Constant Content

Hi

I'm a new author (non US) and well aware of our "speak and spell" differences so before submitting any work, can you put me straight on this issue? I would get really uptight if rejected without good cause for using UK spelling.

Regards

Allan Ashton

It's not a problem where the review process is concerned. Just make sure you stay consistent throughout the piece and avoid using slang that your audience may not be familiar with.

Most of our customers are probably more interested in American English, though we do have a fair share of those who will request British English specifically.

Ed

Hi Allan,

I'm new here, too.

Your post caught my eye because I've just dealt with this very issue with a private client of mine. He's in England; I'm in Chicago.

His note to me about this mentioned all the places where in the U.S., our words ends in -ize.

For example in the U.S., we write specialize, vandalize, criticize and so forth.

My client wrote that he'd be changing all those to: specialise, vandalise, criticise, etc.

I suspect there may be other instances, but this was what I just happened to have learned... Even while typing this, I wondered if you guys use the words "spelled" and "learned." For some reason, I'm thinking the British end those words with a T...?

There really are many other differences, too. Just some of the phrasing. One I kind of recall had to do with what we refer to as renting a room. The British may say "letting a flat" or even refer to it another way.

Essentially, like Ed wrote, you might not want to get too caught up in it. There'd probably be more to learn than meets the eye.

There certainly is a lot more than meets the eye!

Allan, if you stick to fairly generic formal language you should be OK. Some of our (I'm also from the UK) phrases don't translate that well. For example, Viqi is right about "letting a flat" - that wouldn't be something that a US audience would immediately understand, I don't think. I once wrote a property article and included something about a bedsit, which I changed because I thought that a US reader wouldn't know what that was (changed it to studio apartment, I think). Also, the style points are different. In the UK, we use single quote marks and usually end these before the punctuation mark, whereas in the US it's double quote marks and the punctuation mark (e.g. full stop) goes inside.

Example:

US: That's if you want to write for an "American market."
UK: That's if you want to write for an 'American market'.

Anyway, (or anyways as they say in the US ), once you've got the hang of it, you'll be able to cast your net that bit wider and offer your services to both UK and US buyers!

Good luck.

Jane

Jane, funny you mentioned the punctuation and quotes. I'd forgotten about that big difference...

That became a bone of contention for me with a bright young woman from London who'd just started working at an ad agency I consult with.

She kept changing my punctuation, when she was only supposed to be photocopying the document or something! lol She was a huge help otherwise, but I noticed she kept changing my sentences, putting my periods OUTSIDE of end quotes.

When I finally asked her what the heck she thought she was doing, she insisted that I was typing this wrong.

We went round and round about that. I finally had to go dig up my Strunk & White style book and prove to her that "periods go INSIDE an end quote."

Not "OUTSIDE".

At least on U.S. soil they do.

Oddly enough, us computer geeks ('specially programmer types) have to learn to put the punctuation inside the quotes; outside the quotes makes so much more sense from a programmer's viewpoint.

Hey Jsteve,

I actually agree with you. It would seem to make more sense for the period to go outside the end quote mark.

Wonder who made up this rule?!

Yeah. No offense, but not doing it the US way drives me personally nuts. I've learned to take a deep breath and ignore it when it's done correctly according to the British style, but I get an itchy trigger finger whenever I see the end punctuation outside of the quotation marks.

Well, bless you, folks. I didn't even know that bit about punctuation inside quote marks for the US market. I live and learn every day.

Regarding ise/ize, here's how to remember it:

* In the UK, ize is sometimes correct, but ise is always correct.

* In the US, there's only ever one correct option for a particular word, but you have to learn each word individually.

I have to jump in here. (hello viqi)
I have two novels in the works. When writing dialogue, one always puts the period inside the quotation marks. We all know that. That bit's easy. However, if in a case like this, which is non-dialogue, <<an "American market." >> and when you just need a simple phrase at the end of a sentence, I've always believed the second quotation mark goes inside the period. Now, I'm stumped.
Must get out my Strunk and White.

I'm also a member of the Books and Writers Community. This fellowship includes many published authors including, Diana Gabaldon and others. I recall it being brought up there and the consensus was a confused mix. In the end, I avoided these situations. Changing the language was easier. <gr>

~~~~~~~~~
Okay, Strunk and White, doesn't really answer this particular question.

The thing is, you're not really quoting something that's been said, but rather trying to make something stand out. Putting the quotes around the phrase does that.

The colony of ants moved deeper into the "dung hill".
or
In the old days, we used a "dustpan" and "mop".
or
Strunk and White has "style".

Do you see?

~~~~~~~~~~

Still confused and changing the language. There are lots of "urghs" when writing.

Lor

For anyone who is confused about quotation marks (as well as punctuation inside), the following is an excellent resource:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/ ... quote.html

Personally, I always put the punctuation inside the quotation marks, unless the question mark comes at the end of the sentence (but not within the phrase being quoted or highlighted).

Not trying to be a smartypants,
Ed

Okay, Ed. That brought me out of "stumpdom." Strunk and White wasn't doing it for me.

Wrong The colony of ants moved deeper into the "dung hill".
Correct The colony of ants moved deeper into the "dung hill."

Wrong Strunk and White has "style".
Correct Strunk and White has "style."

This use of quotation has always been my nemesis and the only way out was to change the language. It gets the same treatment as dialogue, as it turns out.

Thank you
Lor (Rain)