Can you base a story on somewhere you've never been?

Just do the proper research and you can make us believe you were there.

Triceratops

Sure you can

cornell said:

ok say i want to write a story...short or a novel. I live in Boston and i've only been to Florida and San Diego. I originally come from Ireland and i haven't had the oportunity to travel much of the country. So say I want to base this story in a small town in texas. Is this out of the question seeing as i've never been there. I mean how could i describe the landscape, the smell and colors of a place i've never actually visited? Is there a way around this?
I could base it in massachusetts but it would'nt really fit the srory.

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Like Tricertops says, with enough research, you can make us believe you've been there. Remember, you don't really want to convince people your story is real, but that it is believable.

For instance, my current WIP is a story initially set in Sudan -- a place I have never been. But I will bet 99.9% of my audience has never been there either. I just need to do research to make it real enough so they can believe what I am descibing is real. In other words, to suspend their disbelief.

Remember, I'm pretty sure Micheal Crighton has never been to an island with dinosaurs, or back in time to medieval France (ugh what a bad book that was - Timeline) or inside an underground biomedical lab. But When you read his books you might believe it.

With enough research, describing places you've never been is easy. Especially now with the internet, since you can find pictures, videos and possibly even live web cams of almost any place on earth (and off!). Add a little non-fiction reading and you should be set.

Mike

I was up against this same problem when I decided to set one of my chapters in an upper west side neighborhood in Manhattan. I'm glad I did my research, because I found out that the whole chase scene I'd concocted just couldn't happen in that part of NYC.

I had people climbing up fire escapes and running through alleys, climbing through windows, etc. I found out that there are no alleys to speak of on the UWS... there's just no space between buildings, and where there is a rare breezeway, it's usually gated off and locked. Windows mostly have bars. Fire escapes are almost impossible to access from the street.

However, after talking to a few native New Yorkers, I found out that nobody in that town really knows every last corner of the city. So I decided to invent a fictional "neighborhood" in Manhattan and place it somewhere vague. This way I can patch together what I know of New York, and what I need for the story.

I also decided, just for kicks, to have some of the action take place on a street called, "Sesame".

Yes, you sure can. I once wrote a book (it was accepted for publication, but the house was bought out by another before I signed my contract and the new company wasn't interested in it.) In it, the first chapter was set in Annapolis on Induction Day for incoming midshipmen. I shared it with several on-line buddies who had been a part of I-Day with their sons and daughters and I had done such a good job of researching it that they all said that it was as if I'd been standing next to them that day. I only had to change one small detail!

Of course, that's what research is all about. My WIP is set in Asia, parts of it I've never been to, not to mention the time period. It's a challenge to get the facts right, but boy, it's fun.

I think you certainly can set something in a place you've never been. Also, there are a few Texans on the board. I can't speak for them, but if you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Depending on what type of story you are writing, I could suggest a few books that, in my opinion, will get you into the mindset of Texans.

Brady H.

Simple: Write what you know or what you can learn about.

I've never been 2000 years in the past--but that's when my story takes place. The towns in the modern age in the story I have been to and one I grew up near.

The different BB's are a good place to find people from different areas of the country--sheesh, there's a mess of us here from Texas. Town I live in has 25,000 people.
Shawn

Cornell,

I agree with those who said do some research in order to help make it believable. On the other hand, if it's fiction, the imagination allows you to run with the scenes, settings, and characters. Write what you are comfortable writing. Not everyone, everywhere knows exactly what every town or state or country looks, feels, or smells like.

Just one warning, make sure the plants, trees and shrubs you may say are blooiming, actually grow and bloom in the area you're writing about. A writer friend of mine, who has sold more than 56 fiction and nonfiction books, told me that after his latest book had sold 75,000 copies, he had a reader write to him yelling at him because the bush he mentioned in his book didn't bloom when he said it did. There's always that one reader out there that will try to argue a point, even in fiction.

So go for it. Write on.

Joanne

The vast majority of your readers will never have been to a small town in Texas, either, so they will hardly be in a position to quibble about what you say. The only drawback that I can see is that, should your book sell very well, you might get some complaints from a few Texans if you're very much off the mark.

Location

Vomaxx said:

The vast majority of your readers will never have been to a small town in Texas, either, so they will hardly be in a position to quibble about what you say. The only drawback that I can see is that, should your book sell very well, you might get some complaints from a few Texans if you're very much off the mark.

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Some readers will always know when you get somethign wrong, and if a reader knows you can bet a reviewer will know. That's the danger. Get it wrong, and it will almost certainly show up in a review, and then everyone will know.

