My first draft is complete. Plot’s in place, the right characters in the right spots, with the right objects. My visit to the story site provided lots of detail for the descriptive texture. I’m currently braiding contextual detail into the draft.

I ran into a couple of lovely accents while I was on my trip. A couple of humdingers. I’m thinking of cutting through another edit and splicing an accent into one character’s lines. But it’s not a clear cut thing.

Accents can be handled in different ways. I, for example, can simply tell the reader that the character has an accent and throw a few examples into the dialogue from time to time. Or, I can engage in that bravest form of character development and phonetically spell it out in each and every line of a character’s dialogue. The accent I heard on my trip is a thick brogue that comes out of native speakers in a musical mumble.

But, accents tend to add to story muddle. It is possible to put too much texture into a story. The texture can eclipse the story and interfere with the reader’s experience. Done well, accents become a seamless part of character. Done badly, they hamper the read.

I am writing for boys, from 10 to 13. From what I understand, these boys won’t appreciate too much texture. So, I’m tempted to trim back the accent. It’s too bad because the accent is rich.

But I’d like some advice on this one, so if you have thoughts, please let me know….