Dialogue Simulation Theory: A Convention for Simulating Modern Text Exchanges in Novels

Yusuf Kemal
Feb 5
4 min read

Updated: Aug 11

While writing my first novel, When Love Meets The Light, I came across a glut of writing rules and conventions. I learned a lot from them. However, I was surprised not to come across any fixed writing convention for modern texting in novels — WhatsApp, iMessage exchanges, etc.

It only seemed that each author had their own style. So, here, I share mine in the hope of inspiring others to follow this easy, simple convention that’s as efficient for writers to use as it is intuitive for readers to understand.

Multiple messages:

In a novel, multiple messages are those that would cause the receiver's phone to ping with multiple notifications.

For Short messages;

“Short text… Short text.” 

Example:

“Hi… How are you?”

For Long messages;

“Long text.”

Example:

“While writing my first novel, When Love Meets The Light, I came across a glut of writing rules and conventions. I learned a lot from them. However, I was surprised not to come across any fixed writing convention for modern texting in novels — WhatsApp, iMessage exchanges, etc.”

“The utility of this writing convention lies in its simplicity—and efficiency. A single text is closed with quotation marks only at its end, whereas short multiple messages may be separated by ellipses. The reason is simple, but let’s illustrate it with a sample text exchange between two characters in our novel.”

Single Message:

In a single-message exchange, one character texts another character but only sends one single message.

Here’s a quick litmus test: how many notifications would the character on the receiving end get?

If one, follow this rule. If it is more than one, return to the earlier section on multiple messages)

The system works as follows:

Same Line:

“Short or long text.”  

Separate Lines:

“Short or long text.

“Short or long text.”

In other words, when a single message stretches across multiple lines or paragraph-like units, each new line begins with an opening quotation mark, but the closing quotation mark appears only at the end of the full message.

Understanding The DST system

Devised with Efficiency in Mind

The utility of this writing convention lies in its simplicity—and efficiency. Any single text message is ended only by quotations marks, except for short multiple messages. The reason is simple, but let’s illustrate it with a sample text exchange between two characters in our novel.

Without the DST system:

“Hey”

“How are you?”

“I was at Jake’s class”

“This morning”

“I hoped I’d bump into you”

“Where have u been”

“You ok?”

Depending on the font size, page dimensions, and number of messages sent, without the DST convention, text messages from a single character could easily devour half a page—or more. Good Lord!

The DST convention compresses this into a neat, spatially efficient format that remains understandable at a reader’s glance.

With the DST system:

“Hey… How are you?… I was at Jake’s class… This morning… I hoped I’d bump into you… Where have u been… You ok?”

As seen above, the difference is enormous — amounting to an almost four-fold reduction in empty lines. Granted, some authors may object and argue that this deprives them of precious white space on the page. Fair enough. If your novel is short, then perhaps placing each text on a separate line is the better choice for you. Though, you may then be left with the conundrum of clearly delineating each character’s voice to avoid attributional errors by readers.

For longer novels spanning more than 100,000 words, however, the DST convention affords writers greater flexibility and spatial efficiency through a tidy, compressed, yet immediately legible format for dialogue. As a bonus, except in the case of long multiple messages, it almost eliminates the risk of attribution errors by readers — i.e. readers won’t get confused about who is saying what.

The goal here is not to claim that the DST system is superior to all other conventions. Rather, it is to offer an alternative writing system that is intuitive, efficient in its use of page real estate, and effortless for readers to skim through. It may not work for everyone, but it is worth seeing whether it works for your specific novel and use case.

Separate Lines — The New Art of The Century

Another feature of the DST system is that it allows authors to simulate single-text messages written across separate lines. Normally, such messages are compressed onto the same line, with the trade-off of losing out on potentially important narrative nuances and psycho-emotional cues during text exchanges between the characters. Allowing those nuances and cues to be preserved—and, at times, even accentuated—has been one of the great accomplishments and most useful features of the DST system in my own writing.

The DST convention has allowed me to do wonders in my own novel, and I hope it helps you all, too.

If you found this helpful, please pass it on to somebody else so that we can all grow together.

This has been Yusuf Kemal, and I invite you, to Re-consider !