I did this with my first book. I wrote a story set in an actual town in an actual state. My cousin worked for a tourism company at the time and sent me a box of pamphlets all about the state and varying cities. I researched the heck out of this place -- not just the city but the state because some characters travel across the state at one point. I talked to a lot of people who have been in that town (one guy only said "it's really nice" -- ARGH!! ) and even read the newspapers. Sure my story was fictional but because this was an actual town in an actual state, I tried every effort to get it right. And of course I used the Internet, too!

Hopefully ONE of these days I will finally get to visit Metaline Falls, Washington. *sigh*

In Sprague DeCamp's Science Fiction handbook, revised, he says that after writing a book set in south africa, a place to which he had never been, he read a review by an african saying it was obvious the author had spent some time in "this sunny land of ours"

Jamesaritchie said:

Some readers will always know when you get somethign wrong, and if a reader knows you can bet a reviewer will know. That's the danger. Get it wrong, and it will almost certainly show up in a review, and then everyone will know.

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Like the damn DaVinci Code. I just finished reading it (in French but the mistakes are the same as in English I'm sure) where one guy before blacking out hears sounds that remind him of the waves rolling in on the Cote D'Azur. Cool right? Except the sea in the south of France is a milk pond and the last wave to roll in resulted from the earthquake in Algeria and even that wave was about a foot high. Made the research seem just that little bit flakier.

Still sold a bunch of books though.


Damn.


Os.

oswann said:

Like the damn DaVinci Code. I just finished reading it (in French but the mistakes are the same as in English I'm sure) where one guy before blacking out hears sounds that remind him of the waves rolling in on the Cote D'Azur. Cool right? Except the sea in the south of France is a milk pond and the last wave to roll in resulted from the earthquake in Algeria and even that wave was about a foot high. Made the research seem just that little bit flakier.

Os.

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Mauve Binchy's most recent novel set in Greece suffers from the same problems. The whole book lost credibility for me after the 3rd error or so and dragged me out of the story.

If you're going to write about a location you've never been to, research, then run it by a native if at all possible.

I agree that research can make your story realistic.

Part of my next novel is set in New Orleans. I've never been there, so my husband and I decided to go. Then, on the day we were to leave, a hurricane closed the town down and our flight was cancelled. When we were about to reschedule my husband's father died and we used our tickets to go to his funeral. So, we got on the net, went to the library, even rented every movie we could find that took place in NO. I even emailed the chamber of commerce and asked some questions and they were extremely happy to assist me. Now, the scene is written and I was careful not to make alot of things up about the place. I actually feel as if I've been there. But before my words are set in stone I want a few people who have been there to read it and see if I'm close to the truth of the place.

Research

If I can't visit a place, I do all the usual research, but I also make sure I talk to several people who live in the area. I can the tourist board, if there is one. I prepare a list of questions, and then call bartenders, shop owners, police stations, and even dial a few random phone numbers.

People love to talk, and if you give them half a chance they'll tell you all sorts of things only a native would know.

Diana Gabaldon

wrote Outlander without ever having been to Scotland--but she did extensive research.

It can definitely be done.

Research, the rest you just fake

You must research, of course. And with the internet, it's a lot easier. You can also check the "liberry" and the used bookshops for travel guides. These are an excellent source for insight into either the actual place you're writing about, or at least places similar to it.

My mystery novels are based in modern Houston, and like many private detective books, they give the reader a tour of real streets and locales. Consider for example Robert Parker's "Spenser" and his Boston.

I use street maps and find actual routes to and fro around the city, and at times I use real restaurants and bars and such, but only if the description is positive or neutral.

For "bad" places, I make them up, cobbled together from real places I've known, selecting a detail here and a motif there, forming a new place that's realistic but still ficticious. For example, I wanted a township near Houston that's wide open -- corrupt from the top down, officials and cops and all, on the take and venal. Rather than slander a real town, I took a look at my area map. The industrialized satellite cities of Deer Park and Pasadena are contiguous. So I simply squeezed a small imaginary town between them, Mid City Texas, where anything goes.

A caution about writing about places you've never been -- don't rely on anecdote or other fiction for your sources too strongly. Likewise for "everyone knows" such and such.

If you were to write about Texas, for example, and put someone wearing fancy cowboy boots and a Stetson in downtown Houston, he'd in fact be stared at like Joe Buck in Midnight Cowboy. (with the possible exception of today -- this is opening day for the huge Houston rodeo, and they had the parade downtown). But seeing someone all tricked out in cowboy gear most times in Houston might elicit "Hey, I didn't know the circus was in town."

And even in the "outback" you'll never find someone in "rhinestone" gear unless it's a party or something. REAL cowboys (and there are plenty of them in Texas) wear boots, but they are plain bullhide and not usually shined, and they'll have on Levis or Wranglers, a workshirt, and they'll leave their hat in the pickup truck, thank you.

