When I was in grad school, one of my profs warned us to beware writing scenes that involve texting. "They are the worst," would be a polite paraphrase. Basically it's worse than talking heads; there's not even the rough and tumble of dialogue. It's just watching people stare at their phones. If you want that just look around.
Now as it turns out there is actual drama to the experience of texting. Mostly it looks like this:
You've texted something. Ideally (because this is a script, after all), that is to say, you've taken some kind of risk. And the endless dots are the moment of truth, where you see whether it pays off or your life is SO OVER.
HEARTSTOPPER adds a great wrinkle. I would go so far as to say it is a must see for anyone who wants to figure out how to make texting really dramatic.
And it works by finding just as much drama in what each character themselves decide to text as in the waiting for response.
Probably the most streamlined version happens in episode 107. Charlie has come to this belief that he is bad for everyone. (Being gay is so awesome, you guys.) And he's trying to figure out how to talk to Nick.
And so what we watch is him laying in bed composing texts, then deleting them and composing another. And it creates a kind of process of revelation and stake-raising, each new text giving us new information as to where Charlie is at that seems worse and worse. Which means, each new text has us that much more invested in what's going to happen next, even though it's just him by himself testing things out.
It's a 4 step sequence: "i need to talk to you", which establishes a baseline for us as to what's up. But it also gets our attention. "i need to talk to you": This is serious.
Then he erases it and goes with "i'm so sorry, it's my fault you got into that fight", which tells us what he wants to talk about and how he's feeling. We don't know exactly where it's going, but it's definitely worrisome.
Then it's the big one: "are you sure you want us to be together". Fuhhhhhhk. No, Charlie, no. The text peels back more of where Charlie's head is, and takes our concern to a much higher level.
Finally he comes back around to where he started: "Can we have lunch tomorrow?" and that's what he sends. It's actually a more gentle version of the first text -- this isn't about need, it's "do you have time for?" But with the context of the prior texts the significance of that request is now so much different. It sets up their next encounter as a potential break up.
Episode 102 has a much more involved version, with both Charlie and Nick trying to think through texts to each other. But once again we get this technique of texting things and then deleting them being used as a way of revealing what a character is thinking and struggling with and also building suspense or tension. The fact that Nick is not even yet at a point where he's able to face his own sexuality adds another whole layer of tension--in a sense he's not only struggling with what to say to Charlie but what to see in himself.
In a sense the lesson is that there really is a way to do just about anything, no matter how boring or lifeless it might seem. The question to ask is, What's the most dramatic way of doing this activity?
And watch HEARTSTOPPER. It's really good.
