What Does the Reader Expect?

[DebbieVaughan]

When a book is set in another country, another world, or another universe, do you expect the characters to sound like they are from the good ole' USA?

Think about it-- you have a Australian big game hunter accompanied by trusted native bearers, leading a band of multinational vacationers in search of lion on the plains of the Serengeti, wouldn't it seem odd if they all sounded like they came from Brooklyn? Sure it would! So why is it some editors try to Americanize every book their hands touch? I don't get it, do you?

Not all do. I know several writers from other countries who are published in the US and have had no issues with editors wanting to change their work to suite the "home town crowd". All they Have been asked to do is the spelling to ours so the reader won't think it's a typo--understandable. Of course the reverse is true as well. I recently helped an Australian writer, “Americanize" her manuscript. Why? Because the story was set here and her Aussie slang didn’t work with the setting.

If the book is set in England, then English slang is and should be used. If on the planet Delta 3, in the fourth quadrant of the Planetary Alliance, they speak Deltanese and serve Whamphor entrails each lunar solstice, so be it. Fried cat fish and taters are unknown on Delta 3. You, the reader understand this, right? If everything is as we know it, what's the fun in reading about it?

When in Rome do as the Romans, when in Australia, stop by KFC for some cooked chook. You want it authentic, right?