On Saturday, my son had a paintball party for his 14th birthday. The paintball fields were run by a company in a rural area about 45 minutes from Charlotte.
While we were out there, there was another group playing simultaneously—a group of 12 year old girls from a private school in the Charlotte area.
One of the girls from the other group had a problem with her paintball gun and handed it to the referee, an employee for the paintball company.
He fiddled with it for a while, then called her over. What he said (and the cigarette dangling out of his mouth didn’t help, either) sounded like this: “It ain’t dooin’ it no moah.”
“Excuse me?” the 12 year old private school girl asked.
He repeated it.
“I’m sorry…could you say that again?” I could tell she was listening very, very hard now.
He repeated it. The same way without trying a different approach.
“I’m sorry?” She looked at me for help translating.
“It’s fixed,” I said.
I don’t know if it was the double-negative, the ain’t, the poor grammar, his very thick Southern accent, or the cigarette, but she couldn’t understand a word the young man said.
The fact that she had to work that hard and still couldn’t figure out what he was saying perfectly illustrates my reasoning for not writing (much) Southern dialect in my very Southern books.
I think it’s best to go light on dialect and instead try using phrases, idioms, and word choices that locals of an area would use. For me, I’d rather stick with the rhythm of Southern speech (it has a definite lilt and pattern) than take a stab at phonetic spelling (which would be really tiresome for a reader.)
Yes, Southerners drop consonants like crazy. A Southern drawl can string out a short word into an 8 syllable one.
It would get old to read. And pulls the reader out of the story.
Why use dialect when there are so many other ways to convey the feel of a region?
Better to use vocabulary choices that Southerners would use: pocketbook instead of purse, tote instead of carry, buggy instead of cart, cut off instead of turn off.
Better to just say that a character speaks in a thick accent and show other characters struggling to understand them.
Better to include Southern foods and drinks to convey a sense of the South: grits, gravy, biscuits, barbeque, sweet tea, bourbon.
Better to show the slower pace of the South by writing about characters on screened porches in rocking chairs.
Better to detail unusual or interesting Southern customs surrounding funerals, family gatherings, and other special occasions.
Do you have trouble reading dialect? How do you convey a sense of your region in your writing?
I have great trouble reading dialects. English is not my native tongue, and although I’m very good at it, dialects are quite hard for me to read. I would have to pronounce every piece of dialogue out loud in my head before I can make sense of it. I am bored easily and quickly and if I can’t speed up my reading I feel like I’m wasting my time.
So I would truly prefer the way you go about setting the feel of the region, Elizabeth.
Besides, the people that speak with dialect don’t usually write in dialect either. That’s the thing, dialect is of the spoken word,not of the written word.
I wrote a southern paranormal story (which was recently published in an anthology – woot!) that is filled with southern dialect and phrases, etc.
When I sent it out to my beta readers, some people said it was easy to read and the dialect didn’t distract them; other’s thought I should dump it. I chose to keep it for the authenticity.
I read and write YA fantasy and a lot of times I run across other languages and accents from other ‘worlds’. Sometimes an inflection is the only way to separate dialogue so the reader knows who is speaking, especially when the character comes from a world the reader knows nothing about.
I think it’s up to the writer’s discretion and if he or she feels very strong about keeping the dialect, then I think they should. I mean, look at Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit. Hard as heck to read, but the stories are classics and will last until the end of time.
Great post!
Elizabeth – Oh, I find dialect absolutely fascinating, probably because of my background in linguistics. You’re quite right, though, that dialects vary so greatly that it’s easy to see how a person could have difficulty understanding if something is written in dialect. That’s a great argument for not using a lot of dialect in one’s writing.
In fact, I’ve been running into this question in my WIP. Some of my characters speak standard English and some don’t. I don’t use a lot of dialect to distinguish the characters, mostly for the reasons you outlined. I convey a sense of culture with word choice and with certain sentence structures that (I hope) are easy enough for readers to understand, but are distinct.
Phonetic dialogue is a sure way to bring the reader to a screeching halt. In high school, our teacher gave us copies of “Pygmalion” to read. He said, “It’s a play, it’ll go fast. We’re discussing it tomorrow.” Well, the first few pages were written in phonetic English. I was afraid I’d never finish (and I’m a fast reader.)
I’ve got an Aussie character and a Texan – I hope my readers can “hear” them through other characters and their choice of words.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Yes. Yes! Yes!! I agree wholeheartedly with all of this. It’s the same with Texas. Part Southern, part Western, all Texas. Great info here. Can you tell it makes me crazy to read dialect – LOL.
It’s so true. By adding phrase it makes it much less confusing! Great post.
