Feedback Wanted
Local slang and dialect can do lovely work on a page, but only up to the point where readers start feeling excluded from the room.
A few well-placed words can give texture, place, rhythm. Too much, and it turns into a private joke between the writer and the people who already know the code. I’m never quite sure where that line sits, and it probably moves depending on the scene.
Curious how other writers judge it. Do you trim until the meaning is obvious, or keep more of the original flavour and trust context to carry the rest?
A few well-placed words can give texture, place, rhythm. Too much, and it turns into a private joke between the writer and the people who already know the code. I’m never quite sure where that line sits, and it probably moves depending on the scene.
Curious how other writers judge it. Do you trim until the meaning is obvious, or keep more of the original flavour and trust context to carry the rest?
I’d rather see dialect used as a pressure point than as decoration. One odd turn of phrase can tell you a lot about where someone’s from, or what they’re trying to hide. If every other line needs translating, the prose starts doing unpaid work for the reader. Better to leave most of the flavour in the voice and let the grammar do the heavy lifting.