Quote:
Originally Posted by bobavey
Most of the advice I've received on writing accents or dialect indicated that the writer should write a small bit of dialog -- in accent -- when the character is first introduced then tone it down and rely more on word choice to get the point across. It's not good to overdo it. If you've ever read a book or manuscript where the writer does this you will know what I'm talking about.
|
What you said, Bob. As a reader, my personal choice would be that the author doesn't make any effort at all to "paint" an accent phonetically, though that's obviously subjective. Pretty much every time I've read such an attempt in the direction of an accent I'm familiar with, it's been truly awful and damaged the perceived credibility of the book.
If an author is going to use regional jargon to indicate an accent, I'd say have it checked carefully by someone who actually knows that lingo. The number of Brits who say "Right-ho" or "Toodle-pip!", or Aussies who say "Stone the crows!" (for example), is pretty tiny, no matter how authentic they might sound at first.