Dialect in Westerns

This weekend, I worked on an on-line column that started out being something else but ended up being about dialect. (Don't a lot of articles do that? ) I ended up using a few examples from Western novels. From the time I first picked up a Western years ago, I noticed that some authors used a lot of dialect. For example, some years ago, I remember picking up a Nelson Nye Western and putting it back down because it seemed too hard to read. I have yet to read one of his books, even though some have looked interesting.

So far, I'm pretty sure most of the more recent Westerns I've read lately use dialogue sparingly. In most cases, authors evoke the feel of dialect by word choice, slang, altering the order of words, etc., and then "lighter" elements such as dropping "g's" on the ends of gerunds. I know some authors do use dialect, but it doesn't seem as heavy as it used to be in older books. So is heavy dialect something of the past in Westerns, or am I just coming across the wrong books? Also, in the past, was that sort of dialect popular with readers before eventually falling out of popularity, or were there other reasons it feel out of favor? Did readers want the strong dialect? Did they start to complain about overuse of dialect?

Also, what do publishers (and readers) think of heavy dialect today? Has it fallen out of favor? Is it only found in impenetrable lit'ry novels? What impression do you get if you pick up a book, and find that it uses lots of heavy dialect.

Finally, what about dialect used as a form of characterization? In older books, dialect was often used for the heroes, or at least for decent people he met during the story. (For example, the plainspoken trapper.) But more recently, I got the impression that some authors use dialect only for the dialogue of villains or other disreputable types. Or does this depend on the author? Or maybe I'm hanging out at the wrong saloons.

P.S. My article thingie ended up here:
http://www.likesbooks.com/atbfnew.html

Puma said:

From discussions on the historical forum, it appears that the use of much dialect is a thing of the past. Word choice and subtle/small changes are preferred to indicate dialect.

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Thank God it's a thing of the past.

Puma said:

I personally think you have to use enough dialect to be fairly realistic - cowboys are going to say shucks and dangit rather than the Oxford equivalents. Just don't overdo it.

I've also read quite a few of those older, littered with dialect and colloquialism, works. They didn't bother me after I settled in to the story. It's much the same as using foreign words - you can let them annoy you or you can learn from them. Puma

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That's true. It certainly has been a learnin' experience. I do like learning old slang through novels. Now I know why the Rawhide Kid graphic novel was called Slap Leather. (BTW be very careful when Googling that phrase...)

JeanneTGC said:

(Cool Thread Starter Girl strikes again!)

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I just can't help mahself.

JeanneTGC said:

I have a rule -- only one vocal tic per character.

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That makes sense, and it's a lot easier for a writer to keep track of. If you juggle too many vocal tics, you can lose track, just like authors who forget which characters have green eyes and which have brown eyes.

JeanneTGC said:

These days, heavy dialect is a hard sell, for the reasons listed -- it makes the books harder to read. Also -- there was a thread on something similar either in Novels or Roundtable a few weeks ago, btw -- the writer can get the dialect wrong and offend a large portion of his readership. (That was a biggie for folks on that thread, btw, that someone would insinuate the character was from Alabama, but be talking "wrong" for Alabama, and/or come off as condescending, etc.)

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You should see some of the discussions about Scottish dialect on my romance list. The use of Scottish dialect in romances drives the Scottish and English readers nuts. One of the writers on the list is a historical and paranormal writer from the UK with a strong interest in history. She's also a big fan of the Lymond Chronicles, so if you write something set in Scotland, you have big shoes to fill. She had some great posts about Scottish dialect and how authors usually get it wrong.