No southern drawl or mannerisms, grew up in South Florida which was closer to being New York than southern. I probably shouldn't write this, and please take it as teasing; when you had a monkey avatar I always pictured you as being a patient in a sanatorium with a contraband laptop and hacked in Wi-Fi, typing madly in your room. It made your posts more fun to read. I'm male, my avatar is the old bar-room trick girls liked to play claiming they could tie a cherry stem into a knot in their mouth. Took me a couple of times to figure it out, not too quick on the uptake am I?
I always thought it was a butt-plug, and you the mata-hari, she-wench out to ensnare, ruin my attic lifestyle. The monkey got a lot of bad press. I took it off Linkedin. I could find another one, just like the idea everybody thinking I'm nineteen for a while, twenty, floppy-haired. I ain't so different these days, a little more yellow-coated, dirty, and ankle tag, of course.
I actually pictured him as the monkey himself! And I thought - really, he makes a lot of sense, for a monkey.
'Thank you @BV, you know that means a lot to me, coming from you, honey, if I can call you that, I love honey, and also scratching my ass, as you people say cross the puddle.'
I liked the monkey with glasses better. Now it is puddle? I thought it was pond, I guess that is reserved for the Pacific.
The lack of response from Bayview is cold enough to freeze the balls off a brash (sic) monkey. I was always mystified by the expression until I knew what it meant as a seaman's term, probably one that is uniform from British to American, USA, I consider Canada (and Mexico) to be part of the Americas just like Central and South America and dislike the exclusion of those other countries in the term American, but there seems to be no better way to refer to the USA populace. Hopefully we have not offended Bayview since it was not intended. Her next book cover will probably show some pointed toe boots we call ass-kickers (I think they are actually called excrement kickers but I'm trying to stay with your arse terminology) and we won't find ourselves listed in the acknowledgement section.
I've never understood what [sic] was meant to indicate, but I assume in this case it's highlighting the fact that 'brash' is not the expression, yes? It's 'brass', of course, but that's what the [sic] is for, yes?
[sic] is to denote that a mistake in quote is the mistake of the original author , not the person quoting them On the OP I'd say write if its a choice between British English and American English then write in american english if you can, unless the book is set in Britain. My thinking on this is that I'm British and I've never been to the USA but due to the preponderance of american export TV shows on sky, netflix etc and films in the cinema I'd readily understand terms like "he stamped on the gas" or whereas an american might not understand 'acelerator' or the common british slang "put your toe down" and if we are going to be cynical about it the American market is much bigger than the Uk one (and increasingly overseas english speakers speak American English due to the same influences i mentioned above)
And herein lies my dilemma. My characters are British, but the setting in an undisclosed country. I could get by if American terms were the only problem, but I'd be nowhere near as confident making my characters sound and come across as American. My head is full of stupid fecking hang-ups, which all conspire against me in and thwart my attempts to finally finish a novel.
if you characters are British i'd say use British terms at least in thought or dialogue - you could of course have one american character which might occasionally require your british characters to explain themselves to him (as a device for you explaining a commonly used term to your readers) - don't over do that though In terms of writing convincing american characters I find watching a load of american tv imediately before writing helps - not to mention that there are loads of americans in the forum community who can help get it right
If your characters are British, you are British, your story isn't specifically set in America...I don't think you should worry much about British English vs American English. When you're done. Have an American read it and point out any phrases that they may not get. What I think some people forget is the power of context. in @big soft moose example, "put your toe down", I wouldn't necessarily get that one if it's hanging in a vacuum. But if it's in a car scene and the characters need to accelerate, I wouldn't have even a second thought about what it meant.
I think somewhere in the back of my head I have this notion that a British setting cheapens a novel, or at least limits its audience. I know it's stupid to even be thinking that far ahead, and as a Brit I probably shouldn't have that viewpoint, but there you go. I think my theme is also causing an issue. If my story was about a gang of chavs terrorising the local council estates, I wouldn't hesitate to set in firmly in Britain, but because it's about a cross-country road trip, I can't see anything other than a vast American landscape in my head.
Do you need to define the locale? Make up the names of towns your characters stop in. Don't give it a specific real world setting. But if you DO set it in America, I still don't see the problem. If the story is in my wheelhouse, I wouldn't give half a nugget of excrement if the character/author was a Brit.
A bunch of brits on a road trip across america gives a lot of room for complications - though its already been done a fair few times , but because they are brits they'd talk british (not forgetting that hardly anyone speaks the queens enlish so you'd need to determine where in britain your brits are from)
That's exactly what I've done, so good to hear you suggest that. I've used a generator that comes up with authentic-sounding placenames. Britain does have plenty of areas of vast countryside, so I can get the same feel. It's just a case of convincing myself it's set in Britain.
Road trip in britain is going to be difficult though unless its the scotish highlands - and even then you can only drive for a few days (when I went to skye from devon it took 2.5 days and thats about as far as its possible to do) , America or europe is probably a better bet - unless you want to go for africa/latin america which would be a totally different feel
Not quite sure I follow? If I got in my car now and decided to drive around Britain, I could do so endlessly. Fair enough, you can only go so far before you reach a sea, but that's why cars have steering wheels. Unless I've led you to believe I want it set solely in the wilderness and wilds. If I have, then that's my fault. I accept a lot of their journey will involve towns and cities.
Okay Yeah, well nobody anywhere in the UK ever does say that particular expression, mister bigfoot... @Jud - write in English - 'less you are writing in character all the way through..? [Pictures @OurJud in Noddy car - and he circles UK beach resorts, photos snapped aside donkeys, funfairs, sticks of rock. A boot crammed full - the microdots. Attends police parking superintendents' convention, Brighton, and on.] Can't type properly for a couple of days, desk removed for 'polishing,' mouse on kneecap.
Now if I didn't know you better, mat, I'd say you were suggesting I'm writing the UK version of FaLiLV.
You can if you like. I used to really like him. Same way I used to really like Bill Hicks...but over time I turned, it still confounds me, this...issue. ...oh no, yours is more 'The Road,' I reckon, I think so...not totally sure.
You mean On the Road ? The Road is McCarty's vision of a dying earth . On the Road is Kerouac's road novel.
I can't remember, but twenty years ago, post-apocalypse with a child in hand. ... When I read your early draft I wanted, hoped it might blend that US sci-fi enormousness, epic with the UK parochial policemen, sideburns, American Werewolf. ...but that's a reader talking. [Post edit: Oh yeah, Kerouac, yawwns. I think I was perfectly clear, no desk Jud, keyboard on knee]
Right, well you were right with The Road then. I wish I had your balls, then I'd go straight ahead with your US sci-fi, quintessentially British Frankenstein's monster of a novel. With scones.
My thinking was that road trips are usually a journey from x to y , not a random exploration of a small island, so its difficult to write an american style road trip in britain as the distances arent big enough - of course you can choose to drive in circles if you want but most road trips don't. NYC to LA is a roadtrip, london to glasgow is two days sat in traffic jams swearing
