The Disambiguation Thread

[sholio]

This followed from a conversation with with_apostrophe, who pointed out (very aptly) that American fic writers don't tend to consider people from other countries when they throw cultural references into their stories. I was trying to figure out how to annotate mine in a way that wouldn't be obtrusive or annoying, and also trying to figure out just what needed to be annotated. What's obscure and what's well-known? Eventually I came up with this instead.

Here is where you post questions about my stories. It can be a reference that you didn't get, or something plotwise that didn't make sense, or why I made a particular story decision, or, heck, somewhere that I screwed up on technology or medicine or grammar. Remember:

- There are no stupid questions (no matter what Rodney McKay might claim).

- Questions that are critical of my stories are fine. I wouldn't have posted this thread if I minded being asked about something.

Ready ... set ... ask!

(Note: The word disambiguation is snurched from Wikipedia.)

Comments

[ga-unicorn.livejournal.com]

Okay, I have to confess I see no reason why you shouldn't have American cultural references when you are writing stories based on characters supposedly living in America, or where the majority of the characters are supposedly American. What is wrong with that? If the characters/setting is the UK or NZ or France or where ever then it is perfectly reasonable to assume there will be terms, products, etc that are not common in the US. I have lived, traveled and read enough to expect this. Frankly, I think it odd that there are those who are upset by it.

I have no problems with the spelling being British versus American; it's just a quirk of the language shift. There are some words that I spell one way and some I spell the other - causing my spellchecker to have a nervous breakdown. ;-)

[sholio]

Well, I don't think the issue is that people *shouldn't*; I totally agree with you -- if you're writing American characters (or British, or Russian, or whatnot) they're going to be referring to TV and celebrities and music and food that is familiar to them. That's how it should be, and part of what makes the story feel real. I think the issue is more that sometimes the references can be so thick that it's hard to understand the story -- that, or just wanting to know more about whatever is being referenced.