Posted on May 27, 2021 at 11:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

When you’re writing a British character for a British audience, you know to choose such spellings as “favourite,” “colour,” and the like.

Ditto for creating an American character for a US audience; their dialogue would clearly use “favorite” and “color” instead.

But what if the situation contains a mashup — a British character in a novel by an American writer and published in the United States?

Editor Louise Harnby says authors should mentally set aside their character’s nationality when it comes to how they spell words, in favor of the nationality of the writer/readers.

She also offers a workaround and explanation for those who grimace at the thought of their character using another region’s spellings.

Head to Harnby's blog for the full post on choosing the right spellings for your novel.

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Categories: Behind the scenes

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