: Re: Using colloquialisms the reader may not be familiar with I'm from Ireland, most of my stories take place in Ireland, and many of my characters will speak with Irish accents and/or dialects to

@Angela458

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It worth noting that this kind of thing has been done many times before. Stories such as The Red Badge of Courage, The Unvanquished, and Their Eyes Were Watching God all do this. Their Eyes Were Watching God takes it to an extreme as the narrator sometimes starts to talk in dialect and make the poor reader quite uncomfortable.

Generally, I think reader will be able to figure what you mean in context. To test this, you might want beta readers not familiar with the Irish dialect.

Using a dialect helps the reader understand the culture and makes you look more authoritative on the topic.

However, there is a down side to dialect. They can distract the reader from the message of the story. Take for example the movie Schindler's List. The director decided to use English in the movie so there would be nothing to distract the viewer from the harsh topics. In contrast, The Passion of the Christ does not have a single line of English. Both are powerful movies, and I would say achieve what they want.

There isn't a black and white answer to this. If it comes naturally to you, try it (at least in character dialogue, maybe not as the narrator). Do be mindful not to overwhelm the reader.

One thing you could do is have a non-Irish person (probably American, considering how oblivious they are to other cultures) who doesn't understand the dialect and asks for clarification.

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