Accents in Stories, Good or Bad? - Comments

Like Jinxeh has said, I think it's better to be subtle.

I know that I hate it when people try too hard to express an accent by doing things like spelling word phonetically, so that readers can read the words the way they are pronounced, or doing other things like that. I think it's silly, and it hardly ever works well.

Using British words and phrases, will give the impression you want. When reading, in my head I kind of automatically build a accent in my head.

But if you want a good example of subtle accent building, you should check out chapter 45 of Jinxeh's No Man's Lands, and this isn't just me pimping stories. There's a big chunk of that chapter where a Russian character is speaking and as I read it, I could actually hear the thick accent. Maybe that will help you to see what you can do for your story.

If you don't want to read the whole thing, you can start at the paragraph that reads: Gerard was already plenty freaked out, but was doing a good job with hiding it. In his opinion, anyway.

* Hope Jinxeh doesn't mind her story being an example, but it's the only one I could think of.

Use of dialect is important but follow Jinxeh

I feel bmth & Tom stories call for accents. I read a story about Oliver once and the accent wasn't there, it just felt odd. That's just my opinion though :)

Yeah, just don't overdo it. I personally don't write the accent out with my British character, Sibley Scott - but I still make it very apparent that he's British. Like, instead of him saying, "Oh, chill out," he'd probably say, "Oh, get your knickers unbunched, already," and if he was insulting someone he wouldn't say, "You're such a dumb*ss..." he'd probably say, "Ugh, you git." Things aren't "cool" for him, they're "ace." Get it?

Using slang in place of what would have originally been writing out the dialogue phonetically can be very effective - as long as you don't overdo it with that, either. Using too much British slang with a character can make them seem insincere, or like you're trying too hard. I have a Russian character, even, and though her accent is described as being "gallingly thick," I don't write her words out with that "visible" accent. Rather, everything she says is rather clipped, and I take out words here or there, like so:

“I do not know.” She shrugged, settling herself down at the back of the van, her slack-clad legs dangling out of the back and swinging back and forth almost cheerily. She patted the empty spot next to her, apparently having decided that it was really time for this talk and, humoring her, he hefted himself into the van and joined her. “He could be. We married quickly after meeting. Many thought it was mistake. But we are still together. I love him,” she said simply. “Soulmates? I don’t know. My first husband was my true soulmate, and I still miss him. I will always love him, too. But that does not mean I can not have two loves in my life.”

See? Not my best example, but it works. You have to really work at it, though. It probably won't come easily very quickly. Keep at it, though, and learn some of the slang so it becomes second-nature in the back of your mind when you're writing that British character, and you'll eventually get the hang of it.

I like the accent, honestly. Just don't overdo it with using too many...well, words that Brits don't use.
Get an English to English dictionary. It helps a lot