Definition
Dialect in fiction is the technique of representing how people from a particular region, social class, or cultural background actually speak - their pronunciations, grammar, vocabulary, and speech rhythms. Done well, it brings characters to life by grounding them in a specific place and community. Done poorly, it becomes a minefield of stereotypes and unreadable phonetic spelling that makes readers feel like they need a decoder ring.
Why It Matters
Dialect is one of the fastest ways to make a character feel real and rooted in a specific world. But it comes with real responsibility. Writing dialect badly can reduce a community to a punchline or make characters seem less intelligent based on how they speak. The best dialect writing captures the music and rhythm of a speech pattern while still treating the speaker with dignity and complexity.
Types of Dialect in Fiction
Famous Examples
Hurston wrote African American Vernacular English from the inside, as someone who grew up speaking it. The dialect is rich and rhythmic, treated as beautiful rather than broken.
Welsh writes in heavy Scots dialect throughout, forcing readers to adjust their pace and hear the voice. It's challenging but creates total immersion in the characters' world.
Twain famously noted he used seven distinct dialects in the novel, carefully distinguishing between characters' regional and social speech patterns.
Common Mistakes
Everyone speaks a dialect - including wealthy, educated characters. If you're only marking certain characters' speech as 'different,' examine why.
Suggest the dialect with a few key markers - dropped g's, specific vocabulary, characteristic grammar - and let the reader's ear fill in the rest. Less is almost always more.
Read widely within the tradition you're representing. Listen to real speakers. Hire a sensitivity reader from that community. Getting dialect wrong does real harm.
If your dialect characters exist mainly to be funny while your 'standard' English characters get the serious scenes, that's a problem. Give dialect speakers full emotional range.
Try It Yourself
Write the same scene twice: a character telling a friend they just got fired. First, write it in unaccented 'standard' English. Then rewrite it using the grammar, vocabulary, and rhythm of a dialect you know well (your own, your family's, or your community's). Compare the two. Which version feels more alive? Which character feels more like a real person?
Keep every character's voice consistent across your manuscript
Novelium's Character Tracking helps you maintain distinct speech patterns for each character. When you've established a dialect or speech style, you'll spot the moments where a character slips out of their natural voice.