In a Sunburned Country Story Event: Official Support Thread

Noooo, if you want to do Drop Bears, you go for it Simon. Mine is going to be sort of "A Troll is Haunting Tex's" Down Under. Plenty of room for both.

Well, you are generous. Mine wasn't going to be anything like that. I was thinking about something more along the lines of a tenderfoot American zoologist being led deep into the dark, towering eucalyptus forests of Victoria by a nubile Aussie guide in short shorts, looking for the dreaded you know whats. Sparks fly amid the danger, and meaningful international exchange ensues.
 
Australia's religion is sport, although there are bizarrely more religious-holiday days off work. My first year here, I was astonished that the four-day Easter Weekend was celebrated with a sailing regatta that started each day at 9 am. No-siree, you're not going to church on Easter. Get on the water!

How did I forget this point? Yes, I get a public holiday for a horse race and another for the football.

I wouldn't agree on the military service idea, at least from my point-of-view as a Northeasterner. Military service is a respectable career choice here.

It's respectable, sure. But I've never ever heard people here do the random "thank you for your service" that happens in the USA, or seen anybody advertising preferential hiring for veterans, or a "we support our troops" bumper sticker.

Speaking of which, Australian notions of patriotism tend to be a bit less... performative... than in the USA. It would be unusual to see somebody flying the flag on their house.

This is not my finding in the small city. Cars are absolutely a necessity, teenagers routinely get one ASAP, and I have had people look askance at me when I tell them I enjoy taking the bus to work.

Yeah, I was thinking mostly of the big cities, and I probably should've qualified that comment. Outer city areas are generally less well served by PT, so driving does become more important there.

Yes. And as ElectricBlue said, very much different humour. Dry, witty, not cruel while fun is being poked.

John Clarke is a good introduction to Australian comedy: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM He originally came from NZ, but he had enough talent for two countries. His memorial service was one of the funniest events I've ever been to.
 
I'm writing a story set in the Perth-Fremantle area. Expect much cricket. Cricket is the national sport of Australia (though not always the most popular). Notwithstanding the recent instances of the Aussie captain and vice captain playing fast and loose with the rules, cricket players are hugely respected.

Also, I get to confuse American readers. :p
 
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Pretty dry, although I spell it "humor" not "humour." I have no problem with the Crocodile Dundee advice, because that movie was crap on a stick as far as I'm concerned.
If writing an American in Australia, American spelling makes sense; if writing an Australian character, keep in mind that Oz English follows English English spelling (98% of the time).
 
I have a request for advice from the Australian natives who are weighing in here:

This event sounds like a fun idea, and I want to contribute something, but the biggest pitfall, it seems to me (I'm an American) is avoiding falling into a pit of goofy Australian cliches.

I promise, if I do write a story, not to have any character say "G'Day Mate." No shrimps on the barbie will be mentioned. But beyond that, do our colleagues down under have any advice about annoying cliches and tropes to avoid? The challenge is to write something that is in some way quintessentially Australian without being an Australian cliche.


Hi Simon,
Unlike a lot of the other Aussie on this site, I am a northerner, a bogan. Probably the Australian version of a redneck or at least I was when growing up in Far North Queensland before I moved to the big bad city. Still, Queensland big bad cities aren't quite as cosmopolitan as the southern states believe theirs to be. The southern states are far more cultured and fashion conscious it seems, lol!

I'm not a walking trope but I do on occasion casually drop a G'day, and use phrases like "Flat out like a lizard drinkin'" "Busier than a one-legged man at a kicking contest." "Drier than a dead dingo's donga" and "Well we're not playing for sheep stations are we?" the like. This ad by the Honey-Badger is full of them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZJU1YfLtHI

I say this only because there are reasons for stereotypes and take one look at the Honey-Badger who will be the next Australian Bachelor (My goodness) or Steve Irwin and you'll find that many of the Aussie tropes and stereotypes are real and just hidden away and only the really dangerous ones get to escape undisguised. Margot Robbie hides her inner Bogan well but she's from up north.

I pretty much agree with what Electric blue and most of the others have said and would add that no one here drinks fosters we export that stuff and each state has a traditional f avoured beer. My States is XXXX (Pronounced fourex). I only agree with half of what Bramblethorne has said but I have never truly been urbanized even though I am good at pretending. Even in the capital in my state the public transport is so bad we have to drive from the youngest of ages.

For the indigenous people perspective, I think we Australian are a bit scared to be politically incorrect or whatever but my indigenous friends wouldn't take offense at an American taking a small bit of fictional license. I actually think they'd be chuffed to see it in a story as long as it was generalised. Don't make it specific unless you know the tribal background and laws. I know a fair bit about the three tribes from SE QLD and can talk about the Yugumbeh and Jagerra tribes if anyone is heading that way.


So I am happy to beta read too once I get back from my summery winter escape in Darwin next week. This winter has been horrific so far.

Fun fact: Did you know during world war two there was a "Battle of Brisbane" between the American and Australian Soldiers? It started because of a girl of course but that's beside the point. (Bunny anyone?)

Edited to add one of Honey-Badgers TV comercials
 
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I heard the name of Australia's capital, Canberra, came from an aboriginal word meaning "the hollow between a woman's breasts". The parts of Australia I visited were too civilized for drop bears and crocs, but there were plenty of wild tourists enjoying "opposite summer".
 
If writing an American in Australia, American spelling makes sense; if writing an Australian character, keep in mind that Oz English follows English English spelling (98% of the time).

I definitely will write from an American point of view. It will be easier and probably will make a better story. This is assuming I get on the ball and actually do this. I have a backlog of stories to finish and would like to submit something for the summer contest, as well as the Halloween contest, so we'll see.
 
