 | 14 Oct 08 |
I really worried about what to talk about today. The competition is stiff, let me tell you. So, I decided to discuss a topic that as an author and a reader I’ve often wondered about other authors and readers. Let’s see if the same questions have occurred to you.
When I first took the plunge into the world of publishing I heard many folks say, “Write what you know.” That was a problem, however, since some of the things I wanted to write about were subjects I definitely didn’t “know” such as FBI agents and murder. I took it upon myself to do all the research I could: Internet, phone a friend, follow some guy in uniform around while he does his job, reference books–you name it. There were loads of information and avenues available that made me feel confident about most any occupation and proposed manner of death.
But what about setting? Could you really know a place if you hadn’t lived there or spent considerable amounts of time on location? Maybe. Maybe not. I guess the reader ultimately makes that determination. As a writer, I’ve done it both ways. I’ve written stories set in states where I’ve lived and I’ve ventured into unknown locals educating myself by various means of research. I spent three weeks in Los Angeles to capture a feel for that setting. Wherever vacations and conferences have taken me, I’ve always utilized the opportunity to get in some research on the location. That’s a part of my work that I truly enjoy: learning about a place and the people who call it home.
Last winter I took my quest for writing the memorable setting to a new level and spent five months, family and dogs in tow, on the coast of Maine to write my upcoming novel, FIND ME. When you read that one, keep in mind that I took every step through the snow and ice right along with my protagonist, Sarah Newton. I got to know the folks and traipsed around in cemeteries and all kinds of other places scouting out murder scenes and other pivotal settings. I have to say, the whole adventure was really cool(cold as heck actually!).
On the other hand, I’ve written many stories set in Chicago and I’ve spent minimal time in the Windy City. I’ve never been to South America yet I’ve had my characters plow through the jungle as if it were my backyard.
So, as a reader, do you pick up on the nuances that shout “been there, done that” in a story? Do you enjoy the story all the more for it? As a writer, do you feel more confident when creating your story setting in a location where you’ve lived or visited frequently?
Debra Webb, born in Alabama, wrote her first story at age nine and her first romance at thirteen. It wasn’t until she spent three years working for the military behind the Iron Curtain—and a five-year stint with NASA—that she realized her true calling. A collision course between suspense and romance was set.
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I always snork out my coffee when I hear the ‘people in the biz’ recommend writing what you know.
by Margaret A. Golla October 14th, 2008 at 5:04 amI write fantasy. It makes it kinda difficult to travel there, though I have escaped reality many times to visit my imagination.
LOL, Margaret! I’m certain people passing by in my neighborhood would be horrified if they could read my mind when I’m strolling along in my imagination. That’s another fun thing about being a writer, we get to think up such bizarre and creepy things.
by Debra Webb October 14th, 2008 at 5:38 amHi, Debra! Now that I write for Harlequin Presents, I think I may have to write some books that are set in places I haven’t been. Google and the library will be my good friends.
I did set my first HP in Madrid, a city I’d spent time in and loved. The next one is set in the Med, another area I’ve been.
I’m so happy to see you blogging here regularly! And it was great running into you at B&N the other day.
by Lynn Raye Harris October 14th, 2008 at 7:12 amHey Lynn! Congratulations again on your sale! Oh, Madrid. Sounds so sexy!
by Debra Webb October 14th, 2008 at 7:30 amHi Deb! Great seeing you too at B&N the other day.
I’ve done online research about places as well as emailed folks I know who live in places I want to write about but have never visited. I’m not sure I’d know whether your Maine book was spot on as I’ve never been there (I’ll trust it is since you weathered the winter there
), but I can definitely spot when something’s terribly wrong about a place I know.
For example, my mother lives on the coast of Georgia. I read a book about 5 years ago that was set there. The heroine lived in a big Victorian house on a cliff overlooking the ocean, and waves crashed against the rocks below the house. Uh… wrong! Georgia’s coast has no rocky cliffs and the only time the waves get higher than about 6 inches is when a hurricane or nor’easter is blowing in. It was very obvious the author didn’t research the area, and it really pulled me out of the story.
With the internet and other romance authors living literally all over the world, it should be easy to at least get the basics right. I’ve never had an author refuse a request for information.
Great seeing you here!
by Marilyn AKA The Playground Monitor October 14th, 2008 at 7:47 amMarilyn! Great seeing you at B&N also. You make very good points. A glaring error can certainly pull a reader right out of the story. We all try hard not to make those! But, alas, we’re only human and occasionally we do. You’re absolutely right about our wonderful network of romance friends.
by Debra Webb October 14th, 2008 at 9:01 amHey Deb! Speaking of settings–love the new digs here at MSW!!!
I think as long as you can convey the essence of a place for the reader, they don’t care if you’ve really been there, done that…..but, as someone who loves travel, it makes for a great tax-write off to actually go there!