I agree about using regional words rather than dialect on the page. Much easier for readers to take in. But if you need to include heavy dialect for flavor, limit it to one character. That way the reader can latch on to that character and her/his way of speaking and it doesn’t seem to bog them down. Having grown up in the south, I occasionally play around with the sounds and words. Nothing is more musical than a southern accent done right.
If the character is a one-off, then I don’t mind reading their dialect, but all through a book? No, no, no. I’m like you, Elizabeth; I choose the right vocabulary – jumper for sweater, pavement for sidewalk, etc. and hope my readers realize somewhere in their brains that English accents are present.
Manon–If I’m having to read out loud to understand it, it’s definitely a warning sign!
Dialect is great, spoken–well, if done well–in films and television. Just kind of confusing in writing. I have the same problem reading books set in Scotland (seems like that’s another setting where authors try to convey language through dialect.)
Laura–Thanks!
Jen–You’re bringing up an excellent point and something I should have addressed in my post. The *length* of the piece is also really important when considering dialect. I think that Southern dialect in a short story, children’s story, or possibly even a novella would be charming and distinctive. I’m thinking it would be more difficult for a novel-length work. Good point!
I love Uncle Remus and have read it to my kids in full dialect (sometimes a little translation is required! I think they have gotten used to the standard English they hear on TV.)
Margot–Absolutely–there are quite a few Southern accents. Charleston is all on its own (and very hard to understand), Louisiana includes Cajun accents…it does make it tricky. Do you remember that old PBS series from the 80s–“The Story of English?” Loved that show!
Word choice and sentence structure and grammar choices should be a great way to distinguish between those characters.
Terry–Wow–an Aussie and a Texan! Good thing you’re not doing a lot of dialect because that would get really tricky. :) I’d forgotten that “Pygmalion” was written with dialect! Ha! Yes, it all comes back to me now. That’s the one that “My Fair Lady” was based on, right?
Dialects are fun when written sparingly. Unless of course, the reader isn’t supposed to understand easily, because another character is trying to understand it as well.
I think you are absolutely right. I mean I can think of great books that use a lot of dialect, but they are MUCH harder to get into (think Huckleberry Finn)–it is like you need a couple chapters to get the sound of it (or to read it out loud)–and I think anymore, the only readers who are willing to work that hard are reading literary books.
I find dialects in novels very distracting. I’m working too hard to make sure I’m not missing anything important in the dialogue and that pushes me out of the story.
Your tips here are excellent!
I’m sure your readers appreciate the lack of a heavy Southern accent! Sometimes it sounds like they have rocks in their mouth.
What a fine example! Poor girl.
I don´t think I have greater trouble reading dialects than most English readers.
In Danish no one renders dialect in writing, though, so you have to use other means to show that your character is a hillbilly or an upper class woman, and it is very difficult to translate dialect meaningfully into Danish.
I believe that it is kinder to readers to suggest the location in other ways. Sometimes, when writing about the thick accent of people from the Lunenburg region of Nova Scotia, for instance, I will give a few phrases in dialect but that is it. The rest needs to be imagined. Word choice, as you convey, is a much more reliable and less irritating medium.
Jan Morrison
Carol–Ha! Texas accents! Yes, just better to say, “broad Texas accent” and be done with it!
Jaleh–True–then the reader and the character are sort of struggling together on the same team.
Hart–Absolutely. I’ll excuse my beloved Mark Twain and Joel Chandler Harris for it, but other than that, I really just don’t have the time to work that hard.
Laura–That’s the way it is for me, too. And I’m Southern! It’s still very hard for me to read.
Alex–Oh, you’re so right! Depending on the accent.
JJ–Good idea–limiting the accent to a supporting character.
Elspeth–Ha! I remember studying abroad in London when I was in college and someone asked me if I’d brought a jumper with me! I was so confused (jumpers–the *American* type of jumper…a long dress with 2 overall-type straps… were *not* in fashion and I couldn’t figure out why they’d asked me that…)
Jan–I like the way you’re phrasing it: “being *kind* to our readers.” Nova Scotia accents would be tricky to write, I’d guess.
Dorte–Sounds like a method that makes a lot of sense to me! :)
Good point about being pulled out of a story where you have to work hard at deciphering the dialect. You said all the best ways to establish setting.
This is really good advice, which I’ll try to remember when I contemplate dodgey attempts at accents in my writing! I usually read everything in an English accent in my head, but the big exception is True Grit. It was so well written, with such a strong voice, that I could hear the Southern accents as I read it, even though I’ve never been there – brilliant stuff. And it was in the vocabulary and word choice, not dropping letters (actually Delicious and Suspicious had a similar effect :) )
I love your suggestions. Heavy dialect can really slow down a read for me, and I don’t often add it into my stories. My mother, a voracious reader, recently gave up on a dialect-heavy book. She said it wore her out.