Good article in Writer's Digest: How to Give Your Character an Authentic Dialect.
Here’s a good rule of thumb for dialect: Do not use the language unless you live the language.
How many times have we seen authors try to write southern dialect when it is obvious they are not from the south and have not lived long enough in the south to know a southern dialect when they hear it?
We who live here know that every state has various dialects. Being from Georgia, I recognize dialects of southwestern Georgia and dialects from north Georgia. Folks in Savannah have their own way of speaking that is different from those other parts of the state. Native Georgia black people speak in a dialect that is different from most white native Georgians.
I think the writer is correct. Do not use the language unless you live the language. Writing dialect is tricky. It can ruin a story when overdone or done incorrectly.
How many times have we seen authors try to write southern dialect when it is obvious they are not from the south and have not lived long enough in the south to know a southern dialect when they hear it?
We who live here know that every state has various dialects. Being from Georgia, I recognize dialects of southwestern Georgia and dialects from north Georgia. Folks in Savannah have their own way of speaking that is different from those other parts of the state. Native Georgia black people speak in a dialect that is different from most white native Georgians.
I think the writer is correct. Do not use the language unless you live the language. Writing dialect is tricky. It can ruin a story when overdone or done incorrectly.