Hmmm….have to figure out how to set a book in Ireland or France or something!
by cj lyons October 14th, 2008 at 9:21 am“Write what you know” boggles my mind.
I’m older than God. If I told everything I know, my family and friends would have to leave the country. 
As for you, dear talented friend, if I thought you were personally acquainted with the chilling methods of murder you use, I’d be scared to turn off the lights at night when I visit you! Keep writing those amazing books, Deb!
by Peggy Webb October 14th, 2008 at 9:25 amHey Deb, as a reader I like some detail but not too much. I’m the same as a writer. I like action, action, action.
I’m trying to think of an example, but of course, it’s escaping me. But I like the key details that capture a city. This is hokey but I’ll use this; New Orleans might be the smell of a certain type of coffee and the strains of jazz music. In Los Angeles, it might me the combined scents exhaust fumes and the briny ocean. Yeah…maybe I should have more coffee. Anyway, great post!
by Jennifer Lyon October 14th, 2008 at 9:34 amI think the only time I really notice that an author hasn’t been there is if it’s in my neck of the woods or a glaring error that I know about because I’ve visited / seen photos. Most of the time, though, I’m not going to know.
The one way, however, that I can tell an author’s really done her research or has been there are the small details–the perspectives–sometimes it’s just a little thing like a local giving driving directions, “You go over past where the Dairy Queen used to be, but it ain’t there any more, and then you turn left by where Miss Daisy dropped that skillet on old John Worthem’s head, an…”
Obviously, those details can be made up, but if they really feel like they’re in context of the place, I’m totally willing to be conned.
by toni mcgee causey October 14th, 2008 at 9:52 amHaving just returned from Washington State, I was busy trying to take some pictures should I need to convey the essence of that area in a book. In truth, I’ve only set one book in my home town, and that’s the only one where I tried to show specifics. I’ve relied on personal travel, on friends and relatives who live in the places my other books are set, as well as lots of Googling.
Michael Connelly and Robert Crais set their books in my home town of Los Angeles, and for me, it’s definitely an addition to the read because I can picture all the locales (and Elvis Cole almost drove by my parents’ house in one book!). If they got it ‘wrong’, I would notice, but if it’s a place I’ve never been, I would never know, so it wouldn’t bother me. But I do try to get MY stuff right, even when I’m making up towns.
by Terry Odell October 14th, 2008 at 10:49 amI don’t feel right about setting something in a place I haven’t been to, unless I can find a way in some other way (for instance, I’ve only been to DC once, but I’ve been to Civil War re-enactments, so the one scene I have with a character in DC takes place aat a Civil War re-enactment). Google Earth has been a huge help! But it’s so easy to miss the vernacular or the feel of the place and the people, as Toni says. I’m setting a book on the Florida panhandle, a place I’ve been to several times for weeks at a time, but my main character comes from the west, where I’m from, so there’s more legitimacy to her language and her thinking. What also helps me with the Florida panhandle? Watching CMT music videos. And reading Julia Reed’s books.
by J. JCarson Black October 14th, 2008 at 10:51 amHey CJ! I’ll bet you could set your amazing medical thrillers just about anywhere and keep the readers coming back for more!
by Debra Webb October 14th, 2008 at 11:11 amI like books that try to get the setting right. If something is wrong and I know it I’ll be a little upset, but still move on in the story. No matter how hard you try you can miss something here or there.
by Amanda October 14th, 2008 at 11:13 amJennifer, you are so right. Not too much, just that touch that gives the reader a real sense of place. It can definitely be done in few words–just have to select the strongest senses as you suggested. Smell is always a great one. And sound.
by Debra Webb October 14th, 2008 at 11:14 amAbsolutely, Toni. It’s those small touches that bring out the sense of home in a setting. Being a girl from the south, there’s always got to be that character who talks the talk of the locale–for me any way!
by Debra Webb October 14th, 2008 at 11:16 amHey, Terry! I do love that Google! It’s amazing the resources you can find with just a few click of the keys.
by Debra Webb October 14th, 2008 at 11:18 amSo true, Amanda. Sometimes your source may get a fact or element wrong. You do your best to verify what you can and just go with it.
by Debra Webb October 14th, 2008 at 11:20 amDeb, enjoyed the article, and it did bring a smile. Writers have a license to lie–to tell stories. So my philosophy has never been to write what you, but instead, know what you write. Like you, research and projecting future outcomes and potential are so much fun. So I definitely advocate broadening my world in my books. Otherwise, my world stays the same–and how boring would that be to me and readers!
Love this site. Great reading!
Oh, and I have to say, I LOVED NAMELESS!!!!
