MAY , 2020
DIALECTS By : Barbara Donlon Bradley
Massachusettes was my favorite . The first few days at school I would hear students ask if they could go to the basement . The basement ? What was in the basement that made it so popular ? It didn ’ t take long before I figured out it was the bathroom . My only conclusion was that the bathrooms must have been in the basement at one time and the word stuck . Another one that I remember was wicked decent . It threw me for a loop in the beginning but now I feel writing is wicked decent .
I think everyone knows about the letters Bostonians leave out and you might be familiar with the ones they add to words . “ I pa ’ ked my ca ’ in Ha ’ vad ya ’ d .” They also did drawrings and had worshing machines . By the time we moved to Virginia I had such a unique accent that people thought I was from Australia or New Zealand .
That is why I love to add accents to my books when I can . I ’ ve learned a lot of them and I find them fascinating . Your characters could be good with dialects and be able to imitate them . They could look younger than they are and throw in slang to make them fit with a younger crowd . When you add things like this your characters become more three-dimensional .
Barb
Biography :
Barbara Bradley is an author and editor , a mom , and a wife . She is an award-winning author and so are some of the author ’ s she ’ s edited over the years . Although she will continue to edit for one of her publishers she has also decided to do some freelance editing as well . You can reach her at
barbaradonlonbradley @ gmail . com
Barbara Donlon Bradley Contact Info :
Website Author Blog Facebook Instagram Amazon Author Page
13