's lumpy bits. I set up the strange situation and then it becomes clear that they're talking online and the swimming pool stuff is the friend's profile picture. The MC's in his apartment, sat on the couch, letting it all hand out.

That's one instance. I've got two. The other is clear from the start.

The Seanchai · Mar 5, 2012

I wrote a short story where the MC's were in an online relationship at the beginning and their initial conversation took place via IM. The way I did it was to indicate that one of them had logged onto a messenger and then just formatted it like a typical IM would look like. For example:

Lyra: Hey how's it going?
Kerri: Great. You?
Lyra: Well! Wanna get together?

Of course that wasn't the actual conversation, but that's how I formatted it.

Federator · Mar 5, 2012

The Seanchai said:
I wrote a short story where the MC's were in an online relationship at the beginning and their initial conversation took place via IM. The way I did it was to indicate that one of them had logged onto a messenger and then just formatted it like a typical IM would look like. For example:

Lyra: Hey how's it going?
Kerri: Great. You?
Lyra: Well! Wanna get together?

Of course that wasn't the actual conversation, but that's how I formatted it.

Like this, i'm just stating that there is a need to clearly indicate that it is IM before -

Lyra: Hey how's it going?
Kerri: Great. You?
Lyra: Well! Wanna get together?

HistorySleuth · Mar 5, 2012

Dreity said:
I'm sure it depends on the publishing house, but I think the books I've read that use IM in the narrative used Courier or some other typewriter-style font. No quotation marks, just the username and then a semi-colon before the text.

My daughter has a couple books with IMs. It was done just like Dreity described. It was all in Courier font, Username:message.

brianjanuary · Mar 6, 2012

If you have a significant amount of IM talk, it's going to get annoying for the reader very quickly if you use a different format. Why not just write that their conversation is taking place with IM, and then format it as dialogue? The reader will know what's going on.

The Seanchai · Mar 6, 2012

Federator said:
Like this, i'm just stating that there is a need to clearly indicate that it is IM before -

Lyra: Hey how's it going?
Kerri: Great. You?
Lyra: Well! Wanna get together?

Yes, indicating that it's an IM before entering text like that would be a must. Fully agree here.

Orchestra · Mar 6, 2012

I'd just mostly paraphrase it and use italics for a few direct quotes here and there. Playing with typesetting for emails, texts and IM is very gimmicky and long chat exchanges almost always come across as either boring or inauthentic.

Prince Vega · Mar 8, 2012

The Seanchai said:
I wrote a short story where the MC's were in an online relationship at the beginning and their initial conversation took place via IM. The way I did it was to indicate that one of them had logged onto a messenger and then just formatted it like a typical IM would look like. For example:

Lyra: Hey how's it going?
Kerri: Great. You?
Lyra: Well! Wanna get together?

Of course that wasn't the actual conversation, but that's how I formatted it.

I like!

Instant Messaging

JustJas

Federator

14 and writing.

dpaterso

Patent pending

Dreity

JustJas

Dr.Gonzo

Wonderfully Irreverent

Federator

14 and writing.

Dr.Gonzo

Wonderfully Irreverent

The Seanchai

Federator

14 and writing.

HistorySleuth

Researching History's Mysteries

brianjanuary

The Seanchai

Orchestra

practical experience, GTFO

Prince Vega