Canadian or American Writing

AlishaS · Nov 10, 2009

Oky so I am Canadian. I have a beta who is American and have noticed that we spell some words differently examples:

Parlour and Parlor
Favourite and Favorite
Colour and Color

Yes us Canadians like our "U's" among other things

Anyways so my question is, what's the proper format? Should I keep all my Canadian words even if I intend to sumbit to American agents and such or should I bow down to the good 'ol US of A and fix all my words so they are the American spelling and ignore my Canadian roots?

Pepper · Nov 10, 2009

I'm Aussie, and we like U's in our writing too, as well as the use of the letter S instead of Z.

I'd like to know the answer to this too. I always figured I should just write Australian English because I'm Australian, which doesn't change, regardless of who I submit to.

MelodyO · Nov 10, 2009

I don't think using the Canadian spelling is the kiss of death or anything, but I use the American spelling just because I'm targeting US agents/publishers. It takes all my strength to write "check" instead of "cheque". Hee!

::waves from Calgary::

AlishaS · Nov 10, 2009

Hey I feel like I could reach out and touch you MelodyO, I am just up in Red Deer!!!! and yeah cheque hehe.

I was thinking I would do it American but my hubby was all like.. "your Canadian so you should write that way, be proud" lol.

Khimera9 · Nov 10, 2009

It doesn't matter what format you put it in. They'll probably change it themselves for an american release or they'll keep it the same, but it doesn't really matter. Most americans that look at "colour" will automatically change it to "color" and be fine with it. After all, it's only one word.

Pepper · Nov 10, 2009

AlishaS said:
I was thinking I would do it American but my hubby was all like.. "your Canadian so you should write that way, be proud" lol.

And even if you weren't proud, I think you should still write Canadian. It's still English, after all.

Then again, I'm not published, so meh.

For the time being, I will write mum, neighbour, dialogue and realise.

Sue me.

(Actually, please don't. I can't afford it.)

Chumplet · Nov 10, 2009

I've wobbled back and forth. I worked with editors who 'corrected' my Canadian spelling and others who said to leave it, since the characters were Canadian.

I still haven't decided whether to submit my newest WIP with Canadian or American spelling. On the one hand, it'll be easier for American agents to read. On the other hand, it'll be a bitch correcting all my random Canadianisms. I'd be second-guessing myself through the whole thing and that's distracting. It also slows me down.

If I stuck with Canadian, it would be easy to just switch the nationality on my MS application to Canadian in order to avoid all those squiggly red lines, but other keys go all wonky.

I say stick with the Canadian because it's more comfortable and the flow will be easier. You can deal with the spelling later while working with an editor once it's accepted.

Plus, who knows, maybe it'll be accepted and published in Canada first!

RG570 · Nov 10, 2009

Do not write in American English.

willietheshakes · Nov 10, 2009

AlishaS said:
my hubby was all like.. "your Canadian so you should write that way, be proud" lol.

Oh, I hope he wasn't.

Krintar · Nov 10, 2009

If some American publisher wants your spelling to be wrong, let it be their fault rather than yours.

LuckyH · Nov 10, 2009

I believe that you should write in the language of your ‘English’ country. We all want to be published in the US because it’s the biggest market by far, but writing in US English involves far more than just changing a few simple words around.

There isn’t that much difference in the American mentality, as opposed to the Canadian one anyway, and not even the UK or Australian one, but you can soon tell an authentic American author from the others writing in English, not so much from the words, but the many other subtle changes in outlook.

None of it matters anyway, a good book written in UK or Canadian English will be happily snapped up by American publishers, and vice versa, a nice double whammy.

Mara · Nov 10, 2009

As an American, I've never actually met anyone who had a real problem with UK or Canadian spellings. (That weird way that some of you Canadians write a '7' with a line through it is a different story.

)

But maybe publishers see it differently.

blacbird · Nov 10, 2009

AlishaS said:
Oky so I am Canadian. I have a beta who is American and have noticed that we spell some words differently examples:

Parlour and Parlor
Favourite and Favorite
Colour and Color

Yes us Canadians like our "U's" among other things

Anyways so my question is, what's the proper format? Should I keep all my Canadian words even if I intend to sumbit to American agents and such or should I bow down to the good 'ol US of A and fix all my words so they are the American spelling and ignore my Canadian roots?

You shouldn't worry about it. It's an editor's job, and you'll find (in U.S. bookstores) variations dependent on whether the book is printed in the U.S. or in the U.K., in particular.

Just, for God's sake, don't spell "jail" as "gaol", the way ScarletMcPeaches would do.

caw

eyeblink · Nov 11, 2009

Mara said:
As an American, I've never actually met anyone who had a real problem with UK or Canadian spellings. (That weird way that some of you Canadians write a '7' with a line through it is a different story. )

But maybe publishers see it differently.

The French do that thing with the 7 - maybe that's the source of it. Having said that, I'm English (with some French ancestry) and I've got (not "gotten", I'm from the UK

) in the habit of doing that. It also helps to distinguish a handwritten 7 from a handwritten 1.

I always use British English spellings, although I have sold stories to US markets. I don't try to copy US usage, because I'm not American and I could get all sorts of usages and nuances wrong. (In the occasional times when I have American characters, I've asked an American to check I get their dialogue right.) If a magazine - or a publisher - wants to change my spellings to US, then that's up to them, and a copy-editor's job, along with other elements of house style such as single or double quote marks.

defcon6000 · Nov 11, 2009

America ftw!