You won't find Houstonians saying "Yep" or "Pardner" or "Y'all" much, either, unless they're joking around.

Of course this is from a big city, 4th largest in the US. Downtown is stunning, and we have a world class opera, a major ranked symphony, and there are about 30 (not kidding) playhouses and theaters full time. We have four opera companies ("real" opera, not counting the musical theater, of which there are a half dozen at least), about a dozen ballet troupes, and many many classical venues.

So you can't impose "cowboy Texas" into Houston with impunity. Nor can you fit cookie-cutter images of Dallas or Fort Worth into Houston. The three cities are nothing alike. Likewise San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, and so on.

I'm not ranting about Texas or Houston just because I live here. All I'm saying is that you cannot rely on anecdotal evidence or "common knowledge". Instead you must obtain authentic research into the area.

If I were to attempt to write about Boston, I'd be silly to have everyone saying "Ayuh" and being fixated on the Red Sox (maybe not now, perhaps). And not everyone likes lobster.

Of course, you can create your own places, too. My WIP horror novel is set in a ficticious Texas Gulf Coast shrimping town. It doesn't exist but I've been to plenty of similar towns and so I'm using that as my structure. Some of the events occur on shrimp boats, so I got several books on shrimping and studied them, and I took photos and asked some shrimpers for permission to see their boats up close.

I can also say that what I learned first-hand wasn't too much different from my library research into shrimping. And I've found that to be true for most venues. There exist plenty of good resources for research.

Just don't assume things you can't prove by your independent research. However, that being said, it's okay to create a fictional venue, just so it's plausible.

By the way, any of you Boston folks -- I LOVE Boston. It's by far the friendliest city in the East I've visited. Had a ball at Quincy Market (sorry, "Quinzy Mahkut") and Bull & Finch (the "Cheers" bar), pigged out at Union Oyster House and Legal Seafood in Cambridge. God do I love oysters on the half-shell and lobster!

Another avenue of research

Read the local newspapers. They won't give you the whole picture, but you add what you glean there to your more standard research and you may have a more accurate picture. If you're really astute, after several weeks of reading the papers, plus a little bit of study on a street map, you might be able to figure which areas of town you'd want to visit for dinner versus others where you might get your throat cut for a quarter.

Just my two cents.

Mari

I'm a transplant to small town Texas. Like someone said above, in a place as large as Texas, you need to know your area. West Texas vastly different from, say, Austin, not only in climate and terrain, but the whole attitude of the place. If you have questions, I'll answer what I can

My only caution about writing about Texas without having been here: Texans have more pride in being Texan than I previously thought was humanly possible. Texas used to be a Republic separate from the US. Texans have not forgotten this fact! Texas history is taught from grade school up--not as a part of a history class, but its own class. Texans can quote Sam Houston. Davy Crockett is not just some guy in a funny hat here.

The Yellow Rose of Texas isn't just a song here, it's like an anthem to some people, who still have real animosity toward the Mexican Army. Nope, not kidding. I saw the recent movie The Alamo in a theater, and there were people yelling at Santa Anna--really yelling, and a woman behind me was noting out loud all the mistakes the movie made in the history, and no one was telling her to shush.

I'd have sworn I posted this on this thread this morning.

Anyway check out Robert Ludlum's techniques, he is the master of writing about places he has never been and events he could never have seen.

BlueTexas said:

I'm a transplant to small town Texas. Like someone said above, in a place as large as Texas, you need to know your area. West Texas vastly different from, say, Austin, not only in climate and terrain, but the whole attitude of the place. If you have questions, I'll answer what I can

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Boy I tell ya! I moved to San Antonio from Australia six years ago and Texans are something else! Texans will tell you that Texas is "God's Country" and they mean it. They really really mean it.

That said, I'm always willing and happy to answer any research questions that anyone has about Australia, Greece, New Zealand or Texas. I've lived in all those places extensively.

aadams73 said:

Boy I tell ya! I moved to San Antonio from Australia six years ago and Texans are something else! Texans will tell you that Texas is "God's Country" and they mean it. They really really mean it.

That said, I'm always willing and happy to answer any research questions that anyone has about Australia, Greece, New Zealand or Texas. I've lived in all those places extensively.

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And I thought I had to deal with culture shock! I've decided that Texans are a whole other breed, and no 'outsider' (I was once told the only way a non-born Texan could claim the title was by giving birth to a Texan!) will ever truly understand how deep the pride goes.

I've lived in Virginia, New York, Tennessee, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maryland, Georgia, Nebraska and Texas. I also used to travel for a living, and spent time in Ohio, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Florida and Kansas.

If anyone has questions, I'll answer what I can.