Writing dialog with British accent?

[anim8or2000]

!

It might do. I'm from East Anglia which is famous for nothing.

get out of town! I live in Cambridgeshire these days!

[anim8or2000]

oh and dont forget that date structure is different than american dates. we would say 7th November (7/11/17) as opposed to November 7th (11/7/17)

Sorry OP if this is a bit of an information overload!

[scythe]

Well, many of my characters are British, and for almost everything I don't write the words any different than if they were any other English speaker. What I do do however is mix in some British mannerisms and slang. Depending where they're from, British can talk quite differently than other English speakers. I also have a Scottish character, who talks differently again, so I use different slang, and do sparingly use apostrophes where appropriate. For example, havin' instead of having. But overall, whether you're writing a comic or a novel, you probably just have to accept that there can be practical limitations to portraying accents. In general, people aren't interested in strange, phonetic spelling.

Here's a scene I did with two Brits and a Scottish guy:

The Woken :: Chapter 1 – Canterbury's Books | Tapas

[XzynderVexymous]

I have and this has helped me. Listen to British actors, read British books, etc.
Use a Brit’s dictionary or word guide from Google.

[joe_galindez]

Too much work. I just set my word processor to "UK spelling."

No, seriously, I've done that for every fantasy book.

[XzynderVexymous]

XD that does work too. Brits have a way of speaking though. Their style is different than America’s so keep that in mind.

[Devika]

Highly personal opinion in this post, but I'm not fond of "faking" so-called British English. Not only does it often turn into a sort of blanket stereotype, but imagine being British and reading sum feeked acc'nt when you literally have a common language, but with distinct spelling, vocabulary, and grammar. I'd suggest using that instead of othering the British readers by making them talk a bastardized version of their own language.

It's also weird to read a "British accent" when you're not from author's country of origin in general (let's assume US for now). I mean, think of it. I first of all need to assume everyone is speaking American English by default and then paste the accent on top of that default.

The exception, I think, is if your character has an accent that is distinct enough that a native Brit would write it differently - think Hagrid (apparently it's West Country English).

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that an accent is relative. It's default to the speaker, and only an accent to a foreigner. When you modify sumthin' it's making an assumption about the reader's default language. Look at it from both sides instead!

Just my take on keeping it international.

(I'm sorry if this comes of as a bit negative, that's not my intention.)

[Chronitis]

may I suggest studying BRITISH SLANG?

[joe_galindez]

Those we're all fantasy races, so I had a bit of wiggle room. I avoid idioms and other figures of speech when I write, so it's really a sort of Standard English with a lacquering of Britishness.

[punkarsenic]

okay, posh accents, theyre honestly not that different from american textually - just very formal, and no americanisms. maybe get a british person to proofread your dialogue?

[punkarsenic]

think Hagrid (apparently it's West Country English).

whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat, i was sure he was northern. man, whys jkr so obsessed w the west country

[IdiotWithPencil]

try making a thick Yorkshire dialect accent nobody will understand him and you could literally write gibberish and it would make sense XD

in all seriously accents are a bit tricky to convey when they all speak basically the same language so look for what different things the others say, examples like bum and fanny or biscuit and cakes, also you could try writing them in the different orthographic styles a classic example is color and colour

[Louistrations]

It’s difficult to convey a British accent purely in written word. So many British books have been adapted into American movies with the location changed to America using American actors and you wouldn’t know the difference. The character’s mannerisms would probably be more telling, but I don’t even know where to begin with that!

[Wumbl]

Depends highly on which part of the UK they are from obviously...
Certain vocabulary would clue in a lot, such as slang words. Different slang is used in different parts of the country...
E.g. I'm from the south where we are descended from sailors and farmers, and we call people "love" to be flattering, say stuff like "innit" and use hard "r" sounds.
My friend is from the north where many are descended from miners. He uses words like "pal" and his "r" sounds are soft. Think John Constantine - he's from the north.
Funnily enough there's a few slang terms we share. It's weird.

I'd recommend looking up some footage or audio of people speaking different dialects. Once you decide on one then try using a lot of the slang you hear from those particular people. It's really hard to do it if you're not from here, as I can just talk to friends or watch TV and hear them all.
Research is the key, basically.

[rantscomics]

You should check out the comic Giant Days. They do a pretty good job of this.

[Vanesalisa]

Lana Drake her accent is British and I had to listen and read about it , I'm trying hard to learn the accents and scottish by watching Dr.who and sherlock

[sarrowsmith10]

I have a British friend who always told me to not fake a British accent, because the British will know... There are different ways of speaking for older generations, and your place in society (class). If its a re-occurring character I might suggest writing out the basics of what you want them to say, and then have someone who is actually British, re-write that dialogue (or translate it) for you to something that sounds more natural to them.

Just my 2 cents.

[joe_galindez]

If only more Hollywood people did their research to that standard.

[sarrowsmith10]

If only more Hollywood people did their research to that standard.

It's nice that Hollywood is starting to actually hire British actors to play British roles, so Americans aren't faking it.

[Rhombik]

I have a British friend who always told me to not fake a British accent, because the British will know...

Yeah, this is the problem. We have finely tuned sensors for non-British accents. I don't know about other accents but as soon as somebody turns up in a film, pretending to be a Brit, klaxons go off and my brain feels itchy.

The only one in my whole life who I haven't immediately sussed out is James Marsters from Buffy.