I wrote a story a while back set in an Aussie pub. It would have been perfect for this contest.

I would love if you any of the Aussies in this thread would read it and let me know what you think. The category is humor and satire.

Weekly at the Local

I lived in Melbourne for three years and Sydney on and off for another year. I loved my time in Australia -- beautiful country and beautiful, down to earth people. Also great beer. It's a shame Fosters is the only Aussie beer you can find in the supermarkets in the US. Cooper's is my favorite.
 
Speaking of which, Australian notions of patriotism tend to be a bit less... performative... than in the USA. It would be unusual to see somebody flying the flag on their house.

John Clarke is a good introduction to Australian comedy: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM He originally came from NZ, but he had enough talent for two countries. His memorial service was one of the funniest events I've ever been to.

It's bloody hysterical.
Sadly, though, it is somewhat reminiscent of a disaster when the "Herald of Free Enterprise" capsized: http://www.ship-disasters.com/passenger-ship-disasters/herald-of-free-enterprise/

:

I'm writing a story set in the Perth-Fremantle area. Expect much cricket. Cricket is the national sport of Australia (though not always the most popular). Notwithstanding the recent instances of the Aussie captain and vice captain playing fast and loose with the rules, cricket players are hugely respected.

Also, I get to confuse American readers. :p

You go, mate !
 
Question for Writers

Hey,

If you're participating in this event, do you plan on having Dreamtime enter your story in any significant manner?

Thanks!
 
Hey,

If you're participating in this event, do you plan on having Dreamtime enter your story in any significant manner?

Thanks!

Mines monster hunting so I'm going to try for some ancient aboriginal lore plus some dreamtime stuff.
 
If I can get my act together, mine will be structured around a misunderstood lyric from “Beds Are Burning.”
 
If I write a story, it's going to involve acid in the Outback, a girl who dresses like a sexy Kangaroo and plenty of hallucinations, like the Spirit World and peyote.

But, the event is months away, so I haven't done any research into the spiritual side of Australia, but if it's in there, then I'll probably use it.

Well. Two things came to my mind reading this post.

One: Grubs dug out of the Outback and roasted over an open fire really do taste like chicken breast.

Two: When a pregnant, nomadic Aborigine mother went into labor during more traditional times, she stopped and looked around at the land to determine the child's spiritual connection in the form of a landmark--because it was really important. The irregularity of conception due to irregular food and low body fat ratio meant that the "sex = babies" concept didn't arise, so the experience for the tribe was much more spiritual and random. You couldn't "time" anything (like making sure you were near Uluru when the contractions started, just so your child had a cool totem-landmark). All of it was much closer to pure chance than anything I'd ever heard of surrounding human babies in the last five thousand years. Don't really know the specifics, but I liked the concept.

If I can get my act together, mine will be structured around a misunderstood lyric from “Beds Are Burning.”
I was just thinking about that song!! :D

"Todd in the Shadows" on Youtube did a very enjoyable and well-researched requested on that song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jucengVNyDk
 
Fun fact: Did you know during world war two there was a "Battle of Brisbane" between the American and Australian Soldiers? It started because of a girl of course but that's beside the point. (Bunny anyone?)

You mean this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Brisbane ?
I'm told that we had similar problems with US troops in England.
I don't know about a real fight.
I think that one of the problems was due to 'biassed' reportage. ("Australian victories were communicated to the United States as "American and Allied victories". ")

I'm greatly looking forward to describing what an lbw is.

I look forward to reading that.
 
For some reason, Canadians seem to be exempt.

Our young people love to go to Australia and work there as for a year or so. And the Australian young people love to come to Canada. They tend to work in tourist/restaurant type of businesses so you're always running into them.

They are a treasure to talk to, find out where they live and how much they're enjoying Canada. I suspect it's the same in Australia.

It seems to have developed into a rite of passage between the two countries.

And hey how could two countries that likes to BBQ so much, hate each other.

So I'm in. I have an idea for a plot already. Working title is "Crash"! That may change.

Nothing has been said (so far) about category so I assume any category is fine just the geo reference.
 
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Nothing has been said (so far) about category so I assume any category is fine just the geo reference.

Absolutely any category is fine - only hard and fast requirement is that the story be set in Australia somewhere - and given the size of the country, that gives everyone a LOT of scope.

Now me, I'm researching Thylacinus cynocephalus - the were-variety. Once thought extinct, were-Tasmanian Tigers have made a slow resurgence over the last fifty years and the Australian Monster Control Bureau is running into problems because that plague of drop bears is taking it's toll... :eek:
 
Once thought extinct, were-Tasmanian Tigers have made a slow resurgence over the last fifty years and the Australian Monster Control Bureau is running into problems because that plague of drop bears is taking it's toll... :eek:

The only sound they fear is that of humans vigorously copulating...
 
I had an idea. The more that I thought about it, the more sense it made. Yippee! (Or, as the Aussies might say: Bonza!) And then I started writing.

Half a page in, I thought that I needed an additional character. Not a major character. Just … well … another character. Trust me. It made sense. But then this new character (who didn’t even have a name, was never intended to have a name) jumped up and down and demanded a little back story. And that took the whole story off in a slightly different direction. But, hey, no problem.

The first few scenes progressed. A bit of colour. A bit of drama. Yeah, it was going well. But my shortlist of characters was starting to balloon. (And there were some new complications.)

And then, at the 2,000-word mark, I suddenly realised that we had a different story. Did I feel the need to kill off half a dozen characters and go back to the original story? No.

But I’m still on the case, Chloe. I promise. :)
 
Alaskan Visitor

I spent time in Australia for about two months in 1990. I would like to see what I can create from my memories of that trip.
 
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