AndroidChick
General Manager
Hey guys! I'm working on a story, and my MC and many of the cast are black teens. They use AAVE and/or black slang sometimes though not frequently. When it comes to beta readers and getting editing done, usually the people seem to be white or other non-blk people (a lot of times people are anonymous online, so who really knows).
How do you handle AAVE or other black cultural sayings and slang?
Do you try to edit the phrases ahead of time, or just leave them as-is? Or are you fortunate enough to have black beta readers and/or editors?
Ex:
"Yeah, Tiff, we saw her yesterday at the mall. Girl was on mute after popping her gums all day," Jada says, trying to balance her brother in her arms and hold the laundry basket close to her hip.
"Deidra ..." I begin, trying to bite back the words, the inevitable words that will start another disagreement between us. I can't deal with this today.
Deidra, still ranting, drops her brother roughly on the bed. "I guess the girl thought we were going to jump her or something. Tiff, y'know. Ain't nobody was thinking about that girl. She started it."
This makes me wonder how authors who write Urban Fiction handle this. But now with AAVE being so popular with Gen Z maybe it's not such a big deal.
How do you handle AAVE or other black cultural sayings and slang?
Do you try to edit the phrases ahead of time, or just leave them as-is? Or are you fortunate enough to have black beta readers and/or editors?
Ex:
"Yeah, Tiff, we saw her yesterday at the mall. Girl was on mute after popping her gums all day," Jada says, trying to balance her brother in her arms and hold the laundry basket close to her hip.
"Deidra ..." I begin, trying to bite back the words, the inevitable words that will start another disagreement between us. I can't deal with this today.
Deidra, still ranting, drops her brother roughly on the bed. "I guess the girl thought we were going to jump her or something. Tiff, y'know. Ain't nobody was thinking about that girl. She started it."
This makes me wonder how authors who write Urban Fiction handle this. But now with AAVE being so popular with Gen Z maybe it's not such a big deal.