Accents?

How do you convey accents in text (Like a Novel or Comic) without it sounding retarded?

Accents in question include Boston, Spanish, Chicago, Deep South and a whole slew of Brits and Irish.

edited 27th Jan '11 9:25:58 PM by toalordsothe

Writing the speech all phonetically will more likely frustrate the reader than conveying the fact that one has an accent. Try writing the speech normally, including the wild phrases and utterings associated with said accent.

For the Spanish dude(or lady), I'd suggest having him burst out into a good bit of Spanish swearing, if it's at all likely to come up. Alternatively, make note of/have a character comment on his thick accent. Example:

"Pezzo di merda!" spat Allejandro, the words laden with his heavy accent.

(That may be more Italian, but who gives a fuck.)

If you want to hang a lampshade, "There are ladies present. I am 'self-censoring', if you get what I mean."

Try some local slang and phrases. A handful of bloody hells can work wonders.

A little pheonetics doesn't 'urt none

^^This. Although, be careful not to overdo it. Did Not Do the Bloody Research and similar mistakes will sound ridiculous to somebody whose dialect is being misrepresented, although if your audience is not international it probably won't matter.

edited 28th Jan '11 4:50:48 AM by BobbyG

I just say "Has This accent". I know that in the description for my character with a Geordie accent I say something along the lines of "that one English accent that makes "Town" sound like "Toon" and "Water" sounds like "Wa'ah" just to give the unfamiliar reader an idea. Otherwise I just use occasional local slang and that's about it, it's too much trouble to make the text phonetic and make it harder to read.

This, I have an Australian character who uses a few words of Australian slang to drive it home but that's it.

edited 28th Jan '11 6:43:16 AM by americanbadass

When there's a subtle accent such as someone putting more emphasis on the 'i's or something I just mention it in the text. If it's a consistent drop of h's or something very distinctive then the word get spelt phoenetically.

• e.g: "Them `oomans ain't got any idea what they on about!"

Or something like that. (The above quote is for my ogres - they are somewhat less than intelligent)

edited 28th Jan '11 9:25:16 AM by StolenByFaeries

If you're using Funetik Aksent, do so very sparingly. I hate that trope.

Wasshou meennou dun lyk fonitik aksents? Dunshu hundahstan whut ahm saan?

Yeah, that's no good. It's very hard to pull off accents without sounding cheesy or annoying. Even droppin' "g" can get annoyin' to read. I support "normal writing with occasional spice," be it idiom or spelling change. The key word is "occasional"— like, once every few dialogue exchanges, if that.

There are charts handy for regional dialects so you can keep your seesaws, teeter-totters, pops, sodas, kitty and catty-corners straight.

"Hey, what color is that?"

"That colour is green, why?"

"Oh, cause that girl with the fairy shirt on said it was yellow."

"The girl with the faerie shirt is an idiot."

^ GENIUS! I'll take it! Thanks AHR!

...—is a genius—

In a novel you only go phonetic with a particularly thick accent. Otherwise you simply slip in that the character has an accent. With a comic book, you can play with fonts to convey the way someone is talking, or have another character mention the accent (but that can be a bit clumsy).