I have recently written a story where my characters speak like me and my friends. I set the scene in my Home city, and when I write, I submerge myself into the world as best I can. The original intention with this story was to record the audio straight after, to go hand in hand with it. Sadly (in my own head), that has not been managed yet.
I wanted to make the story as realistic as possible, and for me, that includes how my characters speak. I wanted my story to be "home". But in writing, it comes across very differently. According to a person (who I think is fabulous), the written accents within my story made them lose the writing. In essence, it ruined it. Another friend has also just admitted they had to go back and read some of the sentences again.
I do wonder if the audio might have changed their mind, but when all is said and done, a written story is a written story. It become something very different when we change the style of delivery. This is the second story I have written in accented form (if that's the technical words for it?), but there was more narration in the other, so it wasn't as pronounced.
Personally, I love to read dialogue in other accents. A good writer gets me reading in the characters' accents as I go along, so I actually hear the Southern drawl in "Roots" in my head, etc.
I always think, though, to be serious, a writer cannot improve if they don't know anything is wrong.
So I would like to know, do you find accents, dialects and colloquialisms within stories a hindrance? Does it help if you actually know the accent to be able to read "in" it? Or do you not like it at all?
And should I go back and re-edit my story to read like "normal" writing? (But if I do that, I'm putting a disclaimer to say people aren't allowed to read the main characters with posh Southern accents in their head, because it's Wrong.) I'd hate to have to "butcher" something I hold dear (silly as an accent might seem to you!), but if it will make me a better writer, I will do it.
Thank you for any helpful replies you can give me.
Ut incepit fidelis, sic permanet.
*** 
********************************CLICK THE BANNERS TO BUY THESE WILLY-STIFFENING BOOKS!********************************
I think writing in accents and colloquialisms into characters lines are very important. Do not give up on that. If someone does not understand that then it is part of their own growing process to learn that as a reader. Most well read individuals understand such and relish it in their reading.
Just for the record i was the one who wrote to Daisy and gave her my thoughts about the use of a strong Yorkshire accent in her story. It took me a while to decide if this was the right thing to do but as she is a friend i wanted her to know what i honestly thought.
For me it spoilt the beautiful words and the well set scenario of the story, just because i thought it was intended as 'tongue in cheek' humour, which in my opinion was not in keeping with the rest of the story. In her reply she stated that it was not meant to be humorous and i accept that i made a mistake in reading it that way.
Daisy - i stated in the message that the story 'lost me' it in no way 'ruined it' for me.
I do not think that a story should be altered just because someone comments about an element in it they do not like - if we did that the mods would have to read each piece at least twice.
As for me accents especially strong dialects do not work but hey i'm not as well read as some people.
E xx
Ha, I'm coming out as the friend who had to re-read some of the lines... I never found that it detracted from the story in any way.
What I did have to do, was accustom myself to the 'accent', you know, take a few moments/sentences to get a 'feel' for it. I'm just the same when I read writing by Iain Banks or Irvine Welsh, who both write at times in thick dialects.
It just takes a little time to accustom oneself to a new accent, in just the same way as it would if you met someone new with an unfamiliar accent.
In such situations (IRL), I find that I have to speak a little more slowly and clearly to make sure that I am understood and that is fine and expected.
When reading, yes, I think that it does take a little more brain power to read something like that, in just the same way as one has to think about it when one reads complicated writing or pieces which use words which may be complex or unfamiliar.
What I did NOT mean, Daisy, was that it detracted from your story in any way, shape or form. It quite simply did not. It made me think and have to use my brain a little, that is all...
There is nothing wrong with that... Dinnae be bluddy changin' it oan ma accoont, doll... geezo
I'm going to reveal a deep, dark, well-hidden truth about myself here. When I watch just about anything on BBC America, I have to turn on the subtitles in order to follow the story completely. It's the spoken accents and dialects that I have a problem with. When there is any difficulty at all with written accents, I just slow down when reading through them. It helps if I don't have to slow down where it will mess with the flow of the story, but it usually won't.
I prefer not to read obscure accents in narrative, but obscure is a regional thing. Narrative also suffers if there is too much slang or colloquial expressions, but those can do so much to set the tone of the story. The point of a story is to tell the story in a manner that it will be understood. If you're going to confine your audience to people who live in Brooklyn or East Los Angeles, have at it with all the rich fullness of those areas, but when your audience is the full breadth of the English speaking regions on the planet, a little restraint in the narrative might go a long way.
I just recently completed a series story where I threw in a lot of Italian, some Spanish and some French in the dialog. I always tried to provide a translation of some sort within the next few sentences, with the exception of where I was either repeating what was previously translated or using very common examples of those languages that I think have permeated English speaking regions through common movies and TV. I still had one comment about somebody having to google to understand the story. I probably relied on the recognizability of the words too much.
I liked the accents in your story, Daisy. Don't pull them completely, but if the dialog is essential to the story, be careful not to lose the message in favor of authenticity.
When I first moved to the UK, I remember the only thing I said for a good 2 months when people spoke to me was "WHAT?"
In saying that, it just takes some getting used to when you are exposed to accents and dialects, retraining if the ear.
These days, a good 15 years later, I hear more of an accent when I go back to Canada then I do here, I don't really hear the accent in London any more.
I think the accents in your stories are brilliant Daisy, it makes them realistic and gives them character.
I had no issues reading the accents, even if I read some of them twice.
In fact I think its fun, as I am forced to say them aloud at times, which I find very amusing ;) .
From my own experiences of submitting stories for publication on Lush.
I've found that the people who proof read the stories for accpetance or refusal will generally tell you to alter your story if dialoge has been set out in an accented way. IE, written out exactly how the words would have been spoken.
If you are putting a story up for acceptance it's probably best to explain the accent that the person would be speaking with then write the dialogue in "Queens" it's then up to the readers imagination how the person would be speaking.
I see accent/dialects written out in dialogue quotes all the time by best selling authors so why shouldn't they be used here? They certainly add to the scene and the character's personality.
i find that touches of accents work best for me, when i'm writing, just enough to give readers a taste for what the speaker sounds like - if it's laid on too thick, i find it can become comical, but if there's just enough to give it flavor, it seems to work - that's just me.
You can’t truly call yourself peaceful unless you are capable of violence. If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful. You’re harmless.
