tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post6089296457184146624..comments2024-03-29T07:25:04.687-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: My American Project—How to Write Like an AmericanLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-68311067498701854212021-08-13T05:15:34.509-04:002021-08-13T05:15:34.509-04:00Thank you, David. I have now finished "Rizzo&...Thank you, David. I have now finished "Rizzo's War". I was facinated by how vividly he describes Joe Rizzo's life as a police detective. I woulnd't be surprised if the author is a former police detective.Anne van Doornhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071252375294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-47822337153316466242021-08-08T18:17:40.918-04:002021-08-08T18:17:40.918-04:00Anne, I think you've made a great selection on...Anne, I think you've made a great selection on American writing with Lopresti and Manfredo! David Deanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13005457506363262838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-12362876019134117592021-08-05T03:31:06.901-04:002021-08-05T03:31:06.901-04:00Hello, Melodie. Thanks for replying, I appreciate ...Hello, Melodie. Thanks for replying, I appreciate it.<br /><br />"they made me go through and change all the curse words to something 'American'. Drove me bonkers!"<br /><br />Dang! You're probably still wiping the sweat from your forehead. They should've doubled your royalty fee for all that trouble!Anne van Doornhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071252375294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-16434076282949281342021-08-04T20:39:29.631-04:002021-08-04T20:39:29.631-04:00Anne, thank you for this very interesting post! I...Anne, thank you for this very interesting post! I got a special kick out of it, as I'm Canadian, and my dad was Brit, so our English was oh so proper. Every single time my books were released in the States, they made me go through and change all the curse words to something 'American'. Drove me bonkers! Thanks for visiting us.Melodie Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07870938103759179132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-70805688822928413742021-08-04T08:48:52.500-04:002021-08-04T08:48:52.500-04:00I know you will.I know you will.Barb Goffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02172124872936856806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-71177629053031369732021-08-04T05:53:42.527-04:002021-08-04T05:53:42.527-04:00Hi, Elisabeth. Thank you for your encouraging word...Hi, Elisabeth. Thank you for your encouraging words. I'll keep your and Eve's suggestion in mind. It's a great idea. Hopefully, I find the right voices for my characters.Anne van Doornhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071252375294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-76579840409173362782021-08-04T05:48:22.082-04:002021-08-04T05:48:22.082-04:00Hello, Barb. Wow, you're the first to bring up...Hello, Barb. Wow, you're the first to bring up a SleuthSayers post for me to study. I know there are many more on relevant topics. Are the SleuthSayers too modest to list their own posts on these topics? Modesty is an admirable attitude, though.<br /><br />Thank you for taking the time to find this article by John Floyd. I will read and study it carefully. I'll do my best to avoid all the mistakes listed there. Step by step my writing will improve. That will save you time copy editing, and gives you more time to write your own stories. Isn't that an admirable target? I hope I will make you proud.Anne van Doornhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071252375294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-89149472857024342962021-08-04T05:36:58.588-04:002021-08-04T05:36:58.588-04:00Hello, Steve. Thanks for your warm welcome. I grea...Hello, Steve. Thanks for your warm welcome. I greatly appreciate it!<br /><br />Fortunately, nowadays you can look things up on the Internet. Without it, I will not achieve my goal.<br /><br />By the way, Anne is a gender neutral name in the Netherlands. In fact, in the northern parts, Anne is usually a name given to a boy. My mother comes from these regions, and grew up speaking the Frisian language. Dutch is her second language. She speaks it without accent now.Anne van Doornhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071252375294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-39015157174340225162021-08-04T05:24:37.374-04:002021-08-04T05:24:37.374-04:00John, thank you! I always enjoy your posts too. John, thank you! I always enjoy your posts too. Anne van Doornhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071252375294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-22975196791307291062021-08-04T05:22:28.547-04:002021-08-04T05:22:28.547-04:00Thank you, Eve. It took me a full day to write thi...Thank you, Eve. It took me a full day to write this piece. I knew what to write, but to do it right--that's hard! I like your idea of imagining actors' voices. When I create my characters, I'll keep that in mind.Anne van Doornhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071252375294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-75893997824395011032021-08-04T05:13:03.430-04:002021-08-04T05:13:03.430-04:00Thank you, Tonette, for your kind and inspiring wo...Thank you, Tonette, for your kind and inspiring words. I guess it's even more difficult for an Italian to learn English than for me. Dutch has many words that are almost similar to their English equivalents. So, your mother and her sisters did a great job of learning to speak English without accent. I probably sound very British, though.