British English?

[JuleRomans]

I am a little confused....

I did search for this answer, sorry if I missed it.

Am I to write all content using British English spellings and conventions? Is British English standard, and US English only upon request, or vice-versa? Thank you.

[Debbi]

Either is fine.

[jadedragon]

Just be consistent by using one or the other. Some of us even write Canadian

[WordCraft]

Would not most buyers be American and thus more likely to look favourably upon U.S. spelling, idioms and grammar (note the lack of the serial comma)? Might they even think your spelling is bad?

[Celeste Stewart]

I think most customers here are looking for US English. There are definitely UK, Canadian, and Australian customers though. If you can write US English well, your articles might have a larger potential appeal. But then, if you write in UK English, you may have a niche you can fill. Hopefully some of the UK writers who write both will chime in with their experiences.

[JD]

Like Celeste, I've always been under the impression that most customers are looking for US English articles. However, I sometimes wonder if some customers are able to tell the difference between an article written in US English and one written in UK English! I recently sold an article to a customer, who after having bought it, told me that it was for a Canadian website (the article had been written in US English). She asked me to write another article for her website. I pointed out that the first article had been written in US English and did she want me to change it to Canadian English. She said no – but asked me to write the next one in Canadian English! I don't think there were too many differences in the first article though (between US and Canadian English), and I know from living in Canada that a lot of US spellings are used here instead of the correct Canadian ones.

I tend to default to US English for my articles unless I'm writing for a public request that states otherwise. Given that I'm originally from the UK, it is a challenge sometimes, especially when the article uses a fairly informal tone, but I look on it as another string to my bow as a writer. However, I think I would stick to writing in UK English if I felt that I couldn’t pull it off, as I believe that some UK writers here write in UK English and their articles sell with no problem.

Jane

[JuleRomans]

Thanks! I enjoyed reading these responses.