Faking Dialect

MOOD STATUS: "Excited". Meeting with a builder today to talk about putting a deck in our backyard.

Well, this weekend I spent a good chunk of my time "getting to know" my characters.

I knew that my main character was going to have to face deportation from the United States, so needless to say she had to be from a foreign country. Naturally, I immediately thought of England, since I figured that would be the easiest accent to write.

But is it? Is it really?

Actually, I don't think so. There's definitely a lot more to having your character sound British than by just throwing in a bunch of "bloody hells" into their dialogue.


Considering the publisher I'm targeting is actually in England, I knew they would see through my phony accent if I didn't do my research.

In fact, here's an example of a recent submission response I received from them: Keep in mind this office is in London.

We shall read it with close attention and let you know our decision in due course. Please keep a note of the above reference number should there be a query.

Obviously, the writer of this letter was not trying to sound English. But their choice of words definitely clues you in that this company is not American.

Would we say "shall" or "due course" or even "query? NO.

An American company would have said something like this:

We will read it closely and let you know our decision as soon as possible. Please keep a note of the above reference number should you have any questions.

The differences are slight, but it's funny how just a change of a few more commonly used words allows you to hear the accent in your head.

So where do we start?

1) Social Networks! Thanks to the Internet, we now have the ability to go right to the source and find people living in the area or country you want to use. In fact, I have a Facebook friend who lives in Sweden and she is going to help me with a Swedish character I'm writing. :)

2) TV and Movies. Laugh if you must, but if you want you hero to look and sound like Hugh Grant, immerse yourself in listening to him to get the flow and rhythm right.

3) Books and articles. Like I said above, sometimes it's just the subtle use of a few more commonly used words from that region that grants the reader the ability to hear an accent in their head.


I found a great Scottish dictionary and a great English slang article.

Of course we writers have to watch how much dialect we actually put into our writing.
Too much and it could be hard to read.
This goes for baby talk, too. If you have a toddler or child in your book, you may want to add a little baby talk to make them sound more "real". However, if used constantly, it can really pull a reader out of a story.
After all, we want readers to read and not waste time translating!

It looks like I have some more research ahead of me today. :)

Have you written or are you writing a character who has a dialect that's not your own?
What do you do to help you write in an accent?