Writing locations

[Djmac1031]

I've really been enjoying writing this past year and a half or so, but I often find my limitations frustrating.

In this specific instance, I'm talking about writing locations.

I'm currently working on a story where the guy, after coming into some money, decides he wants to vacation somewhere tropical; Mexico, the Caribbean, Spain, Brazil. Somewhere with a beautiful nude beach.

My problem is of course I don't really KNOW any of these locations, certainly not intimately.

I suppose I don't need a TON of details; my plot will have him renting a private house with a private beach right next to the public nude beach.

I also suppose I can just Google info and piece together what I need.

I just don't want the story to sound like I'm talking out my ass, lol. Because of course, I will be.

I guess just keep it as simple as possible, try not to include cultural details if I don't know what I'm talking about.

But it would be nice to add a little color to the damn thing.

Do any of you struggle with this? I'm sure a lot of you are better educated or more traveled, making that easier.

Do you do tons of research? Just wing it? Or stick to only writing locations and cultures you're intimately familiar with?

 

[Bazzle]

Watch Youtube travelogues

 

[alohadave]

Unless specifics about the location are important to the story, don't sweat it too much. When I'm reading, I don't particularly care about reading turn-by-turn directions of characters driving.

 

[Bazzle]

Unless specifics about the location are important to the story, don't sweat it too much. When I'm reading, I don't particularly care about reading turn-by-turn directions of characters driving.

You've also got to not make it sound like a wikipedia entry...

 

[onehitwanda]

I know central London and bits of the south east of England well enough to write convincing (or at least, I think they are) representations of sometimes fictional locations in that area. I also know a bit of western Europe. I grew up in southern Africa. I would be entirely lost trying to write stories set anywhere else because I'd feel like I was making things up. So anything I set in these three areas has a chance of at least not offending anyone but actual locals

When placing a story, if the place is important, I either draw directly on my memories or else fire up Google street view and go "walking" so I can somewhat understand the geography of the place.

 

[NotWise]

Lots of research, and if that doesn't work, then a different location. I have to be familiar enough with the location that I can see it around me.

The most research I've done was for the Red Witch's story in One Night in Gormaz and A Valentine's Day Mess Pt. 4. Those were medieval locations, so it was a problem with time as well as place, and it was a few months of work. I worked on a story for a while that would have been on the beach in Belize. I'd kind of like vacationing there, but I scrapped that story, and I don't remember why.

Edit: Try real estate listings as a source.

 

[MrPixel]

I use Google Streets a lot, but, then, I only write about US locations, and locales I literally have pass-through familiarity with. One story mentioned tourist activities, and I had one direct and one indirect experience that helped set the scenes.

Google Maps and Streets are really helpful, frankly. I needed to pinpoint a pizza parlor in the city where I've staged my big story, and found one "across Main from the courthouse". "Cruising" down area streets hints a little at culture, too; signage and architecture help with look and feel.

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

Go have a holiday in the tropics for research purposes

 

[Djmac1031]

Appreciate the feedback so far.

Odds are, my story isn't going to branch out much further beyond the beach setting; it's not the main crux of the story and I'm not going to have him spend a lot of time sightseeing or anything.

So it'll probably boil down to choosing a real beach at a real location then just inventing the house he stays in and some surrounding details.

Because as someone pointed out, I don't want the damn thing reading like a Wikipedia entry either. Or sound like a complete jackass writing about a place i know nothing about.

Even more general location stuff is hard: two characters go for a walk in a park. What's the park LOOK like? What's there? Where is everything in relation to them? Etc.

I have another story where I'd like my characters to go hiking on a nature trail because it would be helpful with part of the development of a specific character but again, writing the DETAILS of that nature trail are going to be really tricky.

I'd love for it to be a little more interesting than "as she walked the trail, she thought the scenery was beautiful."

Things to work on I suppose. Research what you can, wing it the rest of the way lol.

 

[MrPixel]

...writing the DETAILS of that nature trail are going to be really tricky.

Researching the indigenous flora might be helpful. "We passed a gnarled live oak that appeared to have been hit by lightning," or, "The damn palmettos scraped my thigh up pretty bad. I knew leaving my jeans at the campsite was probably a mistake."

