So, my WIP (which I'm just starting and really excited about) is making me think a lot about using specific places in writing, and I wonder what everyone's thoughts are.
I tend to trend towards the vague in my writing. For example, unless it is imperative to the story in some way I never describe what a character looks like, because I like the idea of each reader making the story his/her own. If it doesn't matter whether the girl is blonde or brunette, why not let the reader picture her however he or she wants? That's just my personal view, which I am sure many would disagree with.
But what I am struggling with right now is, if the specific city in which a story takes place does not really matter at all, does a specific city need to be named? I think details like those make the story more real, but they also have a limiting effect as well. For example, there are few cities I know well enough to write about with enough authority, and by few I really mean about two. And then if I do pick one, how true to the every detail of street names and such do I have to be?
When I wrote when I was younger (as in Elementary School), almost all of my stories took place in a forest. There was something so freeing to me about a forest - I felt like anything could take place there. Anything went. I believe in one story a tree had a hole in the trunk that a green glow was emerging from... Now I want to go home and find all these ridiculous things I wrote so long ago!
Anyway, this has been my musing of the week, and any thoughts on the subject would be awesome!
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1 day ago
7 comments:
I understand what you mean about wanting to keep things vague, but even if you're trying for that, most readers will think that you just didn't *bother* to name the city.
I've had trouble with the same thing: people want specificity. I thought I could avoid describing/naming something, and then I got accused of not describing or naming it when I should have.
Oh wow! This is a muchly interesting subject.
I tend never to write real cities/towns/places into my work for three reasons 1. It being totally obvs I'll be famous (:P shhhh lets pretend) I think its unfair to place your story in a real town cause then everyone wants to go there and also people start telling you that you got it wrong which leads onto 2. I don't like grounding the story and limiting where I can go with it. Finally 3. I'm weird like that.
I tend to instead research into cities/places it might be similar to and them combine them into an OMG wow place that doesn't exist.
So, after that lengthy babble I'd say you don't have to :~) But if its a totes big city I'm sure people won't mind so much if you sort of make up new streets ;~)
Hi there! You realize there's no right or wrong answer, right? :D Personally, I tend to situate my stories in real cities/towns and then add in pretend streets, houses, islands, and so on...that gives me the freedom to take blatant liberties with the location while 1) drawing on the details of a real place, which helps me bring the setting to life, and 2) giving people a real place to explore. (I'm one of those people who loves to read a book and go, "Hey! I've been there! I know that place!")
I ran into a similar problem, only I didn't know enough about any one city to set it in one of them, so I conglomerated everything I knew about various cities with my imagination and poof! fictional city.
I suggest the fictional city route, because it gives you way more control. If you set it in, say, Chicago, sure, you can blow up an important building in your story, but by and large it pretty much has to reflect the city as is. Fictional cities just offer way more control, and I like control. (*coughnotthatitsgivenmeagodcomplexoranything*)
IF you do decided, and I mean IF, to set it in a real city, don't go overboard. If you read stuff like Ian Rankin, he mentions streets and places in Edinburgh, but not particularly often. At best he just mentions what part of the city they're in, somewhere early on in the chapter, like a quick mention of a bar in Leith somewhere in Knots & Crosses (forget which chapter). One thing he does do, though, is really evoke the feel of the city. You know he has an intimate knowledge of it, and even though he's often being a bit vague, you can just feel that knowledge of and love for the city seeping through the pages.
Obviously with a real city you would have to acknowledge actual buildings/landmarks IF at any point they come up. Don't just be like "Statue of Liberty" for sake of mentioning it. Wait that's a bad choice. Erm...um...you know what I meant, I hope.
Ultimately, that's what's important with whichever route you go down. To make that place feel real, without turning into MaqQuest.
Personally, for my fictional city, I spent time charting out is whole history (and started doing a reader's digest version on my blog). And I've drawn up maps of different neighbourhoods, and an overall city map, and marked where major buildings are; red circle for important story places (like the police HQ) and green circle for important landmarks. It's to the point where the city has essentially become real to me, and that I think is what's most important.
And wow I made a lot of typos there. Excuse me while I go headdesk.
Definately a fictional town or city unless you're one of those people who never forget details (and even those will have people complaining about mistakes). You can always place your city in the general region of another, real city, if you need the context. Just be careful that whatever you decide, you keep your details straight. Readers (and I say this as a reader) have this infernal habit of finding every little inconsistency you miss.
I'm also a contemporary writer, and reader. When I read about a place that is real, I don't care if not all the streets or businesses match. The famous stuff, yes, it has to be correct, but there is almost nothing you can't google and get enough of a sense of place.
That sense of place is what I'm looking for, not only in my writings, but in reading. A context to frame around the fictional world. My trilogy is set in one town - yep, my home town - but I took loads of liberties with the actual setting by adding streets and a businesses that aren't there. The trick is just to make it consistent with the real world; you wouldn't put a pig farm in the middle of the business district, for example.
But I do that with characters to. I like enough description to get me started - brown hair, hazel eyes, rounded cheeks - something vague like that. I don't like to do a lot of guessing, because it takes away from the plot.
But, that's just me, and a lot of writers would disagree with adding in even that minimal descriptions. I totally agree with Cheryl though; there is no right or wrong way, and you have to do what feels right for you as an author in your own creation. As long as it makes sense to you, your world and your characters will come alive for the reader, and that's all that matters.
.........dhole
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