I've read a lot of UK spelling (it sounds like Canadians use the UK English) and although it was weird at first, I managed to understand their different spellings - 'clique' and 'click' hardly look the same though. :Wha:

But chances are Canadian/UK English won't be anything new to an editor.

kaitie · Nov 11, 2009

Hey, we still read Harry Potter even though it took thirty pages to figure out what on earth trainers were.

Probably shouldn't have admitted that. :tongue

Krintar · Nov 11, 2009

defcon6000 said:
'clique' and 'click' hardly look the same though.

Neither do xylophone and warthog - but it's okay, because their meanings are completely different.

KTC · Nov 11, 2009

AlishaS said:
Oky so I am Canadian. I have a beta who is American and have noticed that we spell some words differently examples:

Parlour and Parlor
Favourite and Favorite
Colour and Color

Yes us Canadians like our "U's" among other things

Anyways so my question is, what's the proper format? Should I keep all my Canadian words even if I intend to sumbit to American agents and such or should I bow down to the good 'ol US of A and fix all my words so they are the American spelling and ignore my Canadian roots?

You're Canadian. Use Canadian spelling. If you sell in the States, the editors will look after it. Don't, for Godsake, do it the American way. You're NOT American.

And, PS...I know maybe 2 people who put a line through their 7. It IS NOT a Canadian thing.

This from Wiki (I don't care if it's right...just wanted to point out that it's not a Canadian thing.):

Some people, especially in Europe, Latin America, and New England, write 7 with a line in the middle ("7"), sometimes with the top line crooked. The line through the middle is useful to clearly differentiate the character from the number one, as these can appear similar when written in certain styles of handwriting. This glyph is used in official handwriting rules for primary school in Russia.

KTC · Nov 11, 2009

defcon6000 said:
America ftw!

I've read a lot of UK spelling (it sounds like Canadians use the UK English) and although it was weird at first, I managed to understand their different spellings - 'clique' and 'click' hardly look the same though.
But chances are Canadian/UK English won't be anything new to an editor.

clique and click are NOT the same. clique is not UK/Canadian spelling for click. CLIQUE AND CLICK HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON.

Clique: A small exclusive group of friends or associates.

Click (from free dictionary):

1. A brief, sharp sound: the click of a door latch.
2. A mechanical device, such as a pawl, that snaps into position.
3. Computer Science An instance of pressing down and releasing a button on a pointing device, such as a mouse.
4. Linguistics Any of various implosive stops, such as that of English tsk, produced by raising the back of the tongue to make contact with the palate and simultaneously closing the lips or touching the teeth or alveolar ridge with the tip and sides of the tongue, and found as phonemic consonants especially in the Khoisan and some Bantu languages. Also called suction stop.

Click to expand...

Sai · Nov 11, 2009

This is something I've often struggled with as a Canadian. Nice to see that it's mainly the editor's problem, so I can stop worrying about it and keep writing.

kaitie said:
Hey, we still read Harry Potter even though it took thirty pages to figure out what on earth trainers were.

Probably shouldn't have admitted that.

I'm surprised they didn't change it to something more American for the US release. I mean, they went and changed the title of the first book from the Philosopher's Stone to the Sorcerer's Stone* and I think I remember reading that there were various bits of slang adjusted as well.

*The reasoning behind the name change still cracks me up. It was something like the American publisher saying that in the States, parents don't want philosophy in their kids' books.

kaitlin008 · Nov 11, 2009

KTC said:
And, PS...I know maybe 2 people who put a line through their 7. It IS NOT a Canadian thing.

I can sort of back that up. I have no idea whether or not Canadians do it, (none of my Canadian friends whose handwriting I've seen do, but that's obviously a small pool compared to all the people in all of Canada) but when I was younger (as in, 12 or so), I went through a phase where I put a line through my sevens. And I'm from New England.

And for the original question: I agree with the general consensus that you shouldn't change it. If for no other reason than that if you haven't made a really good effort to know all the spelling differences, you might end up with a mixture of both, which would just look strange.

Mr Flibble · Nov 11, 2009

Sai said:
I'm surprised they didn't change it to something more American for the US release.

They don't change American slang in UK editions though. I remember when I were a kid it taking me a long while to figure out what both sneakers and Snickers were ( though we have Snickers too now)

Anyway, I write in British English, and my US pub prints it in British English ( I did have to change one word - which has two alternate spellings in the UK - to the US one, because one alternate spelling meant something quite different

)

As long as they are aware of your origins, ( so they don't just think you can't spell lol) you should be fine.

Red-Green · Nov 11, 2009

When I submit to British or Canadian literary magazines, I don't change all my stories to reflect orthographical trends in those countries. After all, I'm an American, writing in America. So I don't think Canadians or Brits (or anyone else) ought to change their spelling to submit to American agents/publishers.

CaroGirl · Nov 11, 2009

I've often wondered this myself. I haven't, as yet, subbed to American agents but when I do I don't think I'll try to adapt the work to the US market. My story takes place in Canada, with Canadian characters. Adapting it to the US would take a helluva lot more than taking out a few errant "u"s.

OpheliaRevived · Nov 11, 2009

I would imane that this would depend entirely on the agent and market.

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