 

[KeithD]

I've been to most of the locations I use. For those I haven't Google and Bing and provide enough to include enough flavor of the locale.

 

[alohadave]

Even more general location stuff is hard: two characters go for a walk in a park. What's the park LOOK like? What's there? Where is everything in relation to them? Etc.

I have another story where I'd like my characters to go hiking on a nature trail because it would be helpful with part of the development of a specific character but again, writing the DETAILS of that nature trail are going to be really tricky.

That's the beauty of using generic words like 'park' and 'trail', everyone has an idea of what those are and will fill in the details from their own experience.

Maybe a quick description of the type of terrain, like hiking trails outside LA are going to be different than Seattle, but that is part of setting the scene.

What is more important: what the park looks like, or what your characters are doing in the park?

 

[SimonDoom]

It's a good question. I'm only a moderately traveled person, so I lack personal familiarity with most foreign settings. I tend to set my stories in locations with which I AM familiar, because I'm much more interested in focusing on the kinky storyline than I am in the setting.

I'd say the first strategy would be to stick with what you know. You may not have been to many tropical vacation locations, but have you been to any? What details do you remember? Emphasize the things you do remember.

Second, fudge the specifics of the setting. Instead of setting the story in a real-world location that gives readers the chance to fact-check you, set it in an imaginary version of real-life settings. I do this, and I feel like it works.

Third, there's always online research. Name a place and you can probably find an almost infinite quantity of online tutorials and travelogue videos about its geography, people, history, customs, turns of phrase, and key things to see. Then, for your story just pick a few. It's amazing what you can get away with if you get just a few details right and then just fudge the rest.

Agatha Christie was never a detective, but by working in hospitals and spending time with her husband on archeological digs she acquired knowledge of poisons and archeology and incorporated it into her stories. It's the old "write what you know" -- however you happen to know it.

 

[onehitwanda]

Even more general location stuff is hard: two characters go for a walk in a park. What's the park LOOK like? What's there? Where is everything in relation to them? Etc.

There are always ducks. There may be pigeons or seagulls. Sometimes there are both. If it's a wild park there are couples dotted all over the place - under trees if it's sunny, walking arm in arm in their hats and scarves and coats if it's snowy. There's the distant sound of machinery - a mechanised tree trimmer or possibly a lawnmower. The trees are budding, or the leaves are bright green under the sunlight, or there's a patch of geometrically-planted tulips that's part of a cultural section on the Netherlands (for some reason). Or maybe it's a small patch of common in between tall buildings; and sunlight reflects down onto the couple from the glass edifices that surround them. Maybe there are dog-walkers, or maybe there's a model boat lake.

Be brief. Don't try to describe the scene in exacting detail. Rather give hints and let me construct my own scene based off them; it will interest me more than a table of contents.

I have another story where I'd like my characters to go hiking on a nature trail because it would be helpful with part of the development of a specific character but again, writing the DETAILS of that nature trail are going to be really tricky.

Does it really? Is there some specific topography (cliff, ditch, trapdoor alligator) or view (Kilimanjaro, Annapurna, gates of Tartarus) that is specifically required? Or is it not sufficient to simply describe a bit of it?

(to Anglicise this a bit):

Mac paused and wiped the sweat away from his eyes. Then he turned and stared back down the path that snaked between the densely-packed birch saplings. "Watch out for the brambles back there; there are Nettles..."
"Ow. Fuck!"
"As I was trying to tell you, there are nettles under it so don't just go barging through..."
Jen limped up to him, fuming. "You could have told me that five seconds earlier. Fuck, that stings!"
"Sorry, I wasn't thinking. I'm so used to them that I hardly see them any more."
"Dick," she said. "I'm going to make you kiss that better later."

People who walk know what a hiking or nature trail looks like. People who do not will not benefit from an in-depth categorisation of every rock, pine cone, exposed root etc that is there; all that matters is the fallen branch or convenient tree stump or amusingly-shaped-rock that causes or plays a role in whatever scene will unfold. Anything else is too much - rather remove it.

