Having Fun With Regional Differences in Character Creation

My daughter lives in Japan, where she’s an assistant English teacher. She once relayed a humorous account from her first year there. She was teaching in middle school (which is the equivalent of US 7th to 9th grades).

One of the vocabulary words for that day was, “coffee.” The teacher she was working with asked her to give the correct pronunciation.

She, laughingly, suggested they ask her co-worker to take that one.

“I’m from New York. I say kawfee“

Her co-worker was from the Midwest.

She has to be careful of how she pronounces certain words for the kids (like coffee, dog, horse). She doesn’t want the students to develop a New York accent. (Though her mom thinks that would be kind of cool.)

Certain accents, even within our US borders, may meet with prejudice when we visit or relocate to areas that aren’t in sync with how we learned to speak. I think of those “Cousin from Boston” Sam Adams TV ads. Talk about cashing in on a stereotype!

I had a dear friend, who was one of the smartest and most intuitive people I’ve ever known. He dedicated himself to a lifetime of law enforcement, both state and federal. He was brilliant in so many ways. But he was born and raised in the Appalachian region of Kentucky. He had to overcome the stigma attached to his accent everywhere he went.

We had a similar situation, though not as severe, when we moved upstate over 35 years ago. Originally from just north of New York City, my husband had a “city” accent. It’s faded quite a bit now, but there are still traces. (Or maybe I’m so used to it that I don’t hear it anymore.) He also, at first, had to work past that, “You’re not from around here,” reaction from the locals.

The good thing about this, however, is that, as writers, it provides a fun tool for developing our characters.

Is your main character a local? Was she raised in the area where you have set your story? Or is she a transplant? Does she speak differently, use different words? Is she surprised and confused by local customs?

I’m currently reading a fun cozy mystery series, the Cajun Country Mysteries by Ellen Byron. Her main character, Maggie, was raised in the area in which the story takes place, but then lived in New York City for many years before moving back home. Byron has fun with this in several places, one scene in particular. Maggie, who is a tour guide at a local plantation, had to play the part of the lady of the manor. Her boss was angry because Maggie had lost her local accent. She then had to fake it for the tour.

Creating characters that readers can relate to is always a fun part of writing. We have so many tools at our disposal to make our heroes and heroines believable. Dialects and regional differences can be a great way to flesh out those characters, and enhance the way they interact with the people around them.

“I’ll have an orange soda,” she said to the waitress.

The girl stared at her for a moment. The corner of her mouth twitched up in a sarcastic smirk. “Do you mean an orange pop?”

Lisa laughed. “Yeah, pop.” This girl has a touch of New York snark in her, she thought. We might just become friends.

Even within my own overgrown country, there are so many regional differences in speech, culture, and attitude. The combinations create an endless collection to add to our toolbox. There’s never a need to create cookie-cutter characters, when we have so much variety to choose from.

Now, I’m going to go make myself a cup of kawfee.

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