Clean Reads discussion

Question for you: When reading a story where the character is speaking English with an accent, do you want to read the misspelled words as the character would pronounce them? Would one or two words suffice to give you the idea? Would a sentence or a paragraph be enough, or would you expect it through the dialogue?

For example in an historical fiction with a main character from Scotland- the writing is completely in a Scottish brogue. Or a character is speaking Yiddish- the syntax, grammar and mispronunciation follows the story line. This doesn't bother me. I'm wondering how you feel about it? Is it distracting? I'm working on a book where there is a Russian character speaking English- lots of missed articles, problems with S, D and W sounds etc.

I believe giving a consistent flavor with bad grammar is okay but be sure not to make it too difficult to understand. I've read a few that become way too hard to get through.

I don't like wading through an accent that is too pronounced. I don't think one or two words would be realistic but I don't have a problem with S,D and W.

Yes. I love being able to "hear" their accent. This makes the character more real.

Thanks everyone! I appreciate your input.

+1 on what Diane said. I would add that it's smart to make the accent more pronounced at first, then ease off once you've established it. The reader will (hopefully) continue to "hear it" - with a booster in the dialog every now and then.

Just a few paragraphs to get the general idea. I just finished a book where the main character was uneducated but then improved her writing and reading as was seen in the story

Jason wrote: "+1 on what Diane said. I would add that it's smart to make the accent more pronounced at first, then ease off once you've established it. The reader will (hopefully) continue to "hear it" - with a ..."

Thank you Jason!

Lynn wrote: "Just a few paragraphs to get the general idea. I just finished a book where the main character was uneducated but then improved her writing and reading as was seen in the story"

Thanks Lynn!

I once read a book where I could hardly understand what the character was saying due to a very thick accent. I think that as long as the accent isn't very thick then it's fine. So I guess what I would prefer when reading is a quick mention of the character having a thick accent and then the dialogue having a lighter accent that prioritizes clarity.

Lapis Lazuli wrote: "I once read a book where I could hardly understand what the character was saying due to a very thick accent. I think that as long as the accent isn't very thick then it's fine. So I guess what I wo..."

Thank you Lapis Lazuli :-)