Writing What You Know: Setting
As a writer, I am pretty fortunate to have grown up in New York near Manhattan, and to have spent most of my life in and around it. New York City makes an excellent setting for a novel. It's always alive, always has a lot of action. There are interesting people, countless cultural influences. There's awesome pizza. Plenty of crime and lots of money--both good for some drama.
My grandparents had a summer bungalow. One of those towns where this is one Laundromat, a cannon in the center of town, and a volunteer fire department. And that's it. I can write slightly spooky and isolated in the country.
I've traveled. Pretty much from the top of Eastern seaboard to tip of Key West. I've been to L.A. and San Francisco. I've lived in Bermuda for three years. I've traveled to Nice, Milan, and Monaco. I've even been places I thought I would never go--like Knoxville, TN. And then there's Google.
For the most part, I have to say, I fall back on NYC as the setting for my novels though, because I can write it authentically. Because there are elements of writing what you know that get tricky when you try to fake setting without having visited a place.
Take Richmond, Virginia, my current home. You could drive through here, take vigorous notes, and still not know an awful lot about its unique culture. Like the fact that if there's a SNOWFLAKE hitting the earth anywhere within a three-hour radius of Richmond, Virginia, the entire city shuts down. Shuts down, schools closed, panic in the streets. To a New Yorker like me who once drove to NYU in grad school in a massive blizzard to take my final because NYU didn't cancel classes despite the 8-foot snow drifts, this is pretty astounding about living here. I mock it. Routinely. And here's the thing. If someone set a book here and there was a snow scene in which people actually drove CARS in this city without--and I kid you not--there being hundreds (!!) of fender-benders for less than an inch or two of snow, I would know the author had never lived here. And it might--I have to say might--ruin the book for me.
Now, with good journalism skills and Google, and research, sure you can fake it. But be careful . . . 'cause the folks who live there can spot a fake.
Thoughts? What considerations do you take into account when setting your books?
13 comments:
In SENTINEL, the characters end up on Mandanao Philippines. I did a ton of research, looked at things online, and ran ideas by someone who'd just been there.
In the second SENTINEL, the old version has the boys headed to various places in Europe. But I though, I live in COLORADO, for Pete's sake. People want to come here. It's got cities, wilderness, a wild west attitude...and I know it intimately. So I've switched it up a bit to spend more time in Colorado. The series starts in Grand Lake (my other town where I live part time) and ends there. That's been the plan all along. I figure they'd better visit pretty often to keep that going.
Thing is, I LOVE doing research on new cities. And hopefully we'll be headed over to Britain again soon so that can help inspire me. :)
Starbucks:
I set BLOOD SON in Prague. Have never been there. But I ghosted a book for a man who had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and was from there and had traveled back there after emigrating here. So I was able to use the year I spent ghosting to construct the setting.
I generally write about places I've lived. If I'm writing about somewhere else, I make sure it's a place where I actually have a friend or relative so I can check with them about details like you wrote about.
I have one story that takes place at a peach orchard, and in desperation, since I know nothing about growing peaches, I made a cold call to the owners of a nearby orchard and asked for an interview. After spending an afternoon with them, they volunteered to read my manuscript to make sure all my peach and orchard info was accurate.
What's so wonderful about doing something like that - you meet the most interesting people and learn SO much, plus it really reduces the time spent in research. If I have a question, I can just shoot them an email, and I get the answer back in a couple hours instead of days in the library or on Google.
One time I went into a mountaineering store and got a short course on climbing in winter. It was awesome. Of course I later cut the scene...
Prague! I had Aidan go to Prague. He's an art buff and the museums there are supposedly wonderful.
Yeah, it'll probably get cut. Unless I get to Prague...
Beth:
That kind of research is really fun. :-) I feel like life is research--I try to be observant all the time. About two years ago (not fun), I developed the sudden onset of adult allergies to shellfish. I go into anaphylactic shock . . . and the first incident resulted in me blacking out in Grand Central Station and fracturing my eye socket and hairline fracturing my kneecap. I woke up hours later in Bellvue's ER. I thought "I am SO using this someday!!!!" :-)
Starbucks:
I think one thing that would be so cool about being a huge, huge selling author would be the financial freedom to do some research involving amazing travel.
The setting for my first novel is a generic suburb. I've lived in a few and it was easy for me to write - and also put my main character in a center hall colonial, white with black shutters and a red door (although I'm not sure that's in the book) because that's always been my favorite type of house even though I've never lived in one.
The setting for my second novel is a specific Philadelphia suburb with which I'm very familiar. I grew up in the city of Philadelphia but still have many reference points of the suburbs and people to call for specific info - like - how long would it take my protag's husband to get home from work downtown if there was no traffic?
My third novel is set in the city of Philadelphia. It's a fledging novel as of yet, about a divorced mom who can no longer afford her married house, a 1700's brick rowhouse on a cobblestone street -- one of the oldest residential streets in the country -- now strewn with taxes and historical expectations. Her world is this neighborhood, and she thinks her house is her home, yet she comes to learn that you can live anywhere because your home goes where ever you go. I have moved a lot in my adult life (after living in one place for 26 years) and have learned this over and over again. The package is nice and it's great when the roof doesn't leak, but really all that matters is who's in the house.
It's my biggest life lesson. Guess that's why all my central settings - and even in a way a character in every book or story - is a house.
Oh geez, E. I didn't realize I wrote a comment-novel.
Amy:
My home life is so utterly imperfect and chaotic. I've really had to let go of that picket fence (or cobblestone street) image. I think it's a very relatable theme.
Those small things, those tells, pull me out of a story when they ring wrong... I love historical fiction but one of the reasons I'm afraid to try my hand at it is because I'm afraid I'll miss one of those details, and ruin the whole thing for someone, or many someones.
I have a very good friend (the guy who's fixing my house, actually) He grew up here, but then lived in Virginia for the past 15 years before coming home... He's not used to the cold anymore. And he laughs because in Virginia they didn't use salt, they used sand?!!!!
Merry:
Yup! Sand all over the place. My dogs track it in the house. ARGH!
See, E, those are details that I think are important in fully developing a place... I would never have known them by researching online or in books... it's by incidental conversation with people who live(d) there.
Merry:
And you're right . . . miss them and you're taken out of story!
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