quick question

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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 3:54 am

how quickly is too quickly to respond to an email. If i respond to fast will the lad get suspicious, or if i take too long he will think im not serious.

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 4:14 am

As long as you do not send more than one email to a lad in a day, how quickly you respond should not make that much of a difference. The idea is to drag out the bait as long as possible. Ask questions (but just one per email). If he sends you a file, tell him to send it again because it won't open, etc.

And, as always, bait safely.

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 7:21 am

The way I decide when to reply is to ask myself, 'What would my character do?'

If my character believes they have won the Lottery - then they answer as soon as they see that mail. Which might be within seconds (if they are the type who sits at their PC half the day) or that evening (if they work full-time).

If it is a business proposal, or something possibly not-quite-legal, they think about it for a day or two before replying.

If they like penpalling, and this appears to be a would-be penpal (eg a Romance Lad, or a Refugee), then they will write the same day, or the next.

If it is a charity appeal, they might wait several days.

Basically: how urgent would this email seem to your character? What is their lifestyle/other commitments? Are they nervous that they might 'miss their chance' in this deal? Or are they a bit suspicious or undecided about it?

My characters usually reply fairly quickly (same day) at first. After a week or so, they slow down to next-day replies. Once it gets onto the Send Money stage, their lives get busier, and their emails fewer. After two or three months, they become most irritating, and have periods of ignoring several Lad-mails in a row.

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 1:43 pm

How long is a piece of string? All lads are different and have different tolerance levels. If they think you are likely to be too much like hard work they will drop you fairly quick, especially lottery lads, who have a particularly low tolerance level in my experience.

What I do is to act fairly compliant to start with and reply promptly so that they feel confident that you are not just a Gmail jokker yanking their chain. Once they have invested the initial time (and minimum effort). Then I let things slowly unravel. through no fault of your own things don't go according to the lad's plan. I always apologize when I ask them a question...."Sorry, I'm not familiar with Western Union.. please explain. The money is here waiting to be sent." Always keep the money carrot dangling just out of their reach.

At worst they drop you. Plenty more fish in the barrel, sadly.

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 1:53 pm

It can also be fun to reply instantly for a few days, maybe a week. Have them get used to that. Then, when things get exciting for the lad, stop mailing him for a few days and then send him a mail telling him you had an accident, family member died, pet died, you got sick, internet broke down or whatever you can think of.

It's more than likely that in the 2-3 days of not mailing the lad has sent you several panicky e-mails and spent quite some time F5'ing his inbox Wink