Juniper Ink.

I don’t know how to spell colour. Or color. And I’m not sure what to do about neighbourhood. Do I go to the theatre or the theater? These are some of the questions at the center, or centre, of my recent blogging dilemma.

I am Canadian, so one might think I would just carry on the spelling I was taught in school. But, since graduating from university, I’ve been working in technical documentation, where the standard has been, almost exclusively, to use American spelling. Most of the software products I’ve written about have been targeted at American users, so it makes sense to drop the needless “u” in so many words. Even when the target audience is Canadian, it is still standard to use US spelling.

At my first writing job as a summer student at the Ontario Lottery Corporation, we followed Canadian Press style, which dictates that the American spelling of words is used. So, even at a crown corporation in Ontario, Canada, with publications geared strictly towards Canadians, I had to get used to spelling words the way our neighbours/neighbors to the south do.

So, when writing professionally, I’m pretty much American. But, I have made it a point when writing non-professionally (for example, personal e-mails, creative writing, dealings with public administrators and local businesses, Christmas cards, grocery lists, and so on), to use Canadian spelling. This usually involves going back after a piece is written to change the words, since I’m so used to the American way. I do this to keep up my knowledge of how we spell things here and because the people I typically deal with personally would call me on it if I didn’t do so. I really like to be right. And being right means spelling things properly depending on when, where, why, and for whom they are written.

But now I’m blogging, and it’s a bit of a gray/grey area. Blogging seems to be a mix of professional and non-professional writing. A blog can be read by anyone, anywhere. In that regard, it makes most sense to use American spelling. Not doing so can even affect page ranking in searches. You might be an expert on fibre optics in Canada, but people won’t find you if they’re searching for fiber optics. This blog is to talk about writing and show people (prospective clients) how I write. With that in mind, American is the way to go here (since I’m targeting a professional audience in both Canada and the US). I have another blog that talks about my neighborhood and presumably has only local readers. I could probably get away with using Canadian spelling there. But, the readers are used to reading American online and in print news, so I might just stick with American there as well. I may just give up on “u” entirely.

Who says Canadians have identity issues?