Or at least, that's my opinion.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

In my non-Sci-Fi/Fantasy writing, I am deliberately vague about locations, specifically to avoid such problems. I describe the location, but if the story is happening in Paris, Austin or Manchester is not important at all for the story. I am certainly not going to spend hours and days researching a particular city/location, just so the 0.5% of potential readers could recognize that I was talking out of knowledge. If an actual city or a certain specific location is somehow important for the story, then yeah, I guess you would need to do some research to avoid talking BS.

 

[Northstar4695]

I usually don’t give a name to specific locations, give only a general location like the region, or else I make one up. I do this because then I don’t have to worry about a reader being distracted if I get details wrong. Usually I do have a specific real place I’ve been to or know a lot about in mind, which helps with an authentic feel, but it also lets me change the place to suit my story.

 

[Djmac1031]

there some specific topography (cliff, ditch, trapdoor alligator) or view (Kilimanjaro, Annapurna, gates of Tartarus) that is specifically required? Or is it not sufficient to simply describe a bit of it?

Probably not. The crux of that piece would be more about what this particular character would be experiencing and feeling while discovering the natural beauty around her. Without giving away the whole story, it's something very new for her.

So in that case I'll probably focus more on that than specific location details.

I suppose I could pull up pictures of a specific location and add just enough real world description of it to get the point across without writing a travel brochure.

Ultimately, I'm an amateur writer posting on an amateur site, so I'm not gonna overthink it or try to write something beyond my means.

Still, it's something I'd like to improve on, adding a touch of color to a story.

#Goals

 

[Euphony]

Helps me to think about details as outfitting a kitchen.

You can buy all sorts of specialty tools to do even basic tasks and can bog yourself down further by buying tools that really only good for one thing.

As drawer space, readers mental patience and detail memory, is limited, the author must pick your task battles.

Strive for efficiency as much as you can. Prioritize details as you would a pineapple corer. It's low in general, much higher if you're writing a ton of pineapples.

Heavy research can be a siren's call but can bog you down, especially if you consider this place not as details hungry as a publishing house and its readers.

Writing what you want to write is always critical but I tend to be the type who also likes to see benefits for significant labors and I've not noticed a a reader subset starving for details in categories I write. (now were I Sci-Fi, I might go more research nuts)

 

[onehitwanda]

there's a lovely term "analysis paralysis". Good enough right now is better than possibly perfect next week.

 

[Djmac1031]

Strive for efficiency as much as you can. Prioritize details as you would a pineapple corer. It's low in general, much higher if you're writing a ton of pineapples.

I might wind up making it REALLY easy on myself with a time jump lol

He decides to vacation. Time jump to him on a beach, sand, sun, general details about the setting.

He's really just there to meet a woman; a woman who wanders on to his private section of beach while he's sunbathing nude.

I'm sure readers are more interested in what happens next as opposed to exactly where he is and how accurate I describe it lol.

I'm also not going to make the mistake of writing some bad, Ignorant American version of a "foreign" woman.

She'll have some ethnicity, and an accent he'll notice, but she'll speak fluent English lol.

 

[Euphony]

there's a lovely term "analysis paralysis". Good enough right now is better than possibly perfect next week.

You've lost me. What does an analy sis have to do with all of this? (AH incest protocol: INVOKED. Star Wars protocol: Coming on line)

 

[Euphony]

there's a lovely term "analysis paralysis". Good enough right now is better than possibly perfect next week.

Been around a lot of weeks. Never once met even "reasonably perfect" and I waited around plenty of weeks for it.

I'll just bungle my way through the jungle these days.

 

[onehitwanda]

You've lost me. What does an analy sis have to do with all of this? (AH incest protocol: INVOKED. Star Wars protocol: Coming on line)

These are not the step sisters you are looking for.

 

[Trionyx]

Grab a few facts about the larger area you are thinking of (flora, fauna, weather perhaps) and make up a location with a fake name. Toss in the few facts and no one will ever know.

 

[Bazzle]

Thinking about it, most of my stories involve the protagonists stumbling drunk from a kitchen to a living room. So geography of the outside is a blur to everyone, reader and participate...