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agent carter, avengers, c.s. lewis, captain america, character development, character voice, characters, dreamworks, hogan's heroes, how to train your dragon, marvel, professor v.j. duke, space trilogy, star wars, word choice, writing
Okay, I know I posted recently about something along these lines, but I just couldn’t leave it alone.
Character voice is word choice, not accent. But character voice is also defined by regionalism, and while accents are not easy to write, they can be implied.
I’ve been thinking a bit about how word use can define character voice, as well. Recently, I came across the word “nebby”, which evidently means curious to inhabitants of Pittsburgh (Thank you, Professor!), which I had not heard before.
Also, would Obi-Wan ever use slang? Or would Tony Stark ever say “You lot”? (Yes, there are British Avengers fans out there–I can not take credit for this one–someone online mentioned that they wished that there was such a thing as Reverse Brit-Picking for Avengers fanfiction. If anyone from the British Isles wants to write Avengers fanfic–I VOLUNTEER!!! I may not be from New York, but at least I can help you make them sound American. ;-P)
The other thing that inspired this post was a rambling headache. (Yes, I am sorry.)
I was thinking about how different words mean different things to different people (like, in Great Britain, a “jumper” is the same thing as a “sweater” to us. Also, instead of “cell” they say “mobile.” (Major plot point in a Sherlock episode, here. Which is really crazy because the MacGuffin thingy is the same as Agent Carter‘s.)
And then, I was thinking about my uncle who lives in New York but was not born there. Thus, to an American, he’s not a Yankee. To an American, a Yankee is a born-and-bred New Yorker (I think it’s more the city than the state, but I could be wrong.) Meanwhile, in Hogan’s Heroes the Cockney former thief, forger, and all-around conman Newkirk regularly calls his American counterparts “Yanks”. I could go into the etymology of the word, but that’s really not the point here.
The point is that tone can be regional, and you can learn quite a bit about a character, not only by their word choice, but also how they use those words.
It’s very important that each character just sounds like their role. One example of how this is brilliant: How To Train Your Dragon. From the first moment he opens his mouth, you can tell that Hiccup is the sarcastic social pariah. And the phony Scottish accents of the adults? They create an illusion of time and place, even if it’s not an entirely historically accurate illusion… (Well, most modern-day occupants of the British Isles have at least one Scandinavian ancestor… Which is why Steve Rogers can be Irish when his name doesn’t sound like it. Rogers is probably a corruption of a common surname type–Rogerson–which is sort of normal for historical Scandanavians… just like Ransom in Lewis’ Space Trilogy comes from “Ranulf’s Son”… *gets pulled off-stage by a giant hook*)
In short, whether you’re looking to emulate Faulkner or simply to try your hand at creating the regional illusion, word choice is as important as–if not more important than–accent. Maybe you won’t even need to imply accent if you use word choice correctly…
And your spell check won’t want to strangle you as you put together the final drafts of your characters’ dialogue.
You’re welcome.
Thanks for reading, and God Bless!
The Upstairs Archives 
Good thoughts, Erin, and something I need to keep in mind- even though I don’t write much real-world fiction. After all, I imagine the same rules would apply to a fantasy world, except that if you accidentally mix British and American terms/idioms it might not be quite as noticeable. Maybe.
Yup, regional accents apply to fantasy fiction as well. 😉 One of my heroes, Winter, speaks with a pronounced “Northern accent” and is more succinct and precise with his language than anyone else at court. 😉
Maybe… heh… But I’m onto you now! *grins*
Out of curiosity, is there a real world accent that a “Northern accent” would be comparable to?
Onto me how? About mixing British and American terms? I said it would be more acceptable, not that I actually do it . . . that I know of. It’s entirely possible that some British or Australian or possibly New Zealandish terms have slipped into my vocabulary through contact with books and people from those places.
@Sarah: I think Erin meant northern USA???
New Zealandish is not a word. In fact, New Zealand is the only country in the world with no adjectival form. (And what NZ books have you been reading, girl?! There is some dire stuff out there!)
Not really. Accents in the US tend to vary more from east to west than by north to south. I speak with a Midwest accent, as opposed to a New England accent or Southern accent. (The accents only seem to vary much between north and south on the East Coast. Hm.)
I’ve been told by people elsewhere in the states that I have somewhat of an accent, and I’m in Washington state. So maybe there’s your northern accent. I can’t see anything distinct about the way we talk here, but maybe it’s just being too precise about how we pronounce things. I’ve been told by a Canadian friend that we talk fast. And an Australian that we sound way too oral… But he was generalizing all Americans. 😛
I’ve gotten asked if I was British, once, mostly because I say pecans “pecahns” and sometimes strawberries “strawb’ries.” I don’t think that sounds British…
That’s weird. Is there another way to pronounce pecans? That’s how everyone I know says it. For a while, I was the only one in my family who said Colorawdo instead of Colorashdo. I’ve switched over now. 😛
People say it “pe-cans”, I guess.
I guess. 😛 that’s weird.
Actually, when I hear/read “northern accent”, I tend to think “northern Europe”.
Huh. I figured it wasn’t actually a word (which didn’t bother me; I make words up when it suits me), but I didn’t know the other bit. (And I haven’t been reading NZ books that I know of, but I have a lot of online friends who are Kiwis and I occasionally pick up some of their vernacular.)
