Exactly What It Says On The Tin(TM). One of my previous MCs is a farmer and a goatherd. So, I have him speaking in an earthy way, joining his words together, dropping gees and aitches, and so on. ("Whaddayamean joinin' me words togetha! Youse gotta lotta nerve, tryin'a impugn me or summat! I'll take off me belt an'---!" etc.) This is an act on his part, though. He can speak "more normally", but before the story begins: 1. he is forced to immigrate to a new country, after his own country is conquered); 2. He now lives in a community of rough, suspicious, native farmers; 3. So, he chooses to adopt their way of speaking, in order to 'fit in'. (He even adopts a new name). Within a chapter or two, he goes to The Big City and takes lodgings with a fellow immigrant. Now my MC's speech patterns change. He relaxes and even prays in "the old tongue". So, here's my question: 1. Does all this sound like a reasonable thing to happen? 2. Is it better to cut back on the "earthy" speech, in the interests of readability? Thanks!
1. This is one of those things where life is stranger than fiction. In real life people living in a new place lose their accents all the time, but it takes time. Also there are people who change their accents to fit in, I have a lot of college friends who are 2nd generation immigrants, on campus and in class they speak English with the same accent as people born here, but when they invite me to their homes and they're around their family they switch back to their family's accent. So that's REAL life. The problem is you have to remember, stories are NOT real life. You have to assume that to the reader your character's only exist how you describe them. Not to say you can't have a character switching back and forth with their accent, but you need to make sure that your audience is aware that it's happening, and it's intentional on your part. This could be a difficult needle to thread, so I am not sure if it's worth it, depends on how crucial it is to the story. 2. That kind of dialog IMHO works best for your colorful side characters, as a main character, I personally would dial that back for a main character. But that's me. I would say keep in the back of your mind, when you talk to someone with an accent, they don't think they have an accent they think you're the one with the accent. In closing, the answer to both is how important is this accent and accent switching to the character/plot. If it is a major piece of their character development it's fine, if it's just a side aspect, I would dial it back or drop it. But it's your story do what you want.
1. I don’t think it’s just reasonable, it’s totally natural and realistic. If he was able to blend in successfully with ‘rough, suspicious, native farmers’ in the country then we are assuming a basic level of competency and skill that most MCs will have, unless the author is really giving them a hard time. So this competency should also allow for a smooth transition into more relaxed speech in the Big City without much trouble. And Presumably because his country is conquered, and he is lodging with another immigrant, there is a sizable population in Big City that speak like him so he might even blend in more than if he was man about town with a bumpkin accent. 2 . I couldn’t agree more with West Angel on this. David Eddings was primarily my introduction into more mature themes that included death, war and loss and his work (which he attributes to his wife as well, Just wanted to mention that because he regretted waiting for so long to add her name) will always hold a special place in my heart. Especially because I had few comparisons and It was very much the pinnacle of my reading experience at the time so I was disinclined to criticize it even in my head. But he absolutely loved a side character with a folksy accent, and invariably these side characters would become more prominent. It was funny and different the first five times. After the tenth to twentieth time it was repetitive and just plain harder to read. It took three times longer to get to the point, which is fine if you are being paid by the word but less so if you are looking for clarity. EDIT: This isn’t a suggestion that all earthy language before the move will have people glaring at the words, but that a change works and is better for it, in my own reading experience and opinion. It’s development, adaptation and progression and adds a whole bunch of flavor
