Character Dialects too much Characterization?
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Character Dialects too much Characterization?
- wordslinger42
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wordslinger42 wrote: ↑30 Nov 2019, 14:12 In some respects, I appreciated the dialect because it helped make each character unique and memorable. A lot of times in books, all of the characters sound exactly the same, and it makes it difficult to connect to them. I didn't think that was the case in this book. That being said, there were many times that I was frustrated because I had to re-read certain words in order to figure out what the characters were saying, which was really frustrating. I think if the author had focused on a couple dialects, rather than trying to include so many, it would have done wonders for the story.
Indeed less would feel like more. I think less story revolving around dialogue may have made the dialects more special, and allow the story to flow better.
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Have to say, it was a rough decision to do the dialog in regional accents. Against all educated advice I went with it anyway. It was important to me to contrast all of the different cultures entwined in the Vietnam War in a distinctive way.AvidBibliophile wrote: ↑30 Nov 2019, 20:07 I appreciated the inclusion of the various accents, dialects, and slang terminology used; it gave an authentic coating to the raw dialogue scenes, but yes, there were moments when I had to read a sentence one or two times to get the intended gist of the spoken reply. I liked the lines of Lailani dialect: "Youa comma with me, I taka care a youa nice."
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I think you made the right decision to follow your instincts and include a characteristic that made the story read as you intended it. Risky or not, you remained genuine to yourself as a writer, and to your vision for this story. It's impossible to please everyone, in any facet of life, and I suspect that most readers might overlook the true challenge and complexity required to write lines of dialogue with regionally specific accents in the first place! Not an easy feat.
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I agree. It was hard to read through all the different dialogues. If it was just the main characters, I think it wouldn't have been such a slog.wordslinger42 wrote: ↑30 Nov 2019, 14:12 In some respects, I appreciated the dialect because it helped make each character unique and memorable. A lot of times in books, all of the characters sound exactly the same, and it makes it difficult to connect to them. I didn't think that was the case in this book. That being said, there were many times that I was frustrated because I had to re-read certain words in order to figure out what the characters were saying, which was really frustrating. I think if the author had focused on a couple dialects, rather than trying to include so many, it would have done wonders for the story.
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Thank you.AvidBibliophile wrote: ↑01 Dec 2019, 14:29I think you made the right decision to follow your instincts and include a characteristic that made the story read as you intended it. Risky or not, you remained genuine to yourself as a writer, and to your vision for this story. It's impossible to please everyone, in any facet of life, and I suspect that most readers might overlook the true challenge and complexity required to write lines of dialogue with regionally specific accents in the first place! Not an easy feat.
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- wordslinger42
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Absolutely! The fact that there were pages of heavy dialect made certain sections move really slowly.Lee-Ann20 wrote: ↑01 Dec 2019, 18:20I agree. It was hard to read through all the different dialogues. If it was just the main characters, I think it wouldn't have been such a slog.wordslinger42 wrote: ↑30 Nov 2019, 14:12 In some respects, I appreciated the dialect because it helped make each character unique and memorable. A lot of times in books, all of the characters sound exactly the same, and it makes it difficult to connect to them. I didn't think that was the case in this book. That being said, there were many times that I was frustrated because I had to re-read certain words in order to figure out what the characters were saying, which was really frustrating. I think if the author had focused on a couple dialects, rather than trying to include so many, it would have done wonders for the story.
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