First, there as many “rural accents” as there are cities.
What I do when trying to create a character as you describe, I take a specific local and dive deep into making that character.
An over-used American example is a person from “the Valley” in Southern California. But the reality is you can take any particular place and use it… take a girl from Essex and really build her up. Then take her and place her in another locale where they are cliquish … what would happen?
Each character you write is an individual with quirks and uniqueisms… as a writer you can make those shine in a positive, negative or both negative and positive light.
If you want more help, I’d be happy in forming a character with you.
It’s generic fantasy-land rural accent. So definitely not American-based.
I know the character. I’ve a strong idea of all the characters. It’s just writing out her speech/accent that’s tricky.
She’s an orphan, who worked as a shepherdess, and grew up extremely poor. She spent much of her time out on the mountains, looking after the sheep. When she heard that a Prince had been kidnapped by a dragon she set out to rescue him, and managed to defeat the dragon with her wits, and claimed the Prince as her prize. It was her quick-thinking that has protected the Kingdom from the dragon for 20 years.
She’s the Queen now, but her lack of refinement, her coarse accent, her lack of education, and her build, all of it is subject to ridicule. It’s a source of great embarrassment to the King. He could not deal with others mocking his wife, which has lead to him isolating the Kingdom.
I’m just really, really bad at writing accents. I have a strong dislike of them. I suppose I could write in Scots, but I feel disinclined to do so.
I get more excited about this story you’re working on every time you talk about another aspect of it. Your characters sound so well thought out; it’s really lovely.
As to the Queen…If it’s as much ‘uneducated and limited vocabulary’ as it is any specific accent, maybe convey it by keeping her sentences very simple? I’ve been working on a similar issue lately (in my case, how to render someone who just started learning a completely foreign language, and there are no other speakers around who speak this character’s language). Someone suggested simple, straightforward sentences and limited, repetitious wording, and so far, that’s helped me a lot.
Maybe something like this (if you’ll forgive the artistic liberty with your characters, I hope?):
“How are you today, my dear?” the King asks.
“Yeah, okay,” she grunts, rubbing her nose. “Got a new dog. Big ugly one. Pretty cute, though. An’ clever.”
The King winces at the expression of one of the nobles. “How delightful!” he says smoothly. “I’m so glad the kennel’s stock is pleasing to you, my dear wife.”
“Yeah, thanks,” she says, with a broad smile.
Would something like that maybe be helpful? That way, it’s less of an accent. (And honestly, I personally could do with a lot less of Scots being used in conjunction with ‘uneducated’…at least for me personally, I sort of feel like that was already an old, tired trope in the 1700s.)
I think the short, simple sentences suits her well. She’s not much of a talker anyway. She is cleverer than people give her credit for, although primarily a woman of action. And she likes to be busy doing things. She’s actually well liked in her Kingdom, she’s very down to earth and not afraid to get her hands dirty.
But, she’s so very much not the sort of person who typically marries into royalty, and the nobility thinks she’s so very common.
You don’t get to see that much of her, but I like to think the back story is important.
Yeah me too. But Scots is the only accent I can actually type out, and the only slang I’m confident in using.
I’m going to try and rewrite her scene keeping her words short and simple.
Edited to add: Yeah, this is working a lot better. I prefer her dialogue this way. Will still need a bit of tweaking.
As regards speech patterns, you could also get some of that in just by thinking about clause structure and the like. For example, if she tends towards just compounds sentences, linking stuff by “and” and other conjunctions, rather than doing any more complex structures.
Story is going slowly but surely. It’s still all in pieces and thus unplayable. I know the shape of it all. I know the endings. I know all of the characters.
I’ve pages upon pages of conversations with them, including various anecdotes. There’s a lot of history that probably won’t make it directly into the game because there’s just no way for me to directly tell the protagonist.
Adding in the King and Queen was most certainly a good decision.
I’m doing so many things you’re not meant to. I’ll see how much actually remain in by the time I’m finished.
I really should push to get a finished version of the chargen, even if it doesn’t have stats. Just so people can see this isn’t vaporware. If I actually sat down and forced myself I could definitely have a proper (if short) demo done in a few hours. I keep getting distracted by other bits and pieces of the story though.
I went and wrote out a list of everything I’m doing that you shouldn’t! And then I decided why’m I trying to discourage everyone from playing?
I’m going to see what works and what doesn’t. I may end up changing some things.
I am still working on the game.
Still haven’t done the push to get the character generation finished though. There’s a number of tweaks I need to make. And I do still need to institute actual stats into the mix.
I am battling procrastination mostly though. Rather than actually doing any of the things I should do I’m procrastinating over it.
BAH! It’s so easier to talk about doing things than actually do them.
I reread some of my very old fiction, the stuff I wrote in my teens and I was surprised to discover that I actually liked it. I was a good writer.
I used to write entirely differently, I’d just write for the fun of it, no editing, no changing anything, just pouring a story out onto the page until it was finished.
And here I am now, pick pick picking at the same section of game over and over again. Planning and organising and changing things and nothing being in order at all.
I miss the first kind of writing. Maybe if I try that this game will be written easier. Or maybe I just write out a story or anything to get me back into the practice of writing.
And I’m half tempted to collect a list of every single half-written project I’ve got. There’s so many of them. So many ideas I love. And nothing I have finished.
I’ve always been awful at finishing things though. My school report card, from when I was 9 years old commented on the fact I never finished any stories I wrote. (I also had a tendency to daydream my way through classes which I don’t recall.)
Hrm where’m I going with this?
Ugh another week past and I still haven’t finished the character creation. It’s not even as if it’s difficult.
I need to just set aside a specific time each day and force myself to write.
Alas my writing friend is currently busy.
Those 15 minutes challenges were so good for me. Maybe should start that again.
I object to the first sentence - it is in past tense when it should be in present tense. In fact, it really should be in past, present and future tense.
Now getting to the squawk - Perhaps it is time to listen to yourself (your younger self) - just start writing, getting it all out.
Once you do that, you can go and peck-peck your way through the details like your current self likes… then maybe once your present self embraces the younger self your future self will rediscover the whole.
This is my feedback for tonight. We all you. You’ve brought a lot of good to many of us here.
The exact same thing has happened with me, friend.
Here’s how you do it: write and keep writing and write shit and leave it unfinished but just get the whole bare bones of the story, and THEN go over it again and again and flesh it out bit by bit.
Everything’s funny when I first write it! Well silly I suppose. It’s all ridiculously silly, and there’s so much arguing. (Although I’m trying to decide if I should give the choice not to argue.)
OH NO! I just realised I’m missing Snapdragons from my flower list! And ForgetMeNots!!! Alas, they shall not be! Although when we meet the Dragon we can likely make Snapdragon comments!
@Laguz Heh I’m usually the one suggesting Chronicler. I don’t actually use it since I’m pretty good at coding as it is. I suppose I could.
you. You’ve brought a lot of good to many of us here.
