[neilmarr]

It can be difficult, Basil, because -- sticking strictly to the rules of grammar -- you can end up with so much awkward punctuation in dialogue that a page looks messy and reads as though it's contrived.

I've edited several novels with heavy regional accent and dialect in dialogue. Sometimes, I've dispensed with grammar and worked as though the dialogue is a language of its own. It works well, according to readers and reviewers. It feels 'natural'.

An important side benefit of this approach, I believe, is that making no concession to the formal rules serves to show that an author has respect for a character's use of language and makes no belittling attempt to force it (or the character) to conform to perceived convention.

Especially being Scottish, and occasionally lapsing into the old Lallands dialect (as used by Robert Burns), I appreciate that consideration. Like many other linguistic forms, Lallands is not a corruption of English but a branch of its evolutionary tree. The same applies from regions of the US, to India, the West Indies, etc. We do not want or need running repairs. We do not speak in apostrophes.

The main thing from the author and editor standpoint, Basil, is consistency, readability, character construction and scene setting in the presentation of dialogue. For once, it is more valuable to the writer to listen than to read.

Do, of course, be grammatically correct in narrative unless clearly making a point or reflecting the POV of the narrator.

Good luck and best wishes. Neil