NOPE NO WAY NOT NORTHERN EUROPE. 0_0 Sheesh, that’s an image to give me NIGHTMARES. Winter would never talk like that.
. . . What about northern European accents are so horrifying?
Nothing. The thought of Winter with one is horrifying.
Scandinavia north or France/Belgium/Germany north?
Either? I wasn’t sure. Mostly Scandinavia north, though.
That’s part of it… oh man which part of Germany, now, they all sound different… and all of them have different dialects as well. You can’t learn those dialects in school…
Is it bad that I’m taking German but I can’t really tell one German accent from another? (Hopefully not . . . it’s not exactly something that comes up a lot. xD) Honestly, it’s probably just as well- learning the basics is plenty hard enough.
Nope. All the Germans will just know you’re an American and will probably either secretively laugh or sympathize with you. (I can’t tell one region from another either. I just know that they’re SUPER different. Relic of when Germany was all those teensy principalities in the Holy Roman Empire.)
As long as they’re forgiving of my awkward German, I don’t much care which they do. xD (I figured that was the cause. I wonder, are there also a lot of Italian dialects, since that country was also originally several smaller states?)
😛
It’s more than likely.
And Austria, Hungary, the Balkans, is much the same.
I sort of envisioned it as being a combination of a very faint German accent, only with a more precise pronunciation, and a smattering of an upper-class Scottish accent, like David Tennant, Ewan McGregor, or Ian MacDairmid. His delivery is more like Ian MacDairmid, but his inflection and often word choice is more like Obi-Wan.
Nope, I know you’re doing it. Sort of. 😛
Mixing Britishisms and Americanisms? That’s definitely Steve. Peggy rubbed off on him, and he spent most of the war based out of England. 😉 So he sometimes lets a Britishism slip and then Tony thinks it’s hilarious.
Sounds like an interesting accent. 🙂
Well . . . probably. As I said, not on purpose, though.
Haha, I can imagine. xD
Somewhat. 😛 If this book is ever made into a movie the actor playing Winter will probably hate me… “No, he doesn’t sound right! You have to make it sharper!”
Poor actor. xD But maybe you’d get lucky and find an actor who naturally sounds just right . . . maybe. ‘Tis probably unlikely.
Very unlikely, said the clam to the cobblestone.
. . . Clams? Cobblestones? Am I missing a reference?
Nah, I just randomly blurted something out.
Ok. That makes me feel somewhat better.
😛
Ewan McGregor is not, repeat not, Obi-Wan. End of.
No, but occasionally Winter sounds like Obi-Wan. Occasionally.
In answer to your speculation… No, Obi-Wan would not use slang. He’s not even terribly comfortable with cliche. (AotC – ‘wild bantha chase’. Go rewatch.)
Slightly weird, but I can ‘mimic’ an accent in print or in person without really thinking about it. So I’ve never really had a trouble with British-talking American characters.
Mmhm.
Also, we made Obi-Wan carry an epi pen, because he’s got that allergy to hoi broth. We nearly forgot about it, but then Steve found out and reminded us. Where would we be without Steve?! (Obi-Wan complained a bit that he doesn’t need medication but we told him it would make us feel much better, and Bucky says he won’t do CPR on anyone unless it is absolutely necessary. I kind of agree. He tends to misjudge with the metal arm… Also, they start chest compressions and THEN do rescue breathing now. But Darcy and Bucky seem to share the same talent for making people nervous, mostly because waking up to Bucky’s war face is terrifying. Kind of ironic, because the Winter Soldier is surprisingly cuddly. Seriously. He just snuggles up to anything or anyone who’s nearby when he falls asleep. One time, I fell asleep in the living room, expecting Steve to wake me up and tell me to go to bed when the movie was over, and instead I wake up the next morning with Bucky wrapped around my waist and Steve passed out on the couch. Seriously, Bucky was clinging to me like a limpet and lying on top of me. At least he’s warm….)
Somewhat. I sometimes really have to think about it…
Great post! Yes, all characters do not need to have accents to have a distinct voice. 😉
I know about the whole “yanks” thing in foreign countries. When we were on a volunteer trip in Israel, our team leader was an Australian and my brother and I had a lot of time to talk with him. He said it’s actually more offensive to call us “Americans” than it is to call us “Yanks”. :S
Thanks. 😀
…that’s a bit confusing, actually.
Oh, boy… Tony is throwing mango slices at Steve. Fresh ones. I’d better go intervene…
Yeah, we learned a lot of weird things. The playing process of a digereedoo, random facts about aborigines… And now we can both crank out a fairly decent accent. 😉
Oh, yes. That should be stopped. He’ll get Steve’s suit all mango-y. 😛
And then he’ll be more orange than red, white, and blue so that’s to be avoided at all costs. 😛 *chases Tony with a washcloth and a pear*
*laughs* That’ll teach ‘im. XD
X-D
So I just saw this post… and to answer your first question, to people who live in the southern United States, a “Yankee” is anyone from north of the Mason-Dixon line. XD Just throwing that out there… I love this post, by the way! 🙂
Even within the States there’s varying definitions. X-D Thank you! 😀 I’m glad you liked it.
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