The Ultimate Guide to Harry Potter Fanfiction

Writing British

Disclaimer circa November 2019: to every British person who wants to tell me how wrong I am, please know that this was the result of a 16 year old girl who has never been to Europe trying to figure this stuff out on the internet. I spoke to British people, I scrolled through countless articles and blog posts by British people. This could only ever be a generalization. I know that there are different ways of speaking in different parts of the UK. I know that as time goes on, English is getting globalized. I know that you might say all of the things I'm saying British people don't say. I appreciate your corrections, but please recognize that I did my best with my limited scope! :)

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A lot of Harry Potter fanfic authors are American. Or Dutch. Or Indian. Or any number of things. The point is, a lot of us are not British.

Anyone who speaks a language (aka everyone) knows that each language is spoken differently in different places. Bolivian Spanish would sound very different than Spanish you'd hear in Spain. The same is true for English. My Midwestern American English is a whole lot different than British English. I sometimes have trouble deciphered British, Scottish, and Irish accents. But it's not just the accents we've got to worry about — it's the words.

For example:
American mail versus British post
American stores versus British shops
American Mom versus British Mum
American gas versus British petrol
American vacation versus British holiday
American cookie versus British biscuit
American backyard versus British garden
American crazy person versus British nutter
American soccer versus British football

The list goes on and on. Now, if you were planning to write a story set in Britain, and you'd never been there, wouldn't you try your hardest to get the dialect right? Not just in dialogue, but in writing? You'd need to write in British English, not American or whatever else you've learned. And, as I've said many times before, fanfiction should be treated like any original work of fiction, and you should put just as much effort into getting that right for your Dramione story as your original novel.

So, how can you write British if you're not British? Well, you need to start by replacing a few basic words in your vocabulary. Go check out all those "British vs American" articles online. Find which words are common to most of them, and make sure to always use the British version of those. Also, read some British literature; it really is quite helpful, since those authors naturally speak and write that way.

Now, you're partway there! What next? Cut out all your American slang, like dude and yo. Say bloke, or mate, or friend, or something. Don't use curse words (because that's really just not professional). Try to imagine Emma Watson or Daniel Radcliffe or another Harry Potter actor saying what you're writing. If you can't imagine it, I would try something else.

Now, you're almost done! But what else can you do? You've done your research, cut your slang, read your books. What now? Well, this isn't easy, and not always necessary, but if you know anyone online who's actually British, get them to read through your story, and comment wherever something sounds too American (or Dutch or Australian or whatever) for them. That's probably the most helpful thing that can happen, but obviously you'd have to have a very kind person to help you with that. I've been lucky enough to have people point out a few of my mistakes, and I'd like to think that, with doing everything I've mentioned above, and reading Harry Potter multiple times, that my books are pretty good where this is concerned. However, no one is perfect, and I have mistakes just like everyone else. Don't be discouraged if someone points out an Americanized word if you've been trying to write British. They'll probably be happy that you're trying!

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Any tips you use to write British? Tell us in the comments! And let me know if you have any questions I can answer or topics you want me to cover!