I'm trying to write a story following a character that speaks a form of historical English. I think I know enough vocabulary from the time to write passable enough dialogue. But the narration is in a kind of limited third person. For the most part only describing things the way she would or only when she notices them. There is no way I can write the narration in historical English without it becoming a complete mess, and showing how little I know about history. Should I mix in a few historical words and phrases when I can or just give up and write in a relatively neutral American English?
My advice is some I've been give by other writers in the past: "Write what you know." If you don't know historical English well enough to write using it, either, A: work on it till you are confident you DO, or, B: stick to modern American English that you already DO know well enough to be confident.
From the title, I assumed something like "American English vs. British English" ^^ Well, I'd second NoU's advice in general, though I would try to add some historical English while avoiding slang terms. I think that adds some atmosphere. I would try not to overdo it as it could be more difficult to read and could lead to more repetition as there might not as many (known) synonyms available.
I think it just depends on how important a correct dialect is to you. If you write in a standard English, like American, British, Australian, etc., it would be easily understood, but wouldn't emphasize any accent. If the historical dialect is important to you, you could try mimicking some of the language in books written in English in whatever time period your story is supposed to be written in.
tbh, "arse" does not sound sound sexy to me, even though it's my spelling... I suppose years of porn video titles have lead me to associate ass with sex and arse with, well, just the arse. I'd use "arse" in a non-sexual context and "ass" when it starts heating up, but that's just me...
Following up, write what you know and put a comment in asking for an editor for accuracy. Given the number of stories with basic editing needs, this is very minor.
On the flipside of this whenver I was writing for stories set in America I always used ass. The few threads I wrote for things set in the UK I used arse.
Ass is the future. And, to a lesser extent, the present. It's the stronger word, Brit or no. Arse - only if youre trying to get an archaic feel, which is the purpose of the topic. ... And then, probably, Ass, still. The 'arse' vibe, for better or worse, is simply tryhard-off. Language changes. Always has and will. (My American opinion)
Thanks for the advice but I am going to risk it. I'm trying this out, and it feels right. Its kinda like how some movies will throw in 'Nein' ever now and then to show that the characters are speaking German. Lazy, but it works.
