Summaries can change the claim
A note such as left at six may look harmless, but it can alter a statement that actually says I think he was getting ready to leave around six. The shortened version removes uncertainty, changes preparation into action and adds precision. Use concise summaries for routine material, but retain exact wording whenever tense, certainty or the meaning of a verb affects your theory.
Worked example: leaving now
A message saying I'm leaving now might refer to an office, a café or the city, depending on context. If you summarize it as began the causeway journey, you add a location and action the phrase may not specify. Read adjacent messages and any explicit destination before deciding which departure the speaker meant.
Quote and interpret separately
In your notes, keep a short quotation followed by your interpretation and its reason. This lets you revise the interpretation without losing the original words. In Somatry, careful quotation is especially useful when comparing a message thread with an interview recollection. The records can disagree, but first check that the disagreement exists in their actual wording rather than in two summaries you accidentally made more definite than the sources themselves.