Answer: Spelling Out a Drawl
riverfox wants to know "Is there a rule/permission that allows for the literal drawl of words? ('Jaaaaaaaaack!' versus 'Jack,' Daniel drawled)."
The only answer that's been discovered is "Not exactly."
( With examples from Saiyuki )
Comments 7
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He was indeed a master, and very few of us are going to be able to match his effectiveness in using eye dialect.
Increasingly, I've been trying to follow my own advice on this. There are several Saiyuki characters who have a rough way of speaking, but it doesn't help the stories if I attempt to match the spelling of every word to what I hear them say in my mind's ear.
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Also, this could be tied into discussions of dialect/accents, no? Because nothing's more annoying than reading a Star Trek story (pro-fic or fanfic) where Chekov's and Scotty's dialogue is written out phonetically.
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Yes, of course. The discussion of eye dialect absolutely applies to that.
As diebirchen noted above, some writers are masters of this - Twain for the U.S. Southern/rural dialect of his day, Terry Pratchett with the outrageous fantasy brogue of the Nac Mac Feegle - but for most of us, it's not worth the likely loss in momentum as the reader puzzles through the changed spellings.
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"Jack -" said Daniel, drawing his name out into an unmistakable warning.
"Jack... " Daniel drawled, transforming that simple syllable into a complete conversation.
Your choices will depend on what you (and Daniel) are trying to accomplish in the scene.
YES.
That is all.
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I'm glad you liked the examples! I couldn't have done it without green-grrl!
(And the clips I was examining, trying to find cases of them doing just that, are close to having me try to actually view this series ... and usually I just don't go for video storytelling!)
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One problem I have is actually with translating these types of works. In Japanese they do it all the time, or they use symbols to show that a word should be cut off, or drawn out in some way. Figuring out how to translate that without making it look clunky can be a challenge. On another note, sex scenes are even worse, it's all choked off words and symbols in the dialogue. :/ It'd be much easier if they just described the noises rather than write it out, but of course what works in one language doesn't necessarily work in another.
Er, ending my ramble now. Thanks for the guide!
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