Can you write an accent?

I was going to blog about something totally different today, but I found myself posting about Sally Rooney's Normal People earlier and it got me thinking...

Is it possible to write an accent?

One of the things I love most about the book so far (apart from the fact I know what's coming with Connell and Marianne) is Rooney's voice. I can hear the Irishness in all the lines. The humour, the ribbing, the sing-songy cadence of the words that define them as Irish.

I love lots of authors but my favourite author of all time is Khaled Hosseini, because his writing feels so poetic and beautiful - and because he writes characters so well that despite their flaws you tend not to judge them as harshly as you would do otherwise because you understand where they are coming from and why they are doing what they do. In one of his books, a male character talks about how every student in Afghanistan learns poetry whilst at school, so that everyone from the country is able to recite poetry off the top of their head. Whilst you can't necessarily hear the accent in Hosseini's dialogue as such (I don't think so anyway), you do, however, get a definite sense of the poetry and storytelling in all of his work.

As for me, I LOVE accents. How amazing would it be to be a voice coach that teaches accents? And what would be the hardest accent to learn do you think?

Often when I'm at home, I'll reel off accent after accent, but I have to be careful because I've not quite figured out yet if people would find it offensive or not. But it's certainly not meant that way from my end. For me, it's a form of flattery - and just a natural fascination with all our amazing, global accents.

Some I find near on impossible. I still struggle with a realistic Scottish accent, which makes Jodie Comer's impersonation in Killing Eve all the more impressive. She's a master of accents. But I definitely have my favourites. I love the Russian accent. As well as the Indian and Irish. Both have a kind of sing-songy cadence to them which makes them sound quite musical to me.

And that's the bit I pick up in Normal People. The ribbing, the banter, the sense of fun, the musical up and down (cadence) of the words.

Maybe it's because my first ever flatmate in London was Irish. Plus I also spent three weeks travelling round Southern Ireland some years back. But I love the crazy fun-ness of the Irish. The 'I-don't-care-let's-just-be-a-mad-**cker-for-the-day' ness about them. Their sense of fun is incorrigible. So if you throw that into the writing, along with the musical cadence of the words, then I think you can capture the 'Irish' in someone, for sure.

Roddy Doyle is another Irish writer who captures his heritage so well. His characters' crazy, fun-loving antics that define them as Irish.

There'll be more Irish writers I haven't read, or mentioned, but I think as long as you study an accent, and immerse yourself in it along with the way of life, then yes, you can write an accent.

Accents are there to be enjoyed and should definitely play a part in every good book because speech and dialogue not only identifies individual characters, but their background too.

So go on...

Have you ever written an accent? What was it, and was it your own? And what accent do you think would be the hardest to write?