Blessings,
Vicki Hinze
by Vicki Hinze October 14th, 2008 at 11:29 amHey Deb. Since I set books in places like Peru, Argentina, Honduras, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, to name a few and since, NO, I haven’t been to any of those places, my local research is thorough and grueling. But I’ve met some amazing people on different loops who are wonderful sources to help with those little details that lend that ‘been there, done that’ feel to a book.
by cindy gerard October 14th, 2008 at 11:30 amAnd, wow, I see so many of my buddies here! High everyone!!
Hugs
Cindy
Simply the time between writing and publication can make “right” things “wrong.” I had a scene set in a local restaurant (even hubby didn’t mind researching it), but the restaurant is no longer there.
by Terry Odell October 14th, 2008 at 11:30 amHi Debra,
What a great topic. As a reader sometimes I actually find it disconcerting to read details about settings I know about it. Even when those details are correct. Strange, right? When JA Jance writes about Seattle suddenly my mind goes to the I5 exit she’s talking about instead of the story at hand!
As a writer I’ve struggled a bit with setting. In some ways I think it’s easier to just completely make-up a fictional place but so far I haven’t done that. The book I’m currently writing is set in Berkeley, CA. I went there before I started and took photos of lots of different coffee shops, houses etc. I grew up in California and lived almost my whole adult life there. I find myself wanting to set my books there even though I moved out of the state five years ago.
Thanks for the great post.
by Mary-Frances Makichen October 14th, 2008 at 12:04 pmThanks, Vicki! Expanding our worlds keeps us young, too! And that’s a huge compliment coming from you! Cause you’re a lady who knows how to write suspense!
by Debra Webb October 14th, 2008 at 12:36 pmCindy! Hey! I would highly recommend your books to anyone who wants a lesson in international settings. You do a marvelous job! I thought for sure you were a world traveler!
by Debra Webb October 14th, 2008 at 12:37 pmOh, Terry, don’t you hate that! But anyone who lives in the area knows the restaurant was there so it’s not really a wrong. I love sending the husband out on research field trips.
by Debra Webb October 14th, 2008 at 12:40 pmMary-Frances, I do the same thing. I’ll be reading along and suddenly stop and think “I know where that is!” It’s so cool but it does make you pause from the story a moment. But then I dive back in not only to finish the story but curious as to what I’ll recognize next in the setting!
by Debra Webb October 14th, 2008 at 12:42 pmJ., hello! You’re right. The research on the internet, etc., doesn’t give you that feel for the vocabulary and mentality of the local people. If the locals are mainly secondary characters you can get enough in your remote (internet, etc.) reseach to make it work. Having a main character move to the location from an area you know well is a fabulous way to compensate. I also think readers enjoy, I know I do, stories about folks who move to a new location and deal with that fitting in process.
by Debra Webb October 14th, 2008 at 12:48 pmHi Deb,
by Jane October 14th, 2008 at 1:35 pmAs a reader, I like reading detailed descriptions of the setting. If the setting is somewhere I’ve been, I do try to see if it compares to what I know or remember about that city or country.
Hey Deb! Great topic. I set my first book in Chicago–a town I haven’t been to (other than the airport) since I was in Kindergarten. But I hooked up with a friend from High School on Facebook who is now living there. She was a lifesaver! Made sure I had my hero rooting for the right team, for one. Really, with the internet, there’s no reason to get major setting details wrong and it does pull me out of the story when they do. But write what I know? Who wants to read about ballet-dancing English teaching suburban moms in Alabama? Bor-ring (and I should know!)
by Kimberly Lang October 14th, 2008 at 1:45 pmHi Jane! A setting can become as integral as a character in a story. You “feel” like you’ve been there whether you have or not. When it all comes together that way it makes for such a great read.
by Debra Webb October 14th, 2008 at 2:26 pmDeb,
Great topic! Of course, I knew you’d be great.
I’m pretty big on writing what you know, but if I can research it, then I figure that is a kind of “knowing.”
Love Google, too!!
by Natalie October 14th, 2008 at 4:31 pmHi Deb! I’m so, so, so glad you’re here!
I am so jealous that you were able to go to Maine for five months. I would love to do something like that. I don’t think I could do it with all the kids in tow, so I’ll have to wait until they are much, much older!
I’ve also written both ways, and I do prefer to write about a setting I know about versus one I don’t; or make it up completely like I did in my novella (though Santa Louisa is, for all intent and purposes, Santa Maria.) My latest is set in Sacramento, my hometown of 20 years, and I had lot of fun writing it. My next starts in Sacramento, then moves to Hidalgo, TX where I’ve never been. I had to rely on research. Now I’m back in Sacramento and surrounding areas for the next two books, and I’m thrilled.
