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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/41440
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/41440
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

English is not my mother tongue. I am completely fluent in English though, and I write my fiction in English.

Here's the problem: I live in neither the UK nor the US (nor any other English-speaking country), so I am exposed to both in equal measure (through literature, film, etc.) I spell the British way (American "looks misspelt" to me), but **my intuitive use of vocabulary and idioms is mixed**.

For example, I would naturally use 'lift' (British), 'cookies' (American), 'football' (British), 'throw pillow' (American), etc.

Most of the time, I'm not even consciously aware which side of the pond a word belongs to - they're just synonyms in my mind, so I reach out for whichever feels "more common" (a.k.a whichever I have encountered more often).

How much of a problem is it, considering neither of the novels I am working on is set in either the US or the UK? (One is a fantasy set in something inspired by 5th century Persia, the other is a sci-fi set mostly on another planet.) **Would narration that mixes British and American vocabulary sound "wrong" to a native speaker?** Is there any way for me to catch those errors (if errors they are), other than finding a native speaker beta reader? (I will do that anyway, but I would prefer not to rely on beta readers for vocabulary edits.)

Original score: 12