How to Respond to a Dry Text! (10 Tips and Examples!)

Dry texting sucks, you get one-word answers, emojis, and they take ages to respond…

You end up feeling like you don’t know where you stand or if they’re interested at all.

If the person you’re texting means a lot to you, you’re going to have to carry the conversation and help them out a little.

Here are some tips on how to respond to a dry text and get the conversation flowing!

How to Respond to a Dry Text – 10 Tips!

1. Reply with An Open Question

Dry texting means the person is sending short, closed responses. So, the best way to counter it is to reply with an open-ended question.

This way, they have to give a more detailed answer than just a one-word reply.

Some examples of open-ended questions would be things like:

• What are your plans for today/what you have been up to?
• What kind of things do you enjoy doing?
• What are your hobbies, I’d love to hear about what you’re into?

These questions require more than a one-word answer, so it’ll encourage the person to open up more over text.

It’ll also help you get to know them better, which is a great thing.

Related – What is dry texting? Loads of examples and an explanation.

2. Ask Them Something You Know They’re Interested In

Another great way to get a person to open up more over text is to ask them about something you know they’re interested in.

This could come off the back of an open-ended question so you know more about them, or you could just ask them outright what they’re interested in.

If someone can’t open up and talk about something they’re passionate about over text, they may not be able to open up at all.

3. Send Them Something Flirty (If You Like Them)

Sometimes, a little flirting can be the thing that finally gets someone to open up over text.

Of course, this only applies if you’re texting someone you’re interested in!

Although, being a bit cheeky and flirty will often go down well with good friends.

I’ll leave it to you to decide what you think the person you’re texting will respond to based on their personality and how the two of you get along.

4. Remind Them of Something Funny

This is another way of bringing emotions into play to get someone more involved in a conversation with you.

We all love to laugh, and often the quickest way to someone’s heart is by reminding them of something funny that happened.

If you can make them laugh, they’ll be more inclined to open up!

5. Ask for Their Opinion on Something

This is similar to asking an open-ended question, if you ask someone for their opinion on something that’s important to you they should send more than a dry response.

If they don’t, as hard as this is to accept, it’s a reflection of how invested they are in the conversation or even you as a friend.

I’m not suggesting you write them off, they might just be really bad at texting.

But it’s time to take notice and stop investing so much into trying to text back and forth if they’re just not interested.

6. Suggest Talking on The Phone

On the back of realizing that someone just isn’t great at texting, you could try suggesting you talk on the phone.

It sounds crazy to say it, but picking up the phone and talking in person seems to be a forgotten art!

If someone is really interested in you but hates to text, they’ll be pumped to have a conversation with you on the phone.

7. Ask Them if There Is Anything Up

We all have those moments in life where we’re just not feeling it, and that can show up over text quite easily.

It’s hard to tell how someone is really feeling over a text message, especially if they’re giving you short, dry responses.

Try asking them what’s up. Maybe something is up, or if it’s not maybe they’ll ask you why you ask.

You can then say it’s because you’re getting one-word responses!

8. Tell Them It’s Hard to Understand Them with Such Short Texts

If you’re really lost for how to respond, you could tell them it’s hard to understand them when they only send one-word responses.

This will let them know that they’re being short with their responses, and should prompt them to put in a little more effort in the future!

9. Make a Joke About Them Dry Texting

There is nothing that brings an issue to attention quite like a little sarcasm or pointing it out by making a joke.

If you make a joke about their dry texting, they (should) be more likely to take notice and put in a bit more effort next time.

10. Use Shorter Texts Yourself

This isn’t a case of ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ it’s more a case of communicating on their level to the conversation is more ‘even’.

There’s no point in writing long, detailed text messages if they’re just going to continue giving you short responses.

You’ll end up getting frustrated, and at the end of the day, you don’t want that.

Related – Tips for not being a dry texter when texting a guy.

You Might Have to Accept That They Just Don’t Like Texting

Just like some people don’t like talking on the phone, there are also some people who hate texting.

I have to admit, I’m not a big fan of texting.

I’m not a dry texter! But I do try to not get involved in long text message conversations as it’s time-consuming.

So, something to keep in mind is that you might have to accept that the person giving you dry responses just doesn’t enjoy texting.

It doesn’t mean they don’t like you, it just means they prefer other forms of communication and you’ll have to find a workaround.

Don’t Keep Chasing Someone Who Isn’t as Interested

If you’re a big texter and the person you’re texting isn’t, I think it’s also important to keep in mind that you probably can’t change them.

You can’t make someone interested in texting if they’re not.

It’s not worth your time and energy to keep chasing someone who doesn’t want to keep replying.

It’s better to find someone who is on the same page as you when it comes to texting, or at least be prepared to compromise.

Whether they’re not interested in talking to you or they just don’t want to text, pick up on the signals and adjust accordingly.

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Image credits – Photo by Emmanuel Ikwuegbu on Unsplash