But for me, setting is not important in the scheme of things UNLESS it’s part of the story. Like Sacramento was integral because I used the rivers as part of the story; in THE HUNT and TEMPTING EVIL the rural Montana setting was integral because it was a character. But in my NO EVIL series, they could have taken place in almost any medium to large city. I choose San Diego because I’m familiar with it (though I haven’t been there in a long time) and I’ve always loved it there.
by Allison Brennan October 14th, 2008 at 6:19 pmThanks, Natalie! I love learning about other places through my research and then, as you say, you do “know.”
by Debra Webb October 14th, 2008 at 6:42 pmAllison, I remember the days of the small kids. It’s tough to just pick and go at that stage. I’m enjoying the status of “almost empty nester”. Soon! My youngest is approaching 19 and, thankfully, she enjoys a good research trip. She’s a great photographer and she pays attention to details.
by Debra Webb October 14th, 2008 at 6:44 pmHey, Deb,
My contemporaries are set in the Bay Area, and my historicals medieval England, and boy, would I give my right arm to hop across the pond and soak up all of that history. Maybe next year.
by Karin Tabke October 14th, 2008 at 10:34 pmKarin, wouldn’t that be cool? I haven’t been to England in years (when my husband was still in the military). I would love to go back.
by Debra Webb October 15th, 2008 at 5:38 amOh, I missed this yesterday due to, well, life. But what a wonderful debut post, Deb! I would say I spend at least 25% of my “writing time” researching settings. I haven’t been everywhere I write about, although I occasionally do a research trip. (Like to Charleston where CJ toured me – Hi CJ!) The thing about setting research for me is that I *always* get plot ideas when reading about certain places. I just set a story in Venezuela and it was the research that gave me the idea for one of my favorite love scenes. Who would imagine that?
Welcome, Deb!!
by Roxanne St. Claire October 15th, 2008 at 8:50 amAbsolutely, Roxanne. Research is a great inspiration! And your love scenes are truly inspiring!
by Debra Webb October 15th, 2008 at 9:24 amWhat becomes aggreviatingly annoying is when a writer is vague about what they don’t know, you don’t notice it until they are precise about what they do know (example driving routes.) Then it drives me crazy. Be vague or be precise but don’t be both.
by Cele October 15th, 2008 at 4:51 pmExcellent point, Cele. Consistency is important. When you go back and forth like that with the setting it’s kind of like falling in and out of character with your main protagonists.
by Debra Webb October 15th, 2008 at 5:47 pmAs a reader, I always get a kick out of stories set in places I know. But, god help the writer who sets something somewhere I know but gets it wrong.
There is a Clive Barker book that appropriated the name of the place where I grew up, but he got the geography all wrong. I don’t know if he did that on purpose or because he didn’t do his homework, but that doesn’t matter. I couldn’t read that book, it bothered me so much.
On the other hand, Michael Connelly and both Faye and Jonathan Kellerman write about the Southern California I know, love, and miss horribly. They’ve all done their homework, and I get homesick every time I read one of their books. The detail is remarkable…I’ve read scenes in some of their books that take place in specific places I’ve been (a restaurant, as one example), and they are right on. Connelly even has the cemetery where my dad and most of his family are buried, mentioned by name, in one of his books. That kind of freaked me out, but it was cool, too.
One of the most remarkable reading experiences I’ve had was in one of Tim Powers’ urban fantasy novels, where one segment takes place along a stretch of road very near where I lived for awhile. While I was reading that, I could picture exactly where the characters were as they progressed down the street. Talk about making me homesick.
by Elaine October 15th, 2008 at 10:00 pmRight on, Elaine. The scenes in the Farmer’s Market in LA (Connelly) make me SO homesick. That was my childhood. When Harry watched the bakers frosting cakes I was right there (although he didn’t mention the ones with the champagne bottles and pink elephants.) And DuPars–that was a special place for me and my dad for pie. A real treat. I actually got tears in my eyes reading those scenes (and not because of the plot).
by Terry Odell October 16th, 2008 at 3:57 amElaine & Terry! I’ll have to check out those books. Sounds like the authors did a fantastic job! I love, love, love California. Maybe someday I’ll get to live there : )
by Debra Webb October 16th, 2008 at 10:55 amI’m willing to give authors a fair amount of latitude in terms of their interpretations of place. I’ve been a lot of places and there are still tons I’ve never seen. My issue comes up when authors get it wrong–where it’s obvious they’ve never been there and flat didn’t do their research, relying instead on stereotypes and conventions. Thankfully, I haven’t read too many of those!
by Kait Nolan October 19th, 2008 at 7:17 amKait, yeah, that can definitely be annoying. And you made a good point, sometimes the variances are more about interpretation. I might see something a different way than someone else. But a glaring discrepancy will darn sure jerk you right out of the story!
by Debra Webb October 19th, 2008 at 5:54 pm