A writing question

[perpetual_motion]

[Poll #1410171]

I've no plans to write out Scotty's accent. Scottish accents are best left to the imagination of the reader, as their main sound [to my American ear] is the way the Rs roll out. But, if you were to write out Scotty's accent, how would you spell things?

Comments

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

I once tried to write a thick Scottish accent.

A few days later, when I reread what I'd written, I had to sit there and read it out loud in order to figure out what the hell I'd actually written.

Needless to say, I don't write out Scottish accents anymore.

The thing with Chekov's accent is that if I don't read it, I don't hear it unless the wording is recognizable as an accent, if that makes sense. Like, for example:

"Be careful he not kick you like dog you are," she half-purred at the taller man, her lips quirked into a smile.

Because of the dropped "the" between "like" and "dog", as well as the phrase "he not kick" instead of "he doesn't kick", I'd read that as Russian.

So, for me, a lot of how an accent comes through is diction and syntax, even more than usual. But that's me being weird.

*blush*

[royalneptune.livejournal.com]

I agree with the above comment. Having the accent written out is really annoying, and I don't think a writer of your caliber needs to lean on that kind of a crutch. I'm sure you have his voice down and it's through that voice, with the proper structure and diction, that the reader will be MORE then able to hear the accent without the obnoxious spelling. <3

[nix-xon.livejournal.com]

The "keptin" might work though. I've read quite a few fics where it really just adds to his personality. It doesn't break flow at all.

Mind, I usually just read all of his lines in a Russian accent any way, even if it's not written that way.