What do you all think of the UK? How can I present stories that'll sell all around the world, I want the Anglosphere market; UK/USA/Australia, Canada; I want the Far East; I want Japan, Philippines, Singapore to buy it; I even want the developing world to know it/like it like India, Jamaica if I can, I might not be able to win them all, but, I'm in London. I could go out and film something and edit a misc en scene sound track and cut the audio and all of that because; my stories are written in London, and; what has London got? We've got Britain, the UK etc.. When you think UK, what do you expect/want to see? Want a statue (name the London located statue)/black taxi/red bus/tube train/red phone box (maybe with calling cards in them)/red post box/rainbow post box/golden post box/landmark (London has a bunch, Big Ben (that clock tower) is 'being cleaned'... I've got those at my finger tips.
I could give you 'London'. I could write you characters, I could write characters for your family, everybody. I could base them in London and all around the world; in writing, but, London is where I am, so; I could pretty much base them anywhere any when. What do you think of when it comes to my country / the UK? If something was to be big and sell around the world and be British, what does it have to have if it has to have anything?
Classic rock. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Who, the Kinks, Yes, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Deep Purple, Cream, etc. etc. etc. When I think of England, I think of classic rock. And Monty Python.
I mean... you have one of the richest histories in the world, so you've got that going for you. Can we Americans get a historical fiction on the Watt Tyler Rebellion, please? ...also Tolkien.
British stories I think sold in foreign markets in modern times; Doctor Who Red Dwarf Harry Potter So; Sci-Fi and Fantasy. (Like UK, North America, Australasia, The Far East, Europe - a story I can make/write in the UK that'll be sold everywhere).
I gathered you point was asking if Brits would buy an American Civil War story? IDK. But, I'm in London and am thinking of writing about what UK has, wondering what the world wants to see of the UK? It could be set in deep space, it doesn't have to be set in the UK, but, that's where I am.
I don't know, because I've never heard of it and had to Google it. If you sum up Andersonville for me, I might know. When you say 'relate to Andersonville'... What is there in/about Andersonville any different from somewhere else for a Brit to relate to it or not?
I spent ten days in London over a decade ago. It was my dream and I love it. I visited beatiful places I didn't even know existed, I travelled from Portobello Road to Candem Town by boat. I saw Jackie Chan in the Wax Museum and the Rosetta Stone with my own eyes. I saw Newton's tomb in Westminster. I smelled the roses in Queen's Park and saw the movie Minority Report in a Theater in Soho. I listened a speech in Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park and a musician playing the violin in front of the Globe. I climbed St. Paul's Cathedral and visited the White Tower. I get drunk drinking beer in Baker Street and saw the shift guard in Buckinham Palace. I've still have tons of 8mm video tapes of all of it. It was great. I loved London but I won't change it for a Mediterranean summer night in Spain. We produce nights pretty well.
Not necessarily. I don't read/watch hardly any sci-fi or fantasy, so when I think of British content I think of: Sherlock Holmes The Office The Great British Baking Show The Cornetto Trilogy (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead and The World's End) the aforementioned Monty Python Love, Actually
I'd suggest trying to write interesting characters doing interesting things, regardless of location. If I want to read a travelogue, I'll read a travelogue; if I'm reading fiction, I want characters and plots.
Well Sherlock Holmes sold like Count Dracula did, both from the same place I'm in basically 'yay!' and; I've yet to read an adult version of Sherlock Holmes but as a child loved the graphic novels of The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Speckled Banner and loved Wishbone dressed up as Sherlock Holmes and 'got' a Count Duckula reference to Sherlock Holmes, and I dare say, maybe growing up, I saw some B movie or whatever of Sherlock Holmes Vs. Dracula from the 1970s I swear.. But.. They're Victorian. I think Downton Abbey was the future to them. There is a UK story I would LOVE to hit/love for the world to buy it/love it, about race and time travel called Time Wasters, but, that said, I want to write, I've got London at my toes, what can I present? - What do you want to see/think of, when you think of the UK. Shakespeare did well, so, maybe I can use all our modern 'soz' talk and do well - Nah. I don't want to sell like Shakespeare and document our language; I want to have fun; If I kill those two birds with one stone, so be it, but, I want to have fun, and I'm in England, and have a world to write to. Doctor Who's British but not set in England. Red Dwarf is sort of a mishmash of UK/USA dollar pound currency set in deep space. The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy was just awesome, that sitcom television version, and is what I'm aspiroing to achieve, this, universal appeal from a person based in England. About anything though, seems Sci Fi and Fantasy are taken, but seem to work.
People of the world, does different words convey different impressions? What do you think when you hear the following words? What comes to mind when you hear... England Britain The British English things UK London British Do any of these words trigger anything specific, even if it's a stereotype.
Like Jules Verne... A Frenchman who, set his stories everywhere but France. They could be British, American, French, but they'd be under the sea or orbiting the moon (back in those days); which predates humanity actually doing these things. I could write something about time travel. I sort of am writing things about time travel. but one's a New England witch story and the other is something else (a biblical). I even shoot myself in the foot writing for Brits looking to film it in Canada of UK becoming America or film it in the UK of my South London road becoming American federalized jurisdiction. I'm thinking; I have London, and a world to write for; What does the world want if it thinks of anything British?
When I said that I didn't understand the point that you were making, it meant that I didn't understand how what you wrote related to anything. What I meant about Andersonville is that, Americans know American History and Brits know British history. If you want Americans to understand most English historical references, you'll have to explain them.
Well I've caught the odd episode of Doctor Who, and, I've heard of Doctor Who, but, never really seen it... I saw a huge space ship in the future that was named Surrey 'something, my county in the London region'... and it was like a 1984 George Orwell tribute, I think, with some aliens being Big Brother. And, that was so English/British and.... I believe it sells in Japan and North America and Europe. I gather it's because people think of 'fish & chips and expect to see fish & chips'.
Is Dr Who really anything outside UK? Red Dwarf? Never heard. These have been BIG outside UK: Yes prime minister. James Herriot Wodehouse: Jeeves & co. Enid Blyton Shakespeare Jane Austin Sherlock Holmes C.S. Forester Monty Python Top Gear Jamie Oliver
This may be regional/generational/something else... I'd say Dr. Who and Red Dwarf are way more known where I am than several items on the lower list. Honestly, I couldn't tell you what Yes, Prime Minister or Top Gear are about (certainly never seen an...episode?) and I've never even heard of Wodehouse: Jeeves & co. I had to google CS Forester - I've heard of Horatio Hornblower, but never read a book or seen an episode. From the rest? Many are historical, which doesn't really seem useful - Austen, Shakespeare, and even Herriot and Blyton would be pretty hard to reproduce today. So we're left with... Monty Python and Jamie Oliver. I'd say they're about on par with Dr. Who, in terms of familiarity where I live.