Accents with adjectives

[Jev]

Need help describing accents. I'm not even going to try and write dialogue in said accents, aside from throwing in a few colloquialisms, but I'd like to be able to describe an accent and have the reader make the connection to its real world counterpart.

You mentioned colloquialisms, but did not mention grammar. I think that's equally useful, if not more so, as colloquialisms, because colloquialisms require some familiarity with the accent's location to understand them.

For instance, I often tend to leave out the -ly in adverbs when I'm speaking. This isn't laziness per se; it's more the way that I talk. So I'll say that someone is 'walking slow' or that someone is 'talking quick.' That may or may not be a local accent, but it's certainly easier to read than 'T'row da rat fink in da riveh,' or something like that.

And while you said you don't intend to write out the accent, I would make an exception for one particular thing: Ending 'g's, if they're dropped in speech, should be dropped in text every now and again. Readers can parse that without trouble, and the difference between 'I'm going to the store' and 'I'm goin' to the store' is obvious and instantly appreciable.