 | 1 Dec 09 |
Like many writers, I think of the setting of a book as another character, one that is responsible for mood and color and background, but also one that will help dictate some of the plot points. I’ve set my books all over the country – from Boston to L.A., from Miami to San Francisco, and a whole bunch of places in between. I don’t like to stay in the States, either, so I’ve taken readers to France, Venezuela, the Caribbean, the Azores, and one fictional replica of a Maya ruin. I’m often asked if I’ve been to all of these places for research. The answer? Some, but not all. The follow up question: how can you write about a place if you’ve never been there? That is the subject of today’s “manuscript milestone.”
Once I sat in on a Q&A session with Nora Roberts at the RWA National Conference, and she was asked that same question. Her answer, delivered with typical Nora deadpan: “I have an imagination.”
That was an eye opener for me because at the time I believed I’d have to limit my stories to locales I’d visited, if not lived in. I’ve traveled quite a bit, but somewhere around the fifteenth or sixteenth book, I would have exhausted my passport stamps. While it certainly is a little easier if you’ve been somewhere, and sometimes the only way to get it right is to make a research trip to a particular place, when time or budget precludes that, a writer can still create a rich and textured setting with some high quality research.
The trick, I think, is to augment (and trust!) your imagination while you follow a few simple setting suggestions:
Do the research yourself. I can’t stress this enough, and not just for setting, but for all elements of a book. I’ve been approached by several “professional researchers” who help authors. While I can see the benefits from a time-saving standpoint, I simply couldn’t give up the task for one major reason: research delivers not just “facts” but also story ideas, scene possibilities, and plot points. Without a doubt, I’ve had more storylines and plot twists emerge from what I’ve learned doing research than any brainstorming session.
For example, the entire suspense element – and the elusive, fictional “Pompadour Plums” — of French Twist came from researching Versailles as a setting and learning of Madame de Pompadour’s love of porcelain. A love scene in Hunt Her Down that takes place during a colorful lightning storm over Lake Maracaibo was borne of setting research; when I read about the thunderless, purple storms known as the Catatumbo Lightning, I knew it would make a breathtaking backdrop for a sensual encounter. So don’t give up the task to a friend or researchers – there’s gold in them thar library books.
Mix your resources. Don’t rely on one person, one book, or one travelogue to capture the essence of a location, but use as many as you can get your hands on. Or course, you have access to a zillion travel sites on the internet, but I recommend those that take you off the beaten path, as well as travel blogs and adventure sites. This takes a little digging (I like to use Google Images even more than the Web) but it’s usually worth it. Also, one of my first internet stops for setting research are the real estate sites, which are fantastic for getting ideas about houses and apartments for your characters, as well as insider details about neighborhoods and local amenities.
Of course my bookshelves are lined with Fodor’s and Frommer’s, but I also seek out more unusual travel books (check out Insight Guides, for instance) that include non-standard information, language phrases, and some really obscure tidbits of local color. There are videos about every major country, often available through the library, and plenty of shows on Nat Geo and the Travel Channel if you dig around and use your dvr.
Get a local contact. It really helps to have someone who’s willing to do some legwork for you, so let it be known that you’re setting a book somewhere and you’ll get help. Recently, I tweeted about setting my next book in Belfast and within seconds, one of our MSW regulars and fellow Florida writer, Terry Odell, emailed to let me know her daughter lives…in Belfast. Oh my heavens, have I inundated poor Jessica Odell with questions, and she’s been amazing with details and directions. I know the book will benefit from her help.
Strangers will help, too – just call them. When writing Thrill Me To Death, I made phone friends with a real estate agent who handled the listings for Star Island because even though I lived in Miami for years, I’d never had a chance to visit Madonna or Rosie O’Donnell (can you imagine?) who are residents of this famed and well-insulated private island. This local realtor answered everything for me, and sent me pictures of the house I was using as a setting – priceless assistance and, again, great for generating scenes and ideas.
Go for ambiance and accuracy, not mundane minutia. You don’t want to make a glaring error that will pull a reader from the story if they are familiar with the setting, so get the details right (i.e. don’t have a shootout on the fourth floor of the parking garage next to the Charleston Aquarium if there are only three floors in that garage – thank you, Nina Bruhns for saving me that embarrassment). But remember the setting is supposed to set the mood, so seize a detail here and there and let that enrich the atmosphere of the story rather than have the scene read like a travelogue.
For instance, the scurrying rats in the alley of a Venezuelan ghetto are more relevant to the emotional impact of the scene than the exact location of a warehouse door. The blistering heat on the docks of a Caribbean village captures the pressure on the character, so make the reader feel that, not a detailed description of the layout. Limit the details to those that enrich the story or move it along, and make sure those details are accurate.
Some final thoughts: Remember that places change, so don’t trust a twenty-year old memory of a vacation to be accurate today, and use current research. And if at all possible, acknowledge your sources by name in the front of the book. People love to know they really helped, and readers are interested in how the research was done. You do not (and should not) include every single piece of information you’ve gleaned from research. Some of that work will never see the page, and, trust me, that’s a good thing. And lastly, if you can swing a trip to an exotic locale or even just a new city, there really is no replacement for having experienced the place yourself. But if you can’t, take a tip from Nora, use your vivid imagination to let the locale come alive. If you can see it, smell it, walk it, and taste it in your head, your reader will, too.
