Write what you know, er, I mean, where you live?

[The Lonely One]

Sort of a strange question from a sci-fi writer.

But.

A fellow writer believes in writing in settings you're familiar with, places you've lived or do live. He once asked me, "Why do you always write about up north? Why not write about Florida?"

I've lived in Florida my whole life. I guess I try to reach out of myself, to go to places I want to go rather than deep into the facets of the places I've been.

I haven't decided if that's good or bad.

Not that there's no value in sticking to places you know. There are "Florida writers" and they're good at what they do. Dufresne writes often about Florida (lives here, too). Same with Dorsey, and a few others that come to mind.

But I'm curious what others think about the idea of writing the places you live? Obviously not everyone writes about their hometowns and all that, but some do.

Thoughts?

 

[DeleyanLee]

I've yet to write about a place I've lived or am living. Of course, I write a lot of Fantasy and Historical, so even if I wrote about the city I'm living in, it wouldn't be the city I actually live in, if you know what I mean.

Never been attracted to writing about the place I'm that familiar with. My life in itself doesn't generate my stories, and I think that extends to the physical locale as well. It's just--normal life and I don't write normal life fiction. Maybe if I ever do, I might change my mind.

 

[dpaterso]

When writing contemporary thrillers and suchlike I use streets and places I know, rebranded as somewhere else. If I lived in an exciting big city I guess I'd just set the stories there and have done. But a small town perched on the rear end of beyond doesn't stir my interest and (thus goes my logic) is unlikely to stir much reader interest.

-Derek

 

[Calla Lily]

For my mystery, I invented a town in an adjoining state, but used my hometown street maps for a guide. I need visuals big-time or my writing goes all over the map. No pun intended.

For the fantasy/horror/spec fic, Google Earth was my friend. It's set in a future Midwest, but since everything changed post-nuke, I was able to use terrain maps, small-town street maps, and rural maps.

I like to explore in my reading, so none of my books are set in my hometown, but I use info wan experience from there.

 

[Kurtz]

There's a reason Joyce wrote about Dublin, Gogol about Ukraine and Akutagawa wrote about Japan. It means that your less likely to get something horribly wrong and sound like an idiot, really simple things could get missed out.

For example, if you're writing about Japan circa 1590 having the wise Bhuddist master playing a game of Western Chess rather than Shogi or Go. Or of course you could accidently name a character "GRANDFATHER OF FUCK" and be none the wiser.

It's obviously less apparent when writing about a different region in your own country, but you probably understand why people are like they are in Florida better than in other parts of the US.

Never been attracted to writing about the place I'm that familiar with. My life in itself doesn't generate my stories, and I think that extends to the physical locale as well. It's just--normal life and I don't write normal life fiction. Maybe if I ever do, I might change my mind.

Joyce made Ulysses by just walking around Dublin and noting down everything he saw. Admittedly Ulysses is pretty much the antithesis of anything really dramatic though.

 

[scarletpeaches]

I use real locales, but rename them. I never name the city in which my characters live either. That's not important. It could be anywhere and I want it to be anywhere.

 

[Samantha's_Song]

I live in England, have done all of my life, but I set all of my novels in France. I know a lot more about France, their history and culture etc, because I read up on it, than I do about England, so I feel justified in writing it into my novels. And we write fiction, don't we.

A fellow writer believes in writing in settings you're familiar with, places you've lived or do live. He once asked me, "Why do you always write about up north? Why not write about Florida?"

 

[Maryn]

I do both. There's so much less research if I know the place well, either living there currently or in the past in which my story is set.

I've also critiqued way too much fiction in which the author tried to write about a city they didn't know well enough but had clearly researched, dropping in their results like small bombs proving they had, too, looked it up. What they hadn't done is make me, as a reader, feel like I was there.

Maryn, who can only do a handful of cities

 

[Mr Flibble]

your less likely to get something horribly wrong and sound like an idiot, really simple things could get missed out.

One reason I write fantasy. You can't get it wrong, because it's your world. Well, unless you forget something between page one and page twenty

 

[Kurtz]

I live in England, have done all of my life, but I set all of my novels in France. I know a lot more about France, their history and culture etc, because I read up on it, than I do about England, so I feel justified in writing it into my novels. And we write fiction, don't we.

 

[maestrowork]

There's nothing wrong with writing about where you live, or writing about some faraway places, as long as you do it right. Obviously, if you're writing about some faraway places you've never been to, you'll have to do more research to get it right, so that's more work.

For my WIP, not only am I setting the story in places I've never actually lived (but visited, yes) -- Malaysia and Singapore -- but also in a time before my birth (1940s). Am I crazy? Probably. It's been challenge to try to get things right. But it's been a lot of fun, too.

