US/UK spellings - yup, that hoary old chestnut again...

[panik]

So I'm working through the beta for my fic (praise be to the betagoddess) and I don't know what to do about the (cue organ chord, wolf howl) spelling...

It's a TS story; the characters are, as we know, Americans; that means no un-American word usage and phraseology - fine, I get that - but spelling? Do two Americans have to be spelled American?

I've done this both ways in the past, but mostly used my own Brit spelling because it's easier and I don't honestly believe we spell as we speak.  But then, I get fb that tells me 'the spelling really took me out of the story' -

And I'm thinking; 'why'? Because I read American spelling in say, Doctor Who fic and all that makes me think is - the author's American. So long as British characters aren't keeping bodies in the trunk, it doesn't matter that that spare that's in the way is spelled tire and, in all honesty, my first reaction is to tell the Americans to suck it up because by far the largest chunk of the English-speaking world spells British anyway and we don't care so why should everyone else have to change to make life easier for you? - or that's to say, the few who bother to send fb complaining about it. (o:

But then, I'm getting that fb and sometimes, I cave. I used US spelling for Wind Whispering - even though it looked weird and wrong and took forever to change.

So, I'm asking an honest question of you all - does it matter, really? And if it does, why  (I thought about making this a poll, but I shan't because I need more than yes or no answers; I need explanations, dammit. (o) If it really, truly, honest-to-god makes a real difference, I shall use your blasted spelling (*G* - even though it looks... really strange and will take me all day) but if it does, I'd really love to know, and why.

ETA: And messing with this all afternoon means I've done NO work - none at all - on the actual story (which was the whole point, wasn't it?) *g*

Comments

[zelempa.livejournal.com]

Harry Potter is an interesting case. All my Harry Potter books are from the US - so the American spelling seems canonical for me!

[gillyp.livejournal.com]

Of course - I hadn't thought about that; but that too, that's a relatively recent change, I think. When I was at junior school - aged eleven or less - we read Mark Twain and Thoreau and Melville and all sorts of American lit and the spellings were never altered. I believe (please correct me if I'm wrong) the American HP books are thoroughly Americanised with British idioms changed, too

[sassyinkpen.livejournal.com]

Actually, they only changed a very few of them. I have both the American and the British versions, and it seemed to me that they really only changed things that would be really confusing to American kids - like torch vs. flashlight.

Still, I really wish they wouldn't have changed them at all - talk about a perfect opportunity to get kids to learn about different countries and cultures.

[starwatcher]

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Still, I really wish they wouldn't have changed them at all - talk about a perfect opportunity to get kids to learn about different countries and cultures.

Exactly. I lived in Bermuda for four years as a schoolgirl (late 11 to early 16; Dad was Air Force), and read lots of Enid Blyton and Gerrold Durrell. It was an eye-opening view of new worlds, and I consider it a priceless addition to my education.

What gets me is -- Americans complain about our educational system and that our kids aren't learning enough... and then they allow learning opportunities like books with different idioms (~gasp!~ the horror!) to be dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. But, somehow, they just don't get the connection.
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[t-verano.livejournal.com]

"dumbed down to the lowest common denominator"

Probably not a strictly American phenomenon ::g:: -- even if as a country we do it so exceedingly well (and often) -- but so darn stupid. That's one of my major peeves in society / culture / education. (I've been frustrated and appalled by this... stupid... concept since I was in seventh grade and our band instructor refused to let the band try to play any music that the fourth and fifth grade beginning band people couldn't already play. Heaven forfend there would be any chance for the poor unteachable fourth and fifth graders to actually stretch toward learning something *new*! ::breathes deeply and mutters, "I am letting this go. I am letting this go..."::)

This all reinforces to me that I love the differences in culture and spelling and idiom; I would abhor a homogenized world (or a homogenized English). On the level of published works like Harry Potter (which I have not read), I'm totally against Americanization. Nobody Americanized or Twentieth-Centuried Jane Eyre or David Copperfield or Sherlock Holmes (thank god). I don't want writing to lose its flavor.

Fanfic -- I can't help but think that using the spelling that's used in the characters' country can only add to the feeling of authenticity for the characters. But it's a very small thing, and should totally be the author's choice. It's not going to keep me from loving a story. And fanfic is written for the fun and the love of writing it; I read it for the fun and love of reading it, and I'm not going to sabotage myself out of reading *anything* unless I don't care for the story itself or the writing overall as writing (not as spelling -- and even idiom, to some extent).

[starwatcher]

And fanfic is written for the fun and the love of writing it; I read it for the fun and love of reading it, and I'm not going to sabotage myself out of reading *anything* unless I don't care for the story itself or the writing overall as writing (not as spelling -- and even idiom, to some extent).

And that's what it's all about, isn't it? Here we have this awesome treasure at our fingertips; I probably couldn't read what's already at 852 and CL in my lifetime... and more is still being produced. And yet, some people aren't satisfied with the feast laid before them; they have to quibble because some dishes aren't "presented" in the manner to which they're accustomed. That really takes chutzpah.
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