Dialect

William Deresiewicz has an interesting essay in the N.Y. Times about writing and speaking "correct English". Citing David Crystal's The Stories of English and Robert MacNeil and William Cran's Do You Speak American?, he favors flexibility. My view is that the variations add spice to writing, although a little dialect goes a long way. If it's pertinent, by all means use exemplars of a vernacular, as long as you're facile with the form. In other words, if you use it, use it! If you aren't very familiar with a certain dialect, trying to use it in your writing could make your work a minefield of mistakes.

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