I have written a book but some of the language within the book is in a jamaican accent , is this a good idea or should i change it to strictly english
I have written a book but some of the language within the book is in a jamaican accent , is this a good idea or should i change it to strictly english
It depends if the Jamaican accent is part of your character- for example does how the character speaks impact on the story? If the accent is different from the way other characters speak then yes, give that character the accent and dialect to mark them out as unique.
If, however, more than one character speaks that way then I would 'tone down' the accent, possibly emphasising one or two dialect words.
In the end they are your words and your characters but your question is one that writers ask themselves all the time. How much does the accent/dialect add to what I'm trying to do with my writing? It often adds something as in Roddy Doyle's work (there are other examples of course) but sometimes it can be distracting for the reader. I would write the same passage with dialect/accent and without and see how it reads. Some dialect words will be necessary to show character,place and time etc, but the trick is not to overdue it. Unless that's the point!
It depends if the Jamaican accent is part of your character- for example does how the character speaks impact on the story? If the accent is different from the way other characters speak then yes, give that character the accent and dialect to mark them out as unique.
If, however, more than one character speaks that way then I would 'tone down' the accent, possibly emphasising one or two dialect words.
In the end they are your words and your characters but your question is one that writers ask themselves all the time. How much does the accent/dialect add to what I'm trying to do with my writing? It often adds something as in Roddy Doyle's work (there are other examples of course) but sometimes it can be distracting for the reader. I would write the same passage with dialect/accent and without and see how it reads. Some dialect words will be necessary to show character,place and time etc, but the trick is not to overdue it. Unless that's the point!