The Devil is in The Details by Gerri Brousseau

When I first started writing, I introduced a character with an accent.  Typing it was difficult and when I tried reading it aloud, it was even more difficult.  Then I discovered it was not recommended that a writer actually write in dialect.  Hmmmm … I had to give this some thought.  Then I remembered my friends who have moved here from England, very lovely people I enjoy spending time with.  In getting to know them, I discovered even though we are both speaking English, we often times are not speaking the same language.  For example, what we in the United States refer to as a "baked" potato, my British friends call a "jacket" potato.  When we "Americans" go to the bathroom, my Brit friends are "skipping off to the Loo."  The "elevator" to them is the "lift", "sausages" are "bangers", and "cigarettes" are fags."  They would never say they would "give you a call," but they will "ring you up."  They really do say "Bloody Hell," "Blimey" and I have actually heard one say "Crickie" and I would never, ever, tell one of them to "bugger off."

They do not look at our patriotic celebration of the Fourth of July with quite the same vigor and enthusiasm we do, and although they have lived in the United States for years, they still consider themselves to be Brits.  And above all, although they have never actually personally met her, they do truly love their Queen.

I have discovered in a lot of ways they are very much like us.  They love their families and want the same things we do, good jobs, comfortable homes, a good education and better lives for their children.  It was easy to see the similarities, but what captured my attention was not those similarities, but rather, the differences.

As I am working on my novel, I must keep these differences in mind because the little details matter.   These small nuances draw our readers into the worlds we have created and make those worlds real for them.  Rather than trying to type out an "English" accent, we draw on the differences and nuances so our reader will hear the accent in our character's voice even though we didn't type it out on the page in an awkward and difficult text.

Have you ever had a character with an accent, or from another country?  How did you handle writing that character's voice?  Have you ever read a novel where the dialect or accent is written on the page?  What did you think as you were struggling through trying to read it?

Filed under: romance