Writing Lister

[lordvalerymimes.livejournal.com]

Sorry for posting so much on the group, but I have SO many questions.

So I'm still working on my "epic" and I've been going back and forth between writing Lister phonetically and not writing him phonetically. I want to be consistent throughout the fic and I can't decide which I prefer. Sometimes it just feels right writing Lister with an occasional dropped consonant and in' instead of ing. Other-times it feels... I dunno, forced? Maybe like I'm trying TOO hard to sound like Lister.

I know I've encountered both phonetic and non-phonetic Listers in my fanfic readings, and I was curious what everyone else thinks of it. Do you have a preference? Does it irritate you when you read, "smeggin' hell" instead of "smegging hell" or do you prefer it?

This has probably been discussed before, so I apologize if I'm dredging up a dead-horse to beat. :)

Comments

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Good point - if a character speaks markedly differently to the rest it can jar and irritate the reader. As Kronette pointed out, we all know how Lister sounds and hear him in our heads when reading, so phonetic speech all the time is redundant.

I know it's not exactly the same, but you could approach it the same way as Rimmer saying things like "Tickety boo" - fun to throw in sometimes, but not to be overdone. :)