Lisps

[Fyle]

Just wanted to get an idea how you all write "heavy" lisps.

Not to the point where the person is incomprehensible, I mean to the point where they can't pronounce S's and C type sounds without intrusion of a tongue (say a lizard man) or crooked teeth.

I write it with double S's, and I personally like it, but I am not sure how readers feel. Out of around 10 people who have read the character (including Iron Pen judges) only one has commented on not being a fan. Most just seem to be neutral.

Like so:

"I ssaid it wass fine."

For me, the dialogue tag alone isn't enough, such as "I said it was fine," he lisped. It's a villain, and I want the reader to be "slightly" annoyed by it and have them not like him that much more because of it. Plus, he does not talk too much. Reading, too much of this would maybe be disturbing, but in small doses, I think it should be OK.

Thanks!

 

[X Equestris]

I haven't yet written a character with a lisp, but I think GRRM wrote a character (was it Vargo Hoat?) with a lisp, and he used "th" in place of s-sounds if I'm remembering correctly.

 

[Reilith]

I saw the technique you use in a few books and I liked it. It didn't take out from the reading experience nor enjoyment. Everyone has a way of their own so nothing's really forbidden or bad.

 

[TheCatholicCrow]

I've never read anything that uses this. But what does come to mind is the maid in Wuthering Heights and the bulk of Huckleberry Finn and I remember being very annoyed with it. As long as you don't pair another dialect with it (and if you limit his/her dialogue) I can't imagine it would take away from the text.

I agree. I think using a "th" instead of a "ss" would make more sense to me that he/she has a lisp. If you add a double "s" for every s present it might get awkward with words like "kisses" where "kithes" would work better than "kissess" or "kissssess". It's not bad at the beginning of a word but the extra letters in the middle or end give it a different emphasis beyond just changing the S. To me it become [kis es] instead of [kis-iz] where the cadence might be preserved by [kith-iz].

 

[TheCatholicCrow]

Or instead of "he lisped" ... "he hissed" ?

 

[Ireth]

Isn't doubling up the letter 's' rather than using 'th' kind of the opposite of a lisp? They're two different sounds.

 

[TheCatholicCrow]

Isn't doubling up the letter 's' rather than using 'th' kind of the opposite of a lisp? They're two different sounds.

Good point. Perhaps the term "lisp" isn't accurate then and is possibly being used to refer to speech impediments in general.

 

[SD Stevens]

Get someone with a lisp to read it, if they get offended you better change it, if not you have it right. Sorry, that's not helpful and my attempt at humour tonight is pathetic!!

I would say if it sounds right when read out loud. What sound are you going for? I cant get the snake from Disney's Robin Hood film out of my head but he speaks with lots of extra S sounds. Jonathan Ross however, when he speaks it does sound like he is using th.

 

[Panda]

I think "th" is the most common way of writing a lisp. "ss" is someone who draws out their s-sounds, like a cartoon snake.

Writing out speech impediments is like writing out accents, though. You want to do it sparingly, or it will be hard to read and draw too much attention to a trait that probably doesn't define the character.

 

[Nagash]

To me this is an interesting question, and definitely one worth asking, seeing as a large number of my protagonists are lizard men. The thing is, while i see how lisps would be appealing to flesh out a villain or even a character whose major characteristic would be his saurian nature, I just can't pollute half my novels with extra S's. Just imagine how tiring a dialogue between two lizardmen (i call them Sehras) would be...

I kinda justified the absence of lisps by saying the Sehras have wider tongues than serpents and and small lizards - they take after the alligator regarding this specific organ...

This being said, if you don't plan on making a bunch of potentially lisping characters, I'd say you include all the extra S's you want. I never found it to be distracting or annoying, and it helps to flesh out the character. You just don't want to saturate your work with it.

But as long as you're not writing a theater screenplay, you're fine.

 

[Fyle]

Thanks for all the comments!

To be clear, this is a minor character, and he does not have that much page time, just enough to the point were I am wondering about it! I guess maybe 300-500 words of total dialogue in a 290k novel (which is tiny).

Of course, if he had dialogue on every page or was a POV character, than the thread would be different. He is suppossed to be intimidating and somewhat scary. And, his lisp is very noticable, I want readers to question why he has it because he hides the fact he is a lizard man (for a while). So simply saying "he lisped," or not implying it heavily just isn't enough.

 

[TheCatholicCrow]

I never found it to be distracting or annoying

I'd like to clarify when I meant by being annoyed was a reference to the excessive use of dialectic English. Pushing my way through these texts was a horrible experience (which is a shame since Wuthering Heights is such a wonderful story).

I realize I may have given an impression of judgement or elitism - as if you have to write exactly as I would in order to be of merit. This is certainly not the case. I think it is intriguing and a bold choice in style (just maybe one that I would shy away from).

Perhaps this would make more sense given more context ... I have ADD (and mild dyslexia) and a very bad tendency to not use my reading glasses. When authors switch up spelling it makes it difficult for me to recognize the information they are trying to otherwise convey. [This is the primary reason I avoided Fantasy for so many years ... you can write it "river" it doesn't have to be "ryver" or "r'ver" ...] When reading alternately spelled words they don't register as a word I know (which has dropped or added a letter) but as a different word entirely and I must stop and think about what the word is probably referring to. Most of your audience probably doesn't fit my description and it really depends on how frequently you use it.

I didn't mean to discourage anyone from using it and I think I very poorly explained what I meant by being annoyed. I hope this clarifies it...