My post of yesterday was a good example of this - and ties in nicely with what I was going to ramble about this evening.
I had two or three emails asking what conkers were. I'd guessed that, since the game of conkers is a very British thing and few other countries play it, (the list of "World" Champions is, with very few exceptions, made up of British winners), that most of my readers wouldn't know the game. But it never occurred to me that they wouldn't know what a conker is. The horse-chestnut tree is pretty common across Europe, I didn't give a thought to whether it grew elsewhere.
I should know better than to assume stuff like that. I always get my stories checked over if they contain non-British settings, characters, language. or customs. Just in case. Because although I know most of the obvious things which are different, I don't know the less obvious. And I don't know that I don't know these things. Just like I didn't know that there aren't any conkers in North America.
And that was what I was going to ramble about. The thing known as Brit-picking. (Or Ameri-picking for US fandoms). This is where, if you aren't a native of the country your story is set in, you get a native of that country to check it. Then you don't have your characters doing impossible things.
The story that prompted this ramble was a Dr Who fanfic. It was a very good story. I was totally caught up in the plot. Until it reached a crucial point - and gave me a "huh??" moment. It had Rose, in London, in the 20th century, fall from a wall into a patch of poison ivy.
US Americans are probably thinking, "So??". Because poison ivy is incredibly common throughout North America and it wouldn't even register with them. But it's one of those what you don't know things. Because there is no poison ivy (or poison oak) anywhere in Europe. We just don't have it. It's a North American plant that fortunately hasn't been brought here (unlike that blasted knot-weed!!).
Little things like that throw you out of a story briefly. It wasn't the writer's fault. But a Brit-picker would have spotted it at once and suggested an alternative.
It's the sort of thing that I wouldn't dream of ranting about of course, simply because it isn't well-known or obvious to a non-native. Not like the way I ranted (in my own blog) when a different writer had Rose rushing home to celebrate July 4th!! There's no excuse for not stopping and thinking about that one!!
So - for the fanfiction writers out there, to save poor readers from WTF moments and help you do you research (you can't over-emphasise the importance of research) - the LJ Brit-picking site and the US American version - "Drop the U".
And on that note I'll let you get on with reading your updates. Goodnight and may your God/s go with you.
Ze
- Criminal Minds
- Shattered Mirror by gainnes (C M Femslash).
Criminal Minds/X-Men Crossover - Part 11 of Falling by Louisa and Tamoline (C M Femslash).
CSI - Part 1 of Whatever People Say About Falling in Love by txltosfo (Women in Kevlar).
- Part 19 of Mistakes by txltosfo (Women in Kevlar).
Glee - Part 1 of Seeing You for the First Time Again by dottiep_20 (Glee Femslash).
- A Single Santana by relax_o_vision (Glee Femslash).
- Chapter 12 of Unexpected Salvation by ljam86 (Glee Femslash).
- Billable Hour by dottiep_20 (Glee Femslash).
- Part 3 of Let Me Start By Saying I Love You by t8kmybreathaway (Glee Femslash).
- Back by agentb81 (Glee Femslash).
- A Means Well Justified by brittanafan (Glee Femslash).
- Part 6 of Standing on a Precipice by thelastpen (Glee Femslash).
- Ten Brittana Drabbles by dapplefur (Glee Femslash).
Grey's Anatomy - One Of Those Days by pemz (callie_arizona).
- Part 24 of Love Letters by walking_weapon & usofcalzona (callie_arizona).
- Part 25 of Love Letters by walking_weapon & usofcalzona (callie_arizona).
- Part 7 of Dangerous Play by sinisterkid8 (callie_arizona).
- Living Life: Birthday Aftermath. by cherryydarlingg (callie_arizona).
- The Rules of Work Spouses by pens_co927 (callie_arizona).
- Uniquely Qualified by neolithicdream (callie_arizona).
- Part 19 of As Time Goes By by majincammy (callie_arizona).
- Part 1 of The Dark and Twisty Beneath the Perky Smile by pens_co927 (callie_arizona).
- Part 2 of The Dark and Twisty Beneath the Perky Smile by pens_co927 (callie_arizona).
- Part 3 of The Dark and Twisty Beneath the Perky Smile by pens_co927 (callie_arizona).
- Part 7 of You Loved Me First by i_fly_solo (callie_arizona).
- Part 7 of Along You Came by fretwka (callie_arizona).
- Part 17(4) of It’s All Your Fault by trancegem (callie_arizona).
Law & Order: SVU - Holiday Short – Talk Like a Pirate Day by sunsetwriter (Alex_Liv_Lovers).
Legend of the Seeker - Part 1 of Their Daughter by lllpl3xylll (LotS Femslash).
- Part 2 of The Lost Heart Shall Beat Anew by lllpl3xylll (LotS Femslash).
- One Evening by fortunata13 (LotS Femslash).
Rizzoli & Isles - Chapter 13 of Blue by aturtleback (jane_maura ff).
- Part 2 of Make You Watch by crackinois (Rizzoli & Isles LJ).
- Chapter 4 of Come On In My Kitchen by snuffnyc (Rizzoli & Isles LJ).
Warehouse 13 - Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by winter156 (Meet at Gunpoint).
- High Kicks and Pillow Cases by sammysam (Meet at Gunpoint).
- She's Just Fine by magicmumu (Meet at Gunpoint).
- Chapters 1 to 15 of Dusty Footprints in Time by athena_mou (Meet at Gunpoint).
Warehouse 13/Sanctuary Crossover - Part 2 of Relic Hunter by G. L. Dartt (Her website).
2 comments:
One could argue that you should be able to assume that your readers can think. More specifically, that they know how to Google for a word foreign to them. Of course, picking is still a good thing to do as a "sanity check", as you described with the poison ivy and July 4th, but one shouldn't be afraid to use regional words; they add colour to the text, and the sort of reader one would like to have would look it up.
Also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjG9JcyLYbw <- David Mitchell on references. Man's a ruddy genius.
I think you kind of misunderstood the ramble there.
Of course readers should have the nous to check up on unfamiliar things in a story.
And yes, local usages and dialect are more than ok - in speech (not narrative0 in a story. I'm a fierce defender of my right to use British English wherever appropriate.
But my ramble was concerning writers and the fact that if you don't know what you don't know then how are you to know you've erred.
Post a Comment