Welcome to another blog chain! This week’s topic is brought to us by Alyson. She asks:
“How important is setting when crafting a story? How do you choose where your stories take place? How do you research setting? Do you have to have been somewhere in order to write about it? What are some memorable settings from books you’ve read?”
Wow, so many questions. So little time. Let’s answer them in order.
1) In general, setting is very important. However, I think the extent to which one goes into detail varies on the genre. My first two YA novels were contemp. In my head, I had a clear idea of where the books took place (a town similar to the one I grew up in NJ for book 1, Philly and a bungalow colony I used to go to in the summer for book 2). I wanted to give a sense of the suburbs for both (specifically for book 1–INCONVENIENT) and also, the tranquility and escape of the one of my favorite places for book 2 (PIECES OF US). Also, I hadn’t been to Philly in a while so I did lots of research online to get the feel of the city. I love to research actually. It’s my favorite way to procrastinate and one of the few things I can do besides writing that actually counts as being productive. Haha. However, the research I had to do for my contemp books were nothing. I had a clear sense of where the story took place, and even if I didn’t describe it in detail on the pages, readers got a sense of the area I was describing. Now, however, I’m working on a dystopian, and I know setting is something I will have to tweak when the story is over to give readers a really clear picture of this new country. As with my other books, I always get the characters and story first, so that is currently what I am focusing on.
2) Hmm…I’m not sure. I get a story and then just go from there. For INCONVENIENT, I had always wanted to write something about Fair Lawn so that seemed perfect with the story I wanted to tell. For PIECES OF US, the idea began with the bungalow colony and the rest just came together. With my current WIP, the characters, plot, and setting came together and the story took a few different turns. The setting evolved as the story did.
3 and 4) When I research I used Google images a lot or just plain Google searches. I also do shout outs on Facebook to see if anyone lives in a place I want to write about or knows someone who does. I have been lucky receiving lots of info this way too. So, no, I need not have been to a place I want to write about. 🙂
5) Best settings. The HARRY POTTER series, hands down. I have never been transported so quickly and entirely to a world before. I can only aspire to affect people in the same way with my descriptions. I also adored books by the late Maeve Binchy. She wrote about Ireland and I devoured her books and characters. Her descriptions were so spot on and all encompassing that when I visited Ireland after college, I felt like I had already been to all these places. I will miss her books.
Phew, that was a long post! But in case you did not get your setting fill, be sure to check out Amparo’s post from yesterday. Then, go back to Kate’s blog to follow the chain and also to see the new topic which starts Monday.