How-to

  • How-to, Uncategorized

    How to format text messages in fiction

    A woman standing in front of a window looks at her phone screen as though reading a text message.

    An easy guide to depicting dialogue as text messages in a contemporary fiction novel.

    Text messages are a part of everyday life so if you’re writing contemporary fiction there’s a good chance you’ll want to include a few in your story. But how do you format them? Should you use quote marks? Do you need to indicate the sender with a name or dialogue tag? What about emojis?! 🤪

    There are a few options for fiction writers to choose from. Let’s take a look.

    Keep it simple with italics

    You could use quote marks, but because readers are so used to seeing quote marks with speech, it’s clearer to illustrate texts with some other kind of formatting.

    The most straightforward way to show text messages in fiction is with italics, which are usually used to indicate any dialogue that isn’t spoken aloud.

    You can add a dialogue tag or action beat to clarify who’s sending the text, as you would if they were speaking. For example:

    Hey, I just pulled up, Trent texted.

    Be there in a minute! I typed back.

    Choose a different font

    If your characters are spending a lot of time communicating this way, you might want to use a clear visual cue to indicate a text message convo. Select a different font (a sans serif font helps to distinguish it from the rest of the copy while giving a nod to tech formatting) and set it off with indents. For example:

    tile showing text messages formatted with a different font and indents.

    Use formatting to indicate sent and received texts

    Think about how messages are displayed on your phone. The ones you send are aligned right and the ones you receive are aligned left. Some authors are choosing to replicate this format in their works, even placing them inside speech bubbles with dates and times for an authentic look. In this style, you might want to use names to indicate speakers, as you would in a play. For example:

    A tile showing two text messages aligned left and right

    Some authors – particularly young adult authors – might even like to work with a designer or illustrator to create a graphic treatment for texts.

    How to choose?

    Your choice of style to use will depend on a number of factors, including readability and budget.

    Some questions to ask yourself include:

    • Do you have long strings of text exchanges between characters?
    • Will you ever have more than two people in a text chat?
    • If you’re using names to discern who is sending the texts, how do you imagine them being read in an audio version?
    • What age group are you writing for?
    • Are you working with a designer/typesetter who can create a special design treatment for texts?
    • Is space an issue?
    • What’s your personal preference when reading this type of dialogue in fiction?

    If you’re only using the odd text here and there, italics might be all you need. But if text messages are a critical part of your characters’ dialogue, consider using a special treatment, even if it’s just a different font.

    You might like to try out a few different styles and see how they fit, and when you decide on one, ask your beta readers to give feedback on whether your treatment of text messages is clear and enjoyable to read.

    What about emojis?

    I love a smiley/winky/smirky face as much as the next millennial, but there are caveats to using these guys. Like fonts, emojis (that is, the little pictures, not the ones created with letters) are subject to copyright, so if you’re self-publishing, make sure to buy a licence or find a free version for your work. Also bear in mind that they won’t appear in colour in your printed book, which may lessen their visual appeal and impact.

    Another thing to consider is the possibility that they will date your book. Emojis are popular now but they may be considered cringe in a few years’ time, or their meaning could shift. It’s something to keep in mind if you’re concerned about your work’s longevity in the market.

    The verdict

    As long as you’re making text messages and who’s sending them clear to your reader, there’s no real right or wrong here. I lean towards using a different font or italics to indicate text messages in fiction and weaving in some dialogue tags and action beats to keep readers on top of who’s texting at all times. If you’re working with a copy editor, you can ask them if they can set up a special style in Word for text messages when working on your book to ensure you achieve both consistency and clarity. This will ensure they’re typeset differently to the rest of your text too.

    Ultimately, I love seeing creative ways of depicting technology in fiction and I’m excited to see how this evolves on the page. Futuristic novels that use not-yet-created technology? Even more fun!

    Want help formatting your book’s text messages? Get in touch for a sample edit.

  • Editing, How-to

    Introducing the vocative comma

    This tiny piece of punctuation saves lives.

    One of the best things about punctuation is that when it’s used correctly it’s invisible in plain sight. It’s like driving a road you know so well that you get home without recalling the journey.

    But when it’s misused? Those misplaced commas, semicolons and dashes can be jarring!

    The vocative comma, however, is often completely invisible. That is, writers tend to leave it out of their sentences altogether. This can have disastrous implications for your characters!

    Allow me to explain. 

    What is a vocative expression? 

    Honey, sweetheart, darling, love – your pet names for your loved ones can be a vocative; so too their actual names. Any word you use to address someone directly is a vocative (also known as a vocative expression), whether it’s kind, disrespectful or neutral. Mate, sir, madam, prime minister … the list is endless! It’s how you use it that matters.

