Like it or not, you have to live with your characters. There will probably be quite a few and they will inhabit your dreams and often your waking hours as well, for quite a long time. Each character should be recognizable, even if his or her name is not attached. Every speech cadence is different. Some may repeat themselves. Don't overdo accents. When the character is introduced, you can throw in their drawl or speech peculiarity. After that, go to standard English and let the reader or the actor supply most of the speech quirks. Don't drop every ing, even if you are sure your character will. Go lightly on the apostrophes to indicate skipped letters, because lots of between line chatter is visually annoying.
Characters also have physical mannerisms. Some tug on a strand of hair, or seem to always be adjusting their clothing. Don't just throw in mannerisms randomly. Those are what card players call "tells" and communicate your character's ease or discomfort, his or her secrets or personal history. But don't use your tells so liberally that your characters seem to twitch and babble through each appearance. Moderation in all things.
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