Showing Dialect in Dialogue

Showing Dialect in Dialogue Showing Dialect in Dialogue Showing Dialect in Dialogue By Maeve Maddox A reader asks how a writer wishing to create â€Å"a redneck swagger† would rewrite the â€Å"regular English† sentence â€Å"You’re surprising to me.† He offers the following options: â€Å"Y’a surprisin’ t’a me.† â€Å"Y’ah surprisin’ t’ah me.† â€Å"Ya surprisin ta me.† â€Å"Yah surprisin tah me.† Note: You can find my thoughts on the use of the term redneck here: Better Use â€Å"Redneck† With Care. My reaction to the model dialogue is that a â€Å"redneck† is not likely to utter the original sentence, with or without apostrophes. A native English speaker of any dialect would be more likely to say, â€Å"You surprise me.† But the point of the question has to do with the use of apostrophes and contractionsand presumably funny spellingsto represent dialect in fictional dialogue. Fashions in writing change. Representing dropped letters with apostrophes was a common device with 19th century authors. Well, then, Master Marner, it come to me summat like this: I can make nothing o the drawing o lots and the answer coming wrong; it ud mayhap take the parson to tell that, and he could only tell us i big words. George Eliot, Silas Marner. â€Å"I got hurt a little, en couldn’t swim fas’, so I wuz a considable ways behine you, towards de las’; when you landed I reck’ned I could ketch up wid you on de lan’ ‘doubt havin’ to shout at you, but when I see dat house I begin to go slow.† Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn. Modern readers have little patience with this kind of writing. For one thing, multiple apostrophes and odd spellings are visually distracting. For another, such detailed attention to pronunciation in a novel distracts from the thought that the character is expressing, thereby interfering with an understanding of the narrative. In addition, some readers who speak nonstandard dialects find attempts to represent their home dialectseven if they are successful renditionsdisrespectful. Sprinkling dialogue with odd spellings is especially pointless when the misspelling conveys the same pronunciation as the standard spelling. For example, sez for says, and shure for sure. The consensus among today’s writing coaches is that dialect is best expressed with vocabulary, grammar, and easily understood regional expressions, rather than with apostrophes and made-up spellings. For example, the following bit of dialogue conveys rural speech without recourse to dropped letters or misspellings: That woman runs around with anything in pants. Can’t figure out how her and him got together in the first place. Good Lord knows he’s boring as a fence post.† –Nancy Hartney, Washed in the Water. Words like drawl and whine, and expressions like â€Å"a clipped Northern accent† can also be used to suggest a specific way of speaking. In writing dialogue, let the words do the work. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Apply to, Apply for, and Apply withDoes "Mr" Take a Period?9 Forms of the Past Tense

5 Great Tips for Business Writing - Proofeds Writing Tips

5 Great Tips for Business Writing - Proofeds Writing Tips 5 Great Tips for Business Writing Business writing includes everything from dry internal reports to snazzy website copy. But while different situations call for different writing styles, we have a few tips that apply to any type of business writing. Check them out below to find out how they could benefit your company! 1. Tailor Writing to an Audience As mentioned above, business writing is a broad category. This means you should always write for a specific audience. So whether it is a technical report for those in the know or a light-hearted press release for the public, think about who you are writing for and adapt the tone and language to suit. 2. Beware Buzzwords and Jargon Business buzzwords and jargon are not necessarily bad. Sometimes you need to use technical language to communicate something complicated. But take care not to go too far! Packing your writing with jargon will make it difficult to read, especially if you aren’t writing for a specialist audience. And buzzwords can be alienating. It is far better to keep things simple by using everyday language wherever possible. And if you need to use jargon, explain exactly what it means when you introduce the term. 3. Help Your Reader Find Key Details Life is busy. And sometimes that means you don’t have time to read the small print. If you want to make sure your readers don’t miss important information, then, you have to make it easy for them. If you are writing for an internal audience, you may want to include an executive summary. This lets you summarize key details in an easy-to-read fashion, while giving full information in the rest of the document. If writing for a wider audience, use formatting (e.g., bold or italics) and headings to help your readers find the most important information even while skim reading. 4. Keep It Short Write concisely wherever possible. After all, if time is money in the business world, you can’t assume everyone will read the entire 283-page report you sent. So keep it short where you can. If you are writing a longer document, though, always give the main points first. This will ensure that even busy readers see what you need them to. 5. Always Proofread! This is quite possibly the most important tip of all. And we’re not just saying that because we offer an outstanding business proofreading service. Whether or not you choose to work with us (you should), checking your business writing for errors is essential all of the time. Errors in business writing will give a bad impression to customers, clients, and colleagues alike. They can even cost a lot of money if you’re unlucky! And this makes proofreading worth the effort.