What I don't get is some writers insist on setting every one of their stories in the same place. Well, OK, I get it, but it does seem kind of repetitive. For example, it seems like Nicholas Sparks sets his story in North Carolina every single time. I mean, doesn't this guy travel?

 

[Izz]

I've also critiqued way too much fiction in which the author tried to write about a city they didn't know well enough but had clearly researched, dropping in their results like small bombs proving they had, too, looked it up. What they hadn't done is make me, as a reader, feel like I was there.

Heheh -- i've seen that too (and been guilty of it). It's especially funny when the narrator is a native of the city in question and they begin oogling at the landmarks, or describe something else about the city that they would hardly notice if they'd lived there all their lives.

 

[penny manning]

Although I live in the States, I find myself constantly drawn to England. West England in particular. I've no idea why. I considered Mid 17th then stairstepped down the era ladder until finally my story came to rest at its current era. My decision to base my story in Late 18th century England came about in college during a European History class. The professor was discussing the Enclosure Acts where the County of Devon came up in connection with the event. Those two things rang a bell with me. I knew that very afternoon that my MC was going to be a landowner and that Devon County was the perfect location for the story. I can't help but suspect that it was more than coincidence that the fictional name of my story's town is Devenson which was supposed to mean "little Devon" (a small village). That 'made up' translation came out of the blue. Before that history class I had no idea that England was split up into counties and one of them was Devonshire. Imagine my shock.)

My novel originally began in 1970s America with an Interracial story with a MC who was a kind, compassionate black detective. After five short chapters (I think they were actually scenes) the story stalled and bored me to tears. The MC was too nice and too strait-laced. Boring. So I recreated the MC. I gave him a nasty past, bad habits, a desire to change then put him in a location I know little about but which greatly inspired and intrigued me. I haven't looked back since.

As one might expect, it's a challenge to write convincingly about another country's era-related speech, dress, location, manners and social mores, etc. I don't ever want to be offensive, but it is so much fun to explore another culture and try to tell a valid, engrossing story about one man's life. In the process, I get to learn about a country I find fascinating on so many levels. I also get to challenge my writing abilities.

In the end, when this book gets published, it will be a success sweeter than anything I have ever accomplished.

 

[Samantha's_Song]

LOL. I think I've just creamed my knickers. Oh oui j'ai!

That's the best cinematic car chase ever, in my opinion of course.

 

[KTC]

I've been to and know a lot of locations in Canada. I love Canada. I set all my fiction in Canada. I write what I know.

 

[Phaeal]

I write about the New England I know very well, and I write about planets I've invented. I know both type of setting better than a real-world setting I've never seen. The biggest challenge, for me, is writing about a real setting separated from me by space or time. That calls for lots of research, most of which never shows up in the story, but which was necessary nevertheless.

Set your story where you must. Just make sure that setting is real to you and to your reader.

 

[Samantha's_Song]

Just a little to add to this. I do pages on a huge online travel site, and a French person, who lives in Paris, told me that I knew more about Paris than he did. I think that's quite a compliment.

 

[ChaosTitan]

I think writing about a place you've either lived in or are intimately familiar with lends an air of authenticity that makes a book that much better. You know locations, customs, accents, colloquialisms, things that visitors may not be aware of. Not saying a good amount of that can't be learned through research, but I love learning that an author has/does live in the area in which their books are set.

It's also why I try to write about locations I've at least visited. Often the cities or towns I invent for novels are amalgamations of cities I've actually visited or lived near.

 

[KTC]

I'm going to be attempting to write a novel either when I'm in Nairobi, or after I leave Nairobi, with Nairobi as the setting. I'm actually trying to get a rough outline going. We'll see if my time there gives me enough insights to allow me to use the setting in my novel. Could be a disaster...but I'm surely going to give it my best shot.

 

[Alan Yee]

Most of my real-world (as in urban fantasy) stories take place in the Seattle metro area or at least in Washington State. I've lived here my entire life so far, so I feel comfortable writing about it. I have written in other settings and time periods, but that of course involved research of some kind.

 

[Matera the Mad]

I put my neighborhood in a couple of AU fanfics. That's it. Mostly I hang out in southern Poland, around 20,000 years ago. One person's meat is another person's granola bar.

 

[Pepper]

Google Maps and Street View.

'nuff said. ^_^

 

[KTC]

Google Maps and Street View.

'nuff said. ^_^

no. doesn't catch enough, imho. they don't catch the atmosphere of place.

 

[Izz]

Google Maps and Street View.

'nuff said. ^_^

Where's the smells and the sounds? The depth? The feel?

 

[Alan Yee]

Where's the smells and the sounds? The depth? The feel?

Emphasis added. Google Maps doesn't show you that Tacoma, Washington smells like a mixture of garbage and sour milk: the "aroma of Tacoma."