When a character in your story speaks a foreign language, should you write it out in that language, or in English?
How can you make the dialogue sound exotic without confusing the reader?
These are tricky questions.
Foreign languages can lend your characters and locations a more exotic flair, and even increase the dramatic tension in a scene.
But before you start sprinkling a certain je ne sais quoi into your prose, understand that you have four options.
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Laurence MacNaughton is the award-winning author of more than a dozen novels, novellas, and short stories. His work has been praised by Booklist, Publishers Weekly, RT Book Reviews, Library Journal, and Kirkus Reviews. He lives in Colorado with his wife and too many classic cars.
