Paul
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you sayin Ozzies and Canjuns cant speak proper?
Might just leave this thread now, I can feel a derail train a-comin'...
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US or European spelling.
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Might just leave this thread now, I can feel a derail train a-comin'...
We could clarify the question by asking whether things should be spelled according the rules of American English, or whether they should be spelled properly.
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It's funny, everyone in the world, except the British count Britain as a European country.
Oh, not us, we're an Island see? We're right fookin special ain't we?
(Colonials are allowed one poke at Mother England per year (it says so in the King James Bible), this is mine)
Of course, calling it 'European English' makes perfect sense, what with Britain being in Europe, considering that British English is also used in Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Canada (to some extent), and so on. I mean, being as how they, too, are part of Europe.
Oh, wait.
Oh no. More editing!
But if you write a story in a US setting, shouldn't it be in American English? It feels almost cheeky to expect someone else (copy editor) to make the writing reflect its setting. I just assumed the author would do that work.
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There's a difference between spelling and word choice. I think the word choice should definitely reflect the setting - if set in the US, use trunk not boot, sweater not jumper, etc.
But the spelling? It's not like the characters are spelling their words out.
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Never heard of 'European English' before.
Anyway, I'm English so my spelling is Brit English. My publisher is American and they changed a few words to US English (color, realize) but as the setting is the UK, it would make no sense for the characters to speak in US English. So arse stayed as arse rather than ass.
Which made me happy.
Anyway, I'm English so my spelling is Brit English. My publisher is American and they changed a few words to US English (color, realize) but as the setting is the UK, it would make no sense for the characters to speak in US English. So arse stayed as arse rather than ass.
Which made me happy.
Shakespeare wasn't well known for accuracy when it comes to geography or history.
Don't make me quote MacBeth at you.
ETA: I sub all my manuscripts in proper English and if any of my publishers don't like it, they've never said so.
Oh no. More editing!Originally Posted by jclarkdawe
As far as the original question is concerned, keep it in your native spelling. Not only is spelling different depending upon where you are from, so isn't how you write. Cultural aspects also impact our writing, and for many writers, a query is enough to give some indication of where the writer is from. That uniqueness can be a help for a writer.
But if you write a story in a US setting, shouldn't it be in American English? It feels almost cheeky to expect someone else (copy editor) to make the writing reflect its setting. I just assumed the author would do that work.
One of the nice things about writing about America is the blending of our culture. I know a woman, father was a US soldier in Japan, mother is Japanese. She grew up in Georgia in a house where mother would frequently speak Japanese, even though husband and daughter do not really understand it. The woman speaks English (her only language) in this delightful southern Japanese accent, and has many of the mannerisms of the Japanese.
The reality is that it is hard to get American culture right for foreign writers, because it's such a funky thing. To give you an example, let's look at bus travel. If you go into the bus station in Boston, Massachusetts, you'll see everything from men and women in thousand dollars suits who are using commuter buses to people who's suitcases are Glad bags and their clothing is Salvation Army special. But less then two hundred miles away, if you go into the bus station in Albany, New York, all you'll see are students and the poor. The hamburgers served in the Albany bus station are gray, and it's one of the few places I won't eat.
So if you have a generic idea on how bus stations in America appear, you're probably going to get one of them wrong. Which most of your readers won't notice, but some will. and have a good laugh. I like Lee Child's JACK REACHER series, but boy does he screw up some of the Americanisms he has in it.
As far as spelling goes, just be consistent. In my work in progress, I make frequent mention of a piece of equipment used in horse training. Sometimes called the "long line," it's proper name is from the French and is more or less pronounced "lunge line." The most commonly accepted spelling is "longe line," which makes some of my betas assume I'm misspelling "long." Less accepted spellings are "lunge line" or "lounge line." Both of those spellings have their own problems.
Ultimately, my goal is to have an editor decide the issue. Until then, one spelling, and the option of a global replace to change it to something else.
Neither of these are deal breakers on books. Let's say your book is written in Germanic English with British spellings of the word and is set in Ohio. If it's really jarring, but a good story, an editor can turn the protagonist into a second generation American whose father led Germany due to Nazi prosecution. Problem solved.
Best of luck,
Jim Clark-Dawe
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I've never heard of European English under any context anywhere, and would never use it even if someone held a gun to my head. I've only ever heard of British English and American English spellings.
I've only ever heard of British English and American English spellings.
Let's say you write your book in American English and then change your spellings to European English (and no, I'm not going to get into the debate about what we should call it).
What you have then is a hybrid manuscript which won't make proper sense in any market, because spellings aren't the only difference between the two forms of English. There's a vast landscape of nuance and inflection which you would also have to take into account.
Write your book in the English that you know. Submit your book in the English that you know. If your agent or publisher feels you should change it, do so at that point.
Same here. If I'm writing something for them, I write as normal and once I'm at the sub stage change the spellings to US.
It's worked so far.
However, even if you're writing for an American audience, you'd want to keep 'British' spellings if sections were set it Brittain, right? What about when one character is speaking?
You wouldn't use British spellings (centre instead of center, for example) for just that one character or scenes set in London, right?
You wouldn't use British spellings (centre instead of center, for example) for just that one character or scenes set in London, right?
No, dear lord in heaven, no.
Just pick one. Standardize on a single orthography and punctuation system.
The typesetter and copyeditor will take care of any systemic changes.
In pretty much all such questions, where there are usage differences, just be consistent.
Inconsistency is a nightmare and a half; consistency, even if consistently "wrong" is much easier to deal with.