    For instance, in the sentence, “Hey, you!”, you is the vocative expression because that’s the word used as a direct address.

    Although you might not hear it in your speech, a comma is needed with a vocative expression in writing. In fact, it’s an incredibly powerful piece of punctuation.

    Consider the difference between these sentences: 

    “Shoot Pete,” the policeman cried. 

    “Shoot, Pete,” the policeman cried. 

    In the first example, without the vocative comma, Pete’s life is in grave danger! In the second, a vocative comma saves his life, showing us that the policeman is, in fact, directing Pete to shoot someone or something. 

    Similarly, the below sentence can take your story in a wild direction without a vocative comma: 

    “Eat children!” the woman urged. 

    Unless your story is exploring cannibalism, you’re going to need a comma with that: 

    “Eat, children!” the woman urged. 

    The comma makes it clear that the woman wants to feed the children, not feed on them.

    At its simplest, the vocative comma offers instant clarity. For example:

    “I don’t know Alison,” said Judy.

    has a completely different meaning to:

    “I don’t know, Alison,” said Judy.

    How to use the vocative comma

    Where you place the vocative comma depends on where the vocative expression lands in the sentence. 

    If the vocative expression starts the sentence, you need a comma after it (the vocative and its comma are in bold): 

    “Kate, bring me that file,” Alice ordered. 

    “Simone, is that your new bike?” Fred asked.

    If the vocative expression arrives at the end of the sentence, use the comma before the vocative. 

    “Give me my bag, you thief,” Ann said.

    “Where did you get that cool shirt, bro?” James asked.

    If the vocative expression is placed in the middle of the sentence, it needs commas before and after it. 

    “Well, Pete, you shouldn’t have fired that gun,” the policeman said.

    “Hello, darling, would you like a cup of tea?” Jenni offered.

    When does a vocative expression not need a comma?

    You don’t need a comma when the vocative expression is standing alone. Instead, you need a full stop, an exclamation mark, or a question mark. Here are some examples. 

    “Pete! The policeman told you to shoot!” cried Mark. 

    “Darling? Are you there?” Jenni called. 

    “You thief. Bring me that bag,” Anna snapped.

    Embracing the vocative comma

    It can be easy to miss this one when you’re in the flow of writing, and in many cases most people will understand what you mean when you fail to add a vocative comma. It’s not actually life or death!

    But, using the vocative comma is a good habit to get into. Firstly, using punctuation correctly makes for clearer sentences and a seamless experience for your reader, allowing them to fully immerse in your world. And secondly, if you’re working with an editor, getting these little details right will save them time and you money.

    So, keep the vocative comma in mind when you’re polishing your manuscript – and see if you save any lives while you’re at it.

  • Editing, How-to, Writing

    No words ever wasted: Why writing to rewrite isn’t a waste of time

    Worried that all that writing you’re doing might eventually end up in the bin? Here’s why your words are never wasted, even if they don’t make the final cut.

    Tension square. 

    These two words, without fail, elicit a groan in me every time I see them at the top of a knitting pattern. 

    If you’ve ever been seduced by a silky skein of wool, you’ll no doubt be familiar with the concept of tension squares. They ask the knitter to make a small test square using the yarn and needles required for the pattern to check their tension – that is, how tight or loose they naturally knit. If you have more stitches per centimetre than the pattern indicates, you need to loosen your knitting. If you have fewer, you need to tighten up. 

    It’s a quality-control process that good crafters understand and follow, knowing that if their tension is off they won’t wind up with a well-made garment in the end. It will look shrunken and silly, or hang limp and uneven. Taking the time to check their tension at the start can insure them against a disappointing finish. 

    Unfortunately, I’m not one of those crafters. 

    To me, tension squares have always felt like a waste of time. I’m excited to start the project and I want the finished product yesterday. 

    That’s fine if I’m making something like a scarf or a beanie. But for a garment? Well, let’s just say I’ve never made a jumper I’d wear in public. 

    Patience makes perfect

    My refusal to sit with the tedium of knitting tension squares has always held me back from achieving my goal of making a beautiful jumper, cardigan or vest. I’m simply too impatient to be a great crafter.

    I think the same can apply to the craft of writing. 

    I know a lot of writers worry about the possibility that they’re putting in loads of writing time and effort only to have to abandon great swathes of copy at some distant point in the future. They think:

    • What if an editor suggests cutting a whole section of the book? 
    • What if a publisher insists on changing the point of view or adding a new character? 
    • What if I wake up one day and decide the plot is all wrong, the main character sucks and I hate the ending? 

    Writing a book is a lot like knitting in that it’s a skill that takes a lot of practice – and even more patience. 

