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Topic : Re: Can I use spoken English at some places over 'technically accurate English' in a general fiction? I have written my novel as a 'first person singular' and in past tense. There are lot of times - selfpublishingguru.com

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Yes, that is acceptable. In dialogue, the only thing I'd say is unacceptable is trying to duplicate "sound effects" in the speech itself.Like if somebody is speaking with a mouth full of sandwich; just say so.

Bob mumbled around a mouthful of cereal, "I don't want any."

Don't try "I doh wah enna", it breaks the immersion of the reader by making them try to figure out what the person is saying. And in some contexts for modern fiction, readers may take such "sound effects" intended to convey a cultural accent as racist or offensive.

But slang, Um, Uh, Ah, Ooh, Ugh, are all fine; everybody understands them. Don't write anything you invent for sound effects. But don't overuse these, either, real speech on tape is littered with Uh, Ah, weird pauses and restarts. Don't try to duplicate that, in real life we don't even notice these, but in print they break immersion if they are used in every other sentence.

Other than that, feel free to write dialogue with the grammar people actually use.


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