Last week, I wanted to text my friend about a particular law firm she’s currently working for. She was my co-intern in the summer internship I had two years ago.

It took me a long time before I could formulate what message to send her. I wanted to ask her how she’s doing, what the culture of the firm is, and to casually inquire if I needed to submit particular documents for my application.

I didn’t want to look opportunistic. We had a good working relationship but it’s been a long time since we last conversed.

That’s when it dawned upon me: I didn’t have to send her just one text message. I could break it up to parts.

If you want to cultivate a relationship with someone, text messaging is probably not the best way to do it. But if the need arises, or that is the only reasonable means that this person, do not be pressured to put everything in one text message. You don’t have to compress your long time no see greeting with your current inquiry. Sending a series of messages just might do the trick.