English Writers of American Fanfics

[TheeGoatPig]

Stop making the American characters use English vernaculars. Buffy never said "mum" to her mother (not that I ever saw), we don't use the word "arse", and we don't drink tea. If I were to write a story involving english people I wouldn't have the characters become American all of a sudden, and yet I can usually tell when the author is english because the characters are all of a sudden using the wrong vocabulary.

I don't mind it in the least when I read an original work with original characters that I am meeting the first time and they are speaking and thinking as if they live in England. But when I read a fan fiction about American characters and I hear a dozen English slangs for things, and people who normally drink coffee are talikg about tea and biscuits, it draws me out of the moment.

If you were a real fan you would write the characters using the right words, as if they were from the country they are supposed to be from.

 

[Carnevil9]

Blimey! Someone's got their bum in a snit!!

 

[Whisky7up]

I kind of agree...if you are talking of 'known' characters, like the Buffy example. But you may be generalising too much.
I'm English and lived there until just a couple of years ago. I prefer coffee to tea. So do about 90% of the English I know. From the admittedly few Americans I've met, I'd say about a third drank tea. It's not enough to form a totally accurate conclusion, but it's enough to recognise there are exceptions and something outside the 'norm' is not necessarily unbelievable.

In England there are numerous coffee bars. They are all over the place, selling a million kinds of coffee. If we were generally tea drinkers instead, they wouldn't be so popular and you'd see 'trea rooms instead.

Americans don't say 'arse', you say. But I hear its use by American actors playing American roles on American TV.
We English have a habit of saying 'me' instead of 'my' as in "Where's me wallet?" My step-daughter's friend picked up on it, thinking it was funny. We live in New Brunswick (Canada, not NJ). A poster on a local forum I frequent also used 'me' that way. I asked if she was English and she said the habit was common in NB. Obviously not everyone thinks so.

Buffy may never say 'mum' but that doesn't mean other Americans would never say it. Of course, a reason could be suggested to account for it. English holidays, or friends there and the habit had been thought cute and adopted, etc.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I kind of agree...if you are talking of 'known' characters, like the Buffy example. But you may be generalising too much.
I'm English and lived there until just a couple of years ago. I prefer coffee to tea. So do about 90% of the English I know. From the admittedly few Americans I've met, I'd say about a third drank tea. It's not enough to form a totally accurate conclusion, but it's enough to recognise there are exceptions and something outside the 'norm' is not necessarily unbelievable.

In England there are numerous coffee bars. They are all over the place, selling a million kinds of coffee. If we were generally tea drinkers instead, they wouldn't be so popular and you'd see 'trea rooms instead.

Americans don't say 'arse', you say. But I hear its use by American actors playing American roles on American TV.
We English have a habit of saying 'me' instead of 'my' as in "Where's me wallet?" My step-daughter's friend picked up on it, thinking it was funny. We live in New Brunswick (Canada, not NJ). A poster on a local forum I frequent also used 'me' that way. I asked if she was English and she said the habit was common in NB. Obviously not everyone thinks so.

Buffy may never say 'mum' but that doesn't mean other Americans would never say it. Of course, a reason could be suggested to account for it. English holidays, or friends there and the habit had been thought cute and adopted, etc.

One of those by itself happens from time to time. I say "mum" jokingly even. But to have all of them used by one character that has been well defined as never using any of those phrases is just annoying, and drags me out of the moment.

And I was quite a bit off kilter when I wrote this all up. I have calmed down significantly since

 

[Whisky7up]

One of those by itself happens from time to time. I say "mum" jokingly even. But to have all of them used by one character that has been well defined as never using any of those phrases is just annoying, and drags me out of the moment.

And I was quite a bit off kilter when I wrote this all up. I have calmed down significantly since

Ah well...yes. "Where's me tea and biscuits mum?" Only someone truly English could say that.

On a slightly different note, there are English words that should never be used in erotica even by us. I mean, we say trousers and not pants. Even now, I still think of pants as being underpants, but TROUSERS is just not sexy at all. lol

 

[temptanddestroy]

I try but some words are just better

I like writing American English as much as I can (Hell, anyone over here should know how you guys speak, we get enough of your tv shows!) but 'wanked' is just so much better than 'jerked off'.

Do things like neighbour/neighbor piss you off?

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I like writing American English as much as I can (Hell, anyone over here should know how you guys speak, we get enough of your tv shows!) but 'wanked' is just so much better than 'jerked off'.

Do things like neighbour/neighbor piss you off?

Not so much the spelling (and I liked "Wanked" too ) as the terminology. It lets me know the writer is English, but so long as the characters are speaking and acting like they should I'm fine with it.

 

[temptanddestroy]

Insecurity

Do any of you guys write English characters? If so, how do you cope with the dire T.V we export to you?

Do you think it odd that I fantasize in American? I mean that's pretty messed up, when you think about it. It's not like I meet many American guys.