    You’ll start off excited to work on your idea and see where it ends up, but it’s slow and painstaking work. You might drop a stitch and have to work backwards to fix the hole. And at some point in the process, you might find yourself pulling on a loose thread and unravelling the whole damn thing down to nothing. 

    So, is it a waste if you had to pull out your work and start from scratch? Well, maybe, but only if you think you have nothing to learn. 

    Yes, it hurts to cut chapters you spent hours putting down or to give up on a character you once loved. But those early drafts weren’t wasted. The process of writing them taught you about structure, narrative arcs, characterisation, dialogue, showing vs telling, deep point of view. They might even inspire new stories further down the track. 

    What about writing exercises? Like tension squares, practices such as interviewing your characters, writing a detailed backstory or testing out a different narrative tense might feel like a distraction from the main game – finishing your novel – but they’re not as pointless as they can seem. 

    Sure, they’re time consuming and they might not ever make it to the published page. But are they a waste? No. They’re an opportunity to work on your craft and expand your skills. A quality-control process to ensure that the finished product is polished, engaging, and definitely worth showing off in public. 

    Five ways to reframe your rewrite

    If you’re struggling to let go of some of your darlings or worried that you’re wasting your words, try these tips: 

    • Create a safety net: Put any cut material into a separate word file and save it. You might come back to it later, you might not. Tell yourself it’s still valued material by keeping it on file. 
    • Set a time limit for your writing practice. If you’ve been staring at your screen for 15 minutes and feel like the words aren’t flowing, don’t force it – you’re unlikely to love the work you create in this mood. Put your laptop away and come back to it later when you’re in a more creative mindset. 
    • Try writing just for fun, sometimes. Don’t pressure yourself to create something amazing or reach a certain stage in your novel every time you sit down to write. Practise writing for the joy of it – try writing some flash fiction, pen a poem or just free-journal your thoughts.  
    • Make a plan for your rewrite. Don’t just dive in – go through your manuscript with a critical eye and pinpoint what areas need work, then follow through systematically. Not sure where to start? An editor can give you sensitive, professional feedback on your story and a plan for how to strengthen its weak points. Check out my structural editing service here.
    • Accept that rewriting is part of the process, no matter how far along you are in your writing journey. Even the best, most accomplished authors write multiple drafts of their novels. As Anne Lamott says, “Almost all writing begins with terrible first efforts.”

  • How-to, Writing

    How to boss the blank page

    Why you need an editor

    Writer’s block. Just tapping out those words is enough to make my creativity recoil. If you’ve ever stared at a fresh Word document, the cursor blinking expectantly while you searched desperately for an opening sentence that didn’t make you nauseous, you’ll understand the true terror of a blank page. Here’s the techniques I use to show writer’s block who’s boss…

    Write something

    Ever heard of the saying, ‘like cures like’? It’s a good theory to explain why I turn to writing when I have writer’s block. Rather than agonising over my paralysing lack of inspiration, I grab a big, A4-sized notebook and brain dump for 30 minutes. I don’t worry about what I’m writing, I don’t read over it later, I just scribble down whatever thoughts are swimming through my mind at the time. For me, it seems to clear away the clutter to allow the juicy stuff to come on out. I picked up this technique from creativity bible The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, who recommends journalling longhand every day, first thing in the morning, to get stagnant thoughts flowing.

    Move around

    This tip might be an oldie, but it’s legit. A bunch of scientific research has shown that walking stimulates creativity and enhances problem-solving. So, if you’re stuck in front of your computer feeling totally lost for words, go get lost in real life. Take a long walk (or simply get up out of your seat – jumping and dancing are good, too) and let your mind wander. You might just score a lightbulb moment on the way.

    Dress up

    I love this advice Elizabeth Gilbert shares in her book Big Magic. She says that dressing up creates a sense of occasion that beckons brilliance to your desk. This one’s particularly poignant if, like me, you work from home and all too often find yourself schlepping around in whatever you picked up off the floor, matched back with cosy socks and a messy bun. You don’t have to put on a ball gown or a tux (unless you want to!), but try doing your hair or slipping on a frock that makes you feel happy. I miss the process of dressing for an office – choosing a fun outfit and doing my hair and makeup – so going through those motions can be enough to remind me that the work I do deserves my best self, both in appearance and performance.

    Procrastinate

    When all else fails, consider your block a chance to take a break. Sometimes words, like relationships, elude us when we’re chasing them too hard. If that’s the case, stop wasting time agonising over your blank page and play hard to get instead. Go bake a cake, clean your house, catch up on life admin or take yourself to your favourite café and flip through a magazine for an hour. When you’re least expecting it, the words you’ve been searching for will find you.

    Tell me… How do you beat writer’s block?