Keeping Dialect in Check

He sat a spell, chompin’ on chaw an’ whittlin’ a chunk ‘o hick’ry into a fine set of longhorns.

***

Quick! What can you tell about the character of the above sentence? I would guess he is likely an American who resides in a rural part of Texas, perhaps an aging cowboy on a ranch somewhere in the hill country. He didn’t describe the house, but I imagine him in a rocker on the porch of a faded white clapboard farmhouse overlooking land that’s been in his family for generations. I can even hear cattle lowing in the distance and see a vivid orange-pink-blue sunset ablaze on the horizon. All that from one sentence spoken in rich dialect.

Adding dialect to your fiction expands the imagery without “telling” your reader what you see in your head. It paints a picture without using adjectives. It authenticates not only the setting but also the personalities of your characters. If your reader can “hear” the speaker’s and/or the characters’ voices, he will be pulled right into the story and won’t want to leave the action until he turns the final page.

Dialect can be overdone, though. Imagine reading an entire book written like that opening sentence. The thought of it hurts my eyes! I recently read a novel set in 16th century Scotland that was almost as heavy with Scottish brogue as that line is with Texas twang. The author did a marvelous job keeping consistency throughout, and the dialect did accentuate the setting and the characters. However, I found it distracting to have the entire novel in an altered language. I found myself skimming words that were difficult to pronounce and rolling my eyes at some character interactions. I really wanted to like the book, but too much dialect knocked my opinion down several notches.

Writing dialect is tricky. Keep it in check!


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Puppy Clumsy

We have a seven-month-old miniature dachshund named Slinky. He’s absolutely adorable! He loves to romp and wrestle and chew. Our other two dogs have gotten a lot more exercise since he arrived, and when the three of them play together, it’s quite amusing to watch.

Slinky is puppy clumsy. He bats his big ole paws and nudges his velvety nose at his playmates, then tromps right over top of them until they nip back. He rolls over them, scoots under them, jabs at their ears. Doesn’t matter if there’s an obstacle (or a person) in the way; he charges right across. Long drop from the sofa? No problem, he slinks right down like his namesake toy.

Slinky is all play with no inhibition.

Don’t you long to be that way when you write? I sure do! No holding back. I just want to let thoughts flow freely from the creative recesses of my mind. I want stories to nudge me and tromp through my thoughts until I nab them. I want the words to roll over my mind, scoot under the internal editor, and jab my listening ear. I want those ideas to charge right out and slink onto the blank page. I want to be puppy clumsy!

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The Writer

If you are reading this blog, you are not normal. Nope. Not at all. Because you are a writer. Please allow me to introduce you to, well, you.

You hear voices. Characters whisper in your ear. You see them too. The intricate beadwork on her gown, the plush velvet cape, those pearls…his killer blue eyes. They tease you with tidbits and tales until you relent to recording their rendezvous.

You organize. OK, to some people that might look like one big mess, but all those Post-It Notes stuck on the wall are really an intricate storyboard detailing each plot and scheme.

You persevere. You must. You cannot stop until you’ve written every last detail. If you leave your characters hanging, they may, like Pirandello's Six Characters, seek out another storyteller.

You obsess. You could edit to infinity. This verb is stronger than that one. Show, don’t tell! Torque, morph, develop, improve. Master. Submit.

You bite your nails. You sweat. Waiting to hear from that editor or agent, you’ve paced a rut in your hardwood floor.

You have tough skin. More than one rejection has taught you this publishing game’s not personal. “Your piece doesn’t fit our market.” “That subject just isn’t selling right now.” “This is very well written, but…” You send it out again.

You come back for more. Again and again. You get knocked down, but you get up again and you keep on going, because you know you have a message to deliver to someone out there, and you are the one who’s been called to task.

No, there’s nothing normal about you. And I pray that never changes, my friend.

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This Sums It Up

I saw this on Facebook last week and literally laughed out loud! Yes, yes, yes! These rules are so simple, yet so frequently broken that it’s really not a laughing matter. I’m very active in the world of blogging, and honestly, when I see poorly written material, I can’t get off that site fast enough. How unprofessional! If you’re going to write for publication—any type of publication—you should present not only your most thought-out material, but also your most correctly written work. A lack of grammatical correctness shows a lack of respect for the reader.

The peeves mentioned certainly are not the comprehensive guidelines of writing in the English (US) language, but I beg of you, please take note of those 10 rules. Learn them. Memorize them. Above all, put them into practice! To do otherwise renders communication ineffectual.

…Aim for perfection… 2 Corinthians 13:11

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Of Noble Character

I read a very good book the other day. The characters were so well developed that after I finished the book, I wondered what they were doing now. That’s quality writing!

My old college professor once reduced fiction to this: something happens to someone. He emphasized that the someone is the key to the story. It’s the someone about whom your reader cares. It’s the someone to whom your reader relates. It’s the someone feeling, affecting, becoming that your reader watches, feels for, worries about…and loves, or loves to hate.

Developing fictional characters requires dedication, especially if you write Christian fiction. You want not only to entertain, but also to make the reading worth the reader’s time. Have you created someone the reader would recognize if he bumped into him in real life? Have you made your hero someone your reader would be proud to know, or your villain someone the reader would be terrified to meet on the street?

Discipleship Tools tells us, “Character is a spiritual Fruit that is built from our real, godly relationship and commitment to Christ as LORD. It is the fiber of our moral center that stretches throughout our being, embracing and holding together our relationships when it is sealed as a choice and commitment, and not just a feeling or a personality.” Many character traits are discussed in Galatians 5:22-23, and dozens of others are found throughout the Bible. So when you’re creating someones for your readers to love (or loathe), keep these traits in mind:

• Love will enable us to appreciate our brothers and sisters in the Lord, and, of course, our family, and others around us.
• Joy will allow us to enjoy His creation, others, and our circumstances with an expression of delight and real, authentic happiness from and with harmony with God and others.
• Peace is surrendering and yielding to the Lord’s control, for He is our ultimate peace!
• Patience is showing tolerance and fortitude to others, and even accepting difficult situations from them and God without making demands and conditions.
• Kindness is practicing benevolence and a loving attitude towards others.
• Goodness displays integrity, honesty, and compassion to others, and allows us to do the right thing.
• Faithfulness is the “gluing” fruit that will preserve our faith and the other characters of the Spirit as well as identify God's Will so we can be dependable and trusting to God and others.
• Gentleness is the character that will show calmness, personal care, and tenderness in meeting the needs of others.
• Self-Control will allow us to have discipline, and restraint with obedience to God and others. (via Discipleship Tools; more can be found here)

Believe it or not, villains often start out as noble characters and at a critical point in the plot either choose ignoble desires or have their true, evil intentions revealed. While the fruits of the Spirit and other biblical character qualities may not seem to apply to all someones, they are still useful for developing characters fully, even if it means looking to them to develop completely opposite traits. And remember, it’s not the something that’s so important in a story, as much as it is the someone to whom it happens.



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