Accents

I've been thinking about them lately.  As well as the vernacular of an area.  There are books that I've read recently that have done a really good job about making the characters sound like they are from/grew up in a certain area.  Each region has it's own slang terms that people use.  Each culture has it's own dialect.  And there have been some lately that really immerse me in it...I believe those characters are from that area because they talk like they are.

The adverse, unfortunately, is also true.  Some authors don't care, like they set their story in a certain place but don't bother to make it sound like the characters are from there.  Or, they go overboard, and just start throwing in any and all words and phrases, making everybody sound absolutely ridiculous.  

If your character lives in a certain place, or is from somewhere specific, they should speak and think in words that would be part of his experience.  If he's from the Northeast, he's going to want a soda.  Midwest, he's going to want a pop.  He's from the south?  Then he's going to want a coke.  But if I'm reading along and suddenly someone says something that's out of keeping with the vernacular, I'm yanked hard out of story and all I can think is something like "There is no way people from this place would use that word/phrase.  They don't talk like that!" 

**side note: this also happens to me with English spelling versus American spelling (all those extra o's, lol)...I don't even notice it when the story is set in London.  When it's set in Texas, all I can think is that's not how you spell tire (tyre) or curb (kerb)!**

Of course, then again, maybe it doesn't matter.  Because no matter where a character is from or what kind of accent they are supposed to have...British, or Southern, or North Country, or Midwestern, or French, etc...I hear them all in my head as sounding like me.  It takes another character pointing something out or maybe a particular turn of phrase to remind me that "Oh, yeah, this guy is from Alabama.  He's probably got a pretty heavy twang in his voice."

Its easier for me, of course, if the characters have "accents" I'm personally familiar with.  A Canadian with their long a's and ending questions with eh? is like comfort food for my ear...I spent a great deal of my childhood in the North Country, snugged up tight to the border.  This I can relate to.  Obviously the particular diction from my area, which is pretty straight forward, makes sense.  Even a bit of Brooklyn or Boston isn't so far out of my realm.  But even then,  I still have to remind myself of how they are supposed to sound because they still just sound like central New Yorkers to me...

...Anybody else have this problem?  Or do I make a complete lack of sense?

And hey, tune in tomorrow for an episode of Spell Break...since I'm about three episodes ahead right now, I figure we could move it along a bit.