The practical. Those with an eye on fortune and glory. They who dream of seeing '#1 Best Seller' adjacent to their name and title. Surely they have a plan. A carefully plotted method to achieve their goal. I said practical, didn't I? Agent; Publisher; Editor; edit; Editor; publish! Agent; Hollywood; producer; adaptation; Director; Movie. So right, by my reckoning we're gonna hit the big time in 2011/2012.
Who will guide, train us to write this work to make the public part with cash to learn of the contents of our imagination? Most of us will seek pattern from what has gone before and adapt to our own ends. The creative writing course does not speculate, it only serves to detail how it was done.
At this point, we, cease. There is only you (them) and I.
James Bond could not start in our times, let alone in 2012. It is tradition. With tradition come the fouler stench of racism and sexism. A superior white (English) man with superior technology and superior intellect trying to stop people (usually foreign) from taking over world. He must bed a bit of skirt or two on the way. Now is better to paint him a cheat, on the take from the government. Perhaps I should finally write the Mrs Bond chronicles. All the time in suburbia, with the three little Bonds. Finally she wonders why her husband has been going on 'fishing trips' for years but has yet to bring back a fish.
As all media merges into one, I gamble on the teachings of CRT, LCD and Plasma, my window to the world. Globalisation is upon us. Random House look to sell 1 billion copies of each book.
Let's take Desperate Housewives with its 150 million viewers and the creator signing an EIGHT figure deal – The man doesn't even write it! He's a runner. Forget Teri Hatcher, the writing, the acting, they were all contributory factors. Carlos and Gabrielle, the Hispanic protagonists. The expertly deployed, well timed, money shot. Successful Latino protagonists who were neither drug dealers nor maids and cleaners. Desperate Housewives didn't simply get translated into Spanish, it's remade in four different versions. 'Amas de Casa Desesperadas' is the toast of South America There's the Argentine version, another for Ecuador and Colombia with a Brazilian version for those speaking Portuguese. The Walt Disney company struck the mother-load. Gabrielle and Carlos were their heroes.
Did I say Heroes?
Another global bomb, representative of the target audience. A worldwide success, the cast represents more cultures than the Beijing Olympics. Each of the Heroes being a hero to their own cultural origin. Is it cynical? Hell yes! Is it successful? Undoubtedly! Will it apply to the literary world and best sellers in 2011/2012..... ?