So, tell me, writers: do you have any setting tips to share? And, readers, how do you feel about settings? Important or background? Have you ever been pulled from the story because a detail was wrong, or lost in the bliss of a trip to someplace exotic?
Roxanne St. Claire is a bestselling, RITA-Award winning author of twenty-four novels of romance and suspense. For the past several years, she's been writing a popular romantic suspense series called “The Bullet Catchers” for Pocket Star Books, featuring a cadre of bodyguards and security professionals. In 2010, she's launching a new series, "The Guardian Angelinos" focusing on an extended family of renegade crime fighters and investigators based in Boston. The first book in that series, EDGE OF SIGHT, will be released from Grand Central Publishing in November, 2010, with two more scheduled in 2011. In addition to the RITA, her books have won the National Reader’s Choice Award, the Daphne Du Maurier Award, the Maggie Award, the Booksellers Best, the Book Buyers Best, The HOLT Medallion, multiple Awards of Excellence, and Borders “Top Pick” for Romance in 2007.
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Rocki, what a terrific piece on setting! I’ve marked this blog as one of my favs ’cause your examples really hit home. For someone like me, who gets caught up in all the descriptive details, your keys and tips are perfect!
by Leigh Duncan December 1st, 2009 at 5:26 amThanks, Leigh. I happen to know you are excellent at capturing the ambiance of a setting, and your readers will find this out soon when THE OFFICER’S GIRL is released in April! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire December 1st, 2009 at 5:34 amCan’t believe I forgot to mention Google Maps, and Google Earth. These tools are amazingly accurate for setting, and using the “satellite” function allows you to zero in to nearly street level almost anywhere in the world. Then you can click on the little yellow person and, in many cases, *drive* down the street and see every single location.
~Rocki
by Roxanne St. Claire December 1st, 2009 at 5:39 amThanks for the mention, Rocki. And nice to know Jess is being helpful. She’s also a black belt in jujitsu and she choreographs all my fight scenes!
The setting for one of my books grew out of a short trip to Montana, where a friend suggested we take a mountain trail ride. I knew that what I saw and experienced would have to show up somewhere.
Since I’ve started writing, I’ve learned never to go anywhere without a picture-taking device (upgraded my cell phone to one that would take pictures). Google Earth is fantastic. I’ve mapped out routes from point A to point B for my characters.
Setting done well is a major connect for me. Michael Connelly and Robert Crais take me back to my years of living in LA as I follow them around town.
I tend to prefer towns I make up to avoid getting things ‘wrong’ — like the scene set in a favorite restaurant, which closed before the book came out.
by Terry Odell December 1st, 2009 at 6:57 amLOL on “good to know she’s being helpful.” Spoken like a true Mom, Terry. She’s been amazing – I can’t thank her enough. xo
by Roxanne St. Claire December 1st, 2009 at 7:06 amI always wondered who other parents were talking about when they said, “You’re children are so sweet and well-behaved” after a visit. How come I was the only one to see their monster sides?
Took the girls 30 years to stop fighting with each other.
by Terry Odell December 1st, 2009 at 7:20 amGreat blog!
I got yanked from a story once when the author mentioned an overnight flight from Miami to Havana. Good heavens, in a 747 you’d overshoot Havana on the take-off!
I used floorplanner.com to make a rough floorplan for a mountain cabin my characters went to for the weekend. I’m a visual learner so it helped me know where to have the characters move, and when I decided to put a big deck across the front, that gave rise to a conversation between the two of them in side-by-side rocking chairs while the sun rose.
Any time you want to set a book in Alabama, I’m right here for ya, babe!
by Marilyn December 1st, 2009 at 7:38 amI’m so there in your sweet home Alabama! Thanks for the invite – I want to come back! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire December 1st, 2009 at 9:35 amSocial comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by murdershewrites: Manuscript Milestones: Getting Setting: Like many writers, I think of the setting of a book as another character, … http://bit.ly/4OqGIa...
by uberVU - social comments December 1st, 2009 at 7:42 amPersonally, I don’t care for setting much. I don’t mind it, of course, and I think it’s great when you can tell the author did their research and got the setting just right, but, for me, it doesn’t make much of a difference whether there are setting references in a book or not.
by Barbie December 1st, 2009 at 8:10 am(though, when it’s in a love scene under the Catatumbo Lightning, it gives a very pretty atmosphere).
But, in general, for me, when I read, it doesn’t make a difference if the story happens in Papua New Guinea or Burkina Faso or Japan or Russia. It doesn’t matter, either, if something happened in the ‘Red Square’ or a square in some city no one ever heard of. It’s WHAT happened that matters, I guess.
I’m not a setting person. Maybe I’m just weird.
