Alright... so... I'm new at this, go easy on me!
My name is Rebeckah Trentville of Kensington, in the London borough of Kensington Chelsea. My parents are Roger and Ellen Grace Trentville. I have three brothers, David, Michael, and Henry. After being traumatized for many a year doing embroidery, being forced to behave myself, wear dresses, and making my dowry, I cut off my hair, stole clothes from our servant boy, and managed to run away from my home and a future marriage to a horrible old tosser who was the thirty year old son of some minor knight's holding out in the country somewhere. I slowly made my way to London where I managed to find new friends, a job as a stable hand, and a new identity as Danelle Kensington.
Ok, so.... um..... I'm totally open to assistance and any new advice on staying in character and keeping the accent. My clothes are hodge-podge and my accent will probably be shoddy, but I think I'll be able to live with that. At least until I have more funds in the bank, that is!
Just "knowing" your character inside and out will help. Look for some character development worksheets and plug away at it. The more you use the character, the more you will discover too. It'll evolve just like normal people do. Check out some of the other threads too, like these two:
"Accent help": http://www.renaissancefestival.com/forums/index.php?topic=1235.0
"Staying the Character": http://www.renaissancefestival.com/forums/index.php?topic=1565.0
There's been a lot of good advice posted already for people who are having the same problem as you. Just practice, practice, practice with your character and dialect and using them together.
I have read with interest a lot of the post in the forum on speaking with accents. I never found it to be a problem so I am mystified that some folks do. All I ever did was listen, but then there are things out there that I can't do that other find easy, Oh well..... However the latest issue of Renaissance magazine has a good article on speaking with accents, you might want to read it.