<br /><br />I was fortunate that Barb Goffman checked my article, otherwise the text wouldn't be as good as it is now. I compile a list of all her corrections, not only in this article, but also in the stories she edits for me. All those examples will help me too.<br /><br />And thank you for the link to freethesaurus.com. I will try it out and see if it works for me.Anne van Doornhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071252375294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-48918956491314632482021-08-04T04:52:11.322-04:002021-08-04T04:52:11.322-04:00LOL. I remember you wrote a guest article on Somet...LOL. I remember you wrote a guest article on Something Is Going To Happen on this topic. I am tempted to introduce a Dutch character who also uses some of these words. It will be fun!<br /><br />And thanks for your warm welcome. I greatly admire what you do, and what you've achieved. I hope my American Project will make you proud.Anne van Doornhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071252375294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-24944716549243730942021-08-04T04:45:00.325-04:002021-08-04T04:45:00.325-04:00Thank you, Leigh. I look forward to your next post...Thank you, Leigh. I look forward to your next post!Anne van Doornhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071252375294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-17722507309403242602021-08-03T22:13:57.333-04:002021-08-03T22:13:57.333-04:00Hi Anne! I've always heard that one should onl...Hi Anne! I've always heard that one should only translate into one's native language. The fact that you can write so well in American English is impressive. I'll echo what Eve said about studying American actors & imagining them speaking your words. Looking forward to reading more of your work.Elizabeth Dearbornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14714209544959819305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-51826090720052274042021-08-03T17:06:44.021-04:002021-08-03T17:06:44.021-04:00You're so welcome! :)You're so welcome! :)Barb Goffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16013123434790272424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-10682827999736200712021-08-03T17:06:12.113-04:002021-08-03T17:06:12.113-04:00Hi, Anne. I'm so happy we at SleuthSayers are ...Hi, Anne. I'm so happy we at SleuthSayers are hosting you today. I just did a search of past SS columns and I found this one by John Floyd. Hope you find it helpful: https://www.sleuthsayers.org/2018/09/wheres-grammar-cop-when-you-need-one.html<br />Barb Goffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16013123434790272424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-38298757672429024642021-08-03T14:33:15.029-04:002021-08-03T14:33:15.029-04:00Welcome to Sleuthsayers, Ann. This is an excellent...Welcome to Sleuthsayers, Ann. This is an excellent post, and I marvel at anyone who can speak more than one language fluently. Your wanting to write an "American" novel is a challenge because there are so many regional dialects and idioms, some of which change over time. It will take lots of research, but you are certainly capable of the task, and I look forward to reading your work when you finish.Steve Liskowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07107703903536520140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-69584847745022815902021-08-03T13:00:51.289-04:002021-08-03T13:00:51.289-04:00Bravo, Anne--I love this post! And yes, welcome t...Bravo, Anne--I love this post! And yes, welcome to SleuthSayers (the writing side and not just the comments side).<br /><br />Congratulations on your success at EQMM! I wish you the best with your future "American detective novel"!John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-60094186760293934332021-08-03T10:58:35.306-04:002021-08-03T10:58:35.306-04:00Anne, your command of English is excellent. I thi...Anne, your command of English is excellent. I think the main difference between BBC British and American English is that we almost always use contractions, and (in speech) are pretty sloppy with grammar. My main suggestion would be to study the actors whose voices and stylings are what you want your characters to say and use - and imagine that you've hired them to say all the dialog. If they can't say it, it's not right. Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-57579067736579265852021-08-03T08:51:20.818-04:002021-08-03T08:51:20.818-04:00Anne, you have a better command of English than m...Anne, you have a better command of English than most Americans, in fact, this sounds very much like an articulate American; I would never have known that English was not your first language nor that you learned British English first. The fact that you care enough to want to find the right word or phrases is a major plus in your favor and I truly applaud you for it. I keep finding mistakes in poorly-worded American stories, even in EQMM. <br />I am a born and bred American with a pretty good command of English, however, I read The Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable like a novel, and I search for just the right words at https://www.freethesaurus.com/ <br />My mother was born here but Italian was her first language. She and her five sisters became executive secretaries in the 1940s with no traces of accents through the efforts of their Irish-American teachers. The teachers took children from around the world, (who went home to speak their own languages), but the set them up for success in America, so we cousins, their children, had to grow up with good command of the language; (three of our uncles ran successful American businesses speaking English clearly.)<br />You already are on the right road and with Barb to guide you, I don't see how you will not succeed, but I will still wish you all the best.Tonette Joycehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03282619985489614075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-63113468799038830252021-08-03T07:19:44.592-04:002021-08-03T07:19:44.592-04:00Thanks for the multiple shoutouts, Anne, and welco...Thanks for the multiple shoutouts, Anne, and welcome to SleuthSayers!<br /><br />Your word lists remind me of a short story I collaborated on in the mid-1980s with Ed Wellen, a wonderful gnomelike American writer. I had recently moved from Amsterdam to what was then West Germany, and Ed sent me a three-line newspaper clipping that mentioned the fact that storks migrate back and forth between The Netherlands and South Africa and suggested we write a story about a migratory stork used to smuggle diamonds from where they're mined (SA) to where they're cut (NL).<br /><br />The Dutch word for stork — "ooievaar" — happens to be one of my favorite words in your mother tongue, and I made up a list of some thirty of my favorite Dutch words and proposed that our story include the English translations of as many of them as possible. It was an eclectic list, including the words "papagaaieeieren" (which contains seven consecutive vowels and means "the eggs of a parrot") and "angstschreeuw" (which contains <i>eight</i> consecutive consonants and means "a cry of fear") and "eisberen" (which means both "to pace back and forth" and "polar bears"!) and "stofzuiger" (which literally means "dust sucker" but is the Dutch word for "vacuum cleaner") and "straaljager" (which literally means "sunbeam chaser" but is the Dutch word for "jet airplane") and "neushoorn" (which literally means "nose horn" but is the Dutch word for "rhinoceros") and so on.<br /><br />Ed created a marvelously devious plot into which every single one of my words could fit, we wrote the story — and, as "Stork Trek," it appeared in <i>Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine</i>'s July 1985 issue.<br /><br />See what can happen based on a list of words?! Get to work, <i>ouwe makker van me</i>!joshpachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12123432071405643210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-56530739640174297392021-08-03T04:18:40.405-04:002021-08-03T04:18:40.405-04:00Welcome, Anne. I’m pleased to see you here on Sleu...Welcome, Anne. I’m pleased to see you here on SleuthSayers.<br /><br />I had no idea you crafted extensive word lists– that blows me away. Yep, if Americans are good at one thing, it’s slang. We’re also pretty forgiving about word selection, because most of us screw up one way or another.<br /><br />As you know, I worked in the Nederlands– too briefly, but it was enjoyable. Virtually everyone I met spoke excellent English usually with a BBC accent.<br /><br />Offhand, I couldn’t think of a brilliant article or web site to point you to, but I started an extensive list of British/American differences– so extensive that 90 minutes later, it’s become an article in itself. I’ll post it at a later date, but in the meantime, I’ll send you what I have.<br /><br />Again, good to see you, Anne!<br />Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-15064555220598013872021-08-03T03:14:24.898-04:002021-08-03T03:14:24.898-04:00Thank you, Barb, for sharing. And thanks for this ...Thank you, Barb, for sharing. And thanks for this great opportunity to make the other SleuthSayers part of my challenge!Anne van Doornhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071252375294noreply@blogger.com