I don’t think that’s odd at all, Barbie. You’re right – what’s happening to the characters is paramount to the story. But sometimes, what happens to them, could *only* happen in a particular place. When I set a book in Brazil, I’m coming to see you! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire December 1st, 2009 at 9:36 amExcellent points, Rocki! I’m a firm believer that the setting IS a character in the story. And, I agree that you don’t have to visit a setting to get it good and right. It’s nice if you can, but if you can’t use your imagination (as Nora suggested) and your resources (all well pointed out–fantastic post!).
by Debra Webb December 1st, 2009 at 8:23 amAs always thanks for the helpful tips.
My current wip takes place in my hometown. I had to rearrange places for things like the dump site of the body and the location of the murder weapon.
by HollyD December 1st, 2009 at 8:38 amI LOVE when I can set a story in a place near where I live – it makes the research so easy. In HUNT HER DOWN, I had the Keys & Miami, so that was easy, and then in MAKE HER PAY, much of the book was set just an hour from home off the coast of Vero Beach. The real challenge with that was taking them to the Azores. Then, lo & behold, one of my dearest friends and fellow writers, Lara Santiago, tells me she used to live in the Azores! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire December 1st, 2009 at 9:39 amYanno what bugs me? When writers use San Francisco as a setting and have their characters who live in San Francisco refer to it as Frisco. ACK ACK ACK! No one in these here parts refers to San Francisco as Frisco. It’s so, so barbaric. It just screams, I didn’t do setting research.
Ok, sorry, not sure where that came from. But, um, yes, I can get pulled from a story with bad setting research.
by Karin Tabke December 1st, 2009 at 10:57 amNote to self: Which character in my manuscript said “Frisco”? The one who lives there or an outsider? Hit “search” now.
by Terry Odell December 1st, 2009 at 11:02 amKarin, my husband says Frisco. He’s a New Yorkah, all the way. And he INSISTS on calling it Frisco. I say quite simply that is grounds for divorce.
by Roxanne St. Claire December 1st, 2009 at 12:04 pmI think you covered it in this excellent post! My one rule of thumb is to try reveal as much as possible through the characters, and therefore using only the setting details relevant to the story.
I don’t always succeed though
In some books, I barely notice the setting because it just isn’t important to the story, in other books, the setting becomes part of the story (for instance OUTLANDER by Diane G.)
by Jen Lyon December 1st, 2009 at 12:34 pmOooh, good tip, through the eyes of a character. Like that, Jen! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire December 1st, 2009 at 2:46 pmGreat post. I miss setting sometimes. Seems books are getting so streamlined that setting and description are disappearing from stories. Doesn’t seem to matter where they take place, who is wearing what, or if the furniture is luxurious or downtrodden. I miss setting and description.
by Jill James December 1st, 2009 at 3:11 pm[This is the second day in a row that the blog ate my comment. grrr.]
Anyway, I’d posted this long comment about how I love setting as character. I want to be immersed in the place and time of the piece, want to feel as if I’ve traveled somewhere else and seen the world through the characters’ eyes.
Great post, Rocki, and terrific suggestions. I love looking at city photos, too, even though so far I’ve set all my books here in south Louisiana. (And I’m with you on the details of the research. It bugs the living crap outta me if someone equates New Orleans with Louisiana — N.O. is so very different from the rest of the state–different attitudes, different culture–until post-Katrina, when its people dispersed into the rest of the state. South Louisiana is like a whole different country from North Louisiana. My husband jokes that the state line should be at I-10.) (Oh, and I can always tell a local writer from someone who’s a ferriner because they’ll use “10″ to refer to the interstate and we always always always say “I-10″ or “I-12″ or the “10-12 split” when referring to the place where they merge.)
Anyway, I love looking at city photos and have a few good links.
http://www.worldcityphotos.org/
http://www.city-photos.org/
(not a lot of cities represented, but these are stunning)
probably the best one:
http://www.citydailyphoto.com/portal/
by Toni McGee Causey December 1st, 2009 at 4:52 pmGreat links, Toni! Thank you!! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire December 2nd, 2009 at 7:40 amI am soooo bookmarking these! Thanks, Toni!
by Silver James December 2nd, 2009 at 10:34 amOMG, great advice. I wish I’d read this ages ago. Setting is my weak point. I generally make things up
. . . but I wrote three books set in Sacramento because that’s someplace I know REALLY well, LOL, and I was tired of research. Then? I made up Santa Louisa for ORIGINAL SIN. It’s so much easier when it’s ALL in my imagination, LOL.
by Allison Brennan December 1st, 2009 at 11:00 pmThere’s a lot to be said for a fictional setting; I’ve used plenty and loved the freedom of that technique. But some books just demand reality, and that’s when the setting requires research. And, uh, NOTHING is lacking in any of your books, Allison! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire December 2nd, 2009 at 7:41 amYeah, I’m a day late. Yesterday was an absolute blur!
I love setting, Rocki, and it always plays a part in my books. New Orleans. Chicago. Ancient Ireland. DC and Virginia…
I’m trying to decide between Dallas and Denver on the next one–both places I’m very familiar with.
FYI, you ever need research out this way, I’m here for ya!
by Silver James December 2nd, 2009 at 10:36 am