Punctuation and format for written communication/dialogue

Use capitals if you wish. Or italics. Presumably the written comments are brief, concise, and not lengthy.

Whatever you use, being consistent would help clarity.

You've not been consistent above re the 'talk pls'.

Good luck.

anaemic_mind said:

Yes the written stuff is as brief as possible and she uses some text speak as she's got hand injuries too so writing is hard for her.

The capitalised NO is a printed word on the board she's using not something she's written. Sorry that wasn't clear.

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That was clear.

I was referring to the 'talk pls'.

All caps could get annoying depending on how much there is. It's really a style choice, though, and quotes would be fine with me personally as long as you establish first you are quoting her written word. Other ideas: small caps ala Death in Discworld; a different font; something custom -txt please- and -no clothes-.

Quotes seems like a good option. There needs to be something, or it gets confusing. As written, with no punctuation, it threw me off.

anaemic_mind said:

Sorry, you've lost me now. What wasn't clear?

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The 'maybe later' is also not standing out because it's not italicised or in quotes and is just part of the nomal text.

anaemic_mind said:

I'm wanting to set her writing out as separate from speech so really want something different to quotes.

Italics I'm already using for thoughts so I guess that would get too confusing for the reader?

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Unless you plan to self-publish and can dictate to the printer, or you're Stephen King who can be sure publishers will comply with any printing anomaly, you're wise to rethink using different fonts.

You're also smart to separate non-verbals (thoughts, texts, signs, notes, etc.) from speech your readers can "hear." Usually italics are best, but when depicting signs or handwriting in upper case, ALL CAPITALS work well, too.

Don't think of italics as only for thoughts. Think of them as non-verbals opposite from spoken words within quotes.

Different uses for italics shouldn't cause a problem for readers as italics are also used for titles of books, names of ships and bridges, foreign words and phrases, words needing emphasis, and so on.

I'm going to second Chase on italics. I'm pretty sure that's the device I see used most often to indicate text. I've seen it used in books which also use italics for thoughts, and I've never had any problem differentiating between the two.

That also gives you the freedom to capitalize as your character does; as a reader, I get a different vibe from "She squinted at it, pointed to the word NO and wrote talk pls" than from "She squinted at it, pointed to the word NO and wrote TALK PLS." You get more of a range, so that when she does use all caps or unusual capitalization, it's obvious.

Finally (assuming you're planning on publishing), the best choice may vary based on your plans. If you plan to self-publish an e-book, just use whatever you want for now (so long as it's consistent), and when you get to the point of hiring a designer, that person will be able to work with you to find something you both like, whether that's a different font, italics, small caps, whatever. If you plan to publish traditionally, I'd recommend sticking to italics to keep it simple for the agent reading your work.