diff --git a/src/Model/chatModel.ts b/src/Model/chatModel.ts
index e636d9f1..bc8696aa 100644
--- a/src/Model/chatModel.ts
+++ b/src/Model/chatModel.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,19 @@
 // this file is responsible for managing chats and chat messages. objects are delegated to objectModel.ts.
 
+import { createTimestamp } from "../utility";
+
+// creation methods
+export function createChatMessage(channel: string, sender: string, body: string): ChatMessage {
+    return {
+        dataVersion: "v2",
+
+        channel,
+        sender,
+        body,
+        dateSent: createTimestamp(),
+    }
+}
+
 // types
 export interface ChatMessage {
     dataVersion: "v2";
diff --git a/src/utility.ts b/src/utility.ts
index b9b0c88f..abce4e7d 100644
--- a/src/utility.ts
+++ b/src/utility.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,13 @@
+// date
+export function createTimestamp(): string {
+  return new Date().toISOString();
+}
+
+// string
 export function stringify(data: any): string {
-    return JSON.stringify(data);
+  return JSON.stringify(data);
 }
 
 export function parse(string: string): any {
-    return JSON.parse(string);
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+  return JSON.parse(string);
+}