Do you italicize text messages when writing a novel?

No, you generally don't italicize text messages in a novel. Instead, you typically set them off using some other formatting convention, such as:

* Quotation marks: This is the most common method. For example: "Hey, what's up?"

* A different font: Sometimes a slightly different font or a smaller font size might be used to distinguish them. This is less common than quotation marks.

* Indentation: Indenting the text message from both left and right margins can also work.

The best method depends on your publisher's style guide and your overall formatting choices for dialogue. Italics are usually reserved for other purposes, like emphasizing a word or indicating a title of a work.