Random writing thought: dialects

[locker_monster]

Love'em? Hate'em? I started writing a fic with the setting in Scotland and suddenly all the Scottish characters are using "ye" and "dinnae" and so on. I'm the author and even I'm finding it annoying. Sure, you want to highlight that this character has an accent, but do you really need to? Is saying, "He spoke with a heavy Scottish accent" enough?

Or do you stop noticing after awhile? I'm trying to get through the Outlander series and one of the main characters is Scottish. There are "ye"s and "dinnae"s aplenty, but I'm not rolling my eyes every time the character speaks. Maybe it's different when you're the reader. You don't have to think long and hard about the character's dialogue; you just read it as part of the story and move on to the next plot point.

If you know the story is set in a certain place, then you don't need to bring attention to the fact that the people talk differently, right?

Comments

[newnumber6.livejournal.com]

My rule of thumb is, if it's one or two people with the dialect (or slightly more but occupying a very small portion of the story), you can try doing the accent in text.

If there are a lot of characters with it, it's almost always better that you just mention that's how they speak, and of course, keep in mind phrases that are specific to that dialect... just like you wouldn't try to translate an English ACCENT (I'm not sure how you would), but you'd still try to say things like 'lift' and 'flat' and 'brilliant' instead of 'elevator' and 'apartment' and 'Canadian'.

Although even though you CAN if there are only a couple characters, it's still not always a good idea, and is by no means necessary. And as someone who had to roleplay a heavily Scottish character in a text-based online game, it can be EXHAUSTING to do it after a while. =)

[vervet-monkey.livejournal.com]

I personally find it very hard to read a dialect, much harder than to understand it spoken. I assume because the accent comes from how a word sounds, not how it's written.

Having said that actual words are important, if you're writing an English character and they say sidewalk instead of path I'm not going to believe it.

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

I agree that using the right words is more important than trying to capture the accent. Every place has its own terms and phrases and that really defines where a person lives.

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Yeah, using the right phrases is a must. Funnily enough, I found a useful list of British and Scottish terms in one of the guide books I've been using to plan my vacation. Might just be easier to use the right terms instead of trying to copy the accent.