Hi I need advice for setting. Novel is set in a real town, first person narrator. The problem is I started the novel when I left university, around 2000. Im happy with how it is now Ive more or less completed it.. finally! However time setting isn't really specified but looking at it now there are no mentions of iphones, mobile data, social media. The narrator uses an old nokia, uses pay phones, there isn't much internet, and I don't want to update the story to include these things as it would change the plot ie the narrator instead of searching out his old friend would simply go to social media, whereas in the story he has to track him down. Theres also things like smoking in pubs, a reference to a famous punk club that closed in the early 2000s where the narrator goes, so I don't really want to update the whole story. Is it possible to keep the story setting as around the 2000 period, and if so do I have to make reference to it being in 2000 rather than present day? Will I have to drop in a reference to tell the reader that its actually around 2000 and now set nowadays? The novel isn't written as someone looking back on 18 years ago either, its first person so the action is happening now. The narrator is a 20 year old in his hometown around the year 2000.
You can write the novel the way you like it. If you send it to agent/publisher, they might note that your setting makes the novel sound dated and advice a change to be made.
I don't think it's really the setting you're talking about as much as the time period. Is time part of setting? IDK. But I think the real question to ask yourself is if the novel feels outdated. Really be honest with yourself about this because there is a lot of competition out there. I know it probably seems like a lot of work to update your story, but after putting in all those years of work, you don't want them to be wasted because you didn't go the extra step. If you're passing this off as a contemporary novel, I think you almost have to update it. If you're setting it in the early 2000s, I think you need a reason for doing it as opposed to using the modern day. And your reason for setting your story 18 years in the past shouldn't be because that's when you started writing it. You need to have a reason that will satisfy readers. I would give this some thought about which direction is going to give you the best shot at publishing, but I think you have to do one of these two things.
I would set the story in the 'correct' year, and make it clear what year it is. It won't hurt the story, and will save a lot of head-scratching. Face it. Nokia phones? You've just written a historical novel! Seriously, could you play the 'millenium' card in any way? The year 2000 was quite a milestone at the time. If you had set your novel in 1934, you wouldn't have to go into monkeyshines about how the characters are now old, etc. (Unless this was crucial to the plot.) You'd just tell the story, wouldn't you? I'd do the same with this one, but make the time period clear.
Thanks for all the great advice, I really appreciate the comments here all of which are making me think! Ive checked the original file and it was actually started in 2005, but in the novel Ive not stated any specific dates. It sounds contemporary, but there are bits throughout ie no iphones, people use payphones, no social media. Although no dates are stated, there are references to bands that were around at the time, and because it is set in a real town (the narrators home town which he returns to) there are scenes set in a famous club (which was demolished in 2012) and a art deco cinema (which closed in 2009) and other little references that in the novel are still there, but as of now these buildings and landmarks were gone by around 2012, so in my head the novel was set around 2010. There are also things like having to go check train times at the ticket desk, whereas now people just look online. Little things which today we take for granted have iphones, being able to look people up, find out anything, but 10 years or so ago we didnt have the information and as such the narrator doesnt have this information at his fingertips. So - I can update it to now - go through and try and change things ie iphones, social media. But this will mean key scenes at these landmarks wont make sense because they were gone by about 2012. Does that matter? I guess a person reading it wont know that certain places didnt exist, unless they are from this town too. I can make its setting ambiguous and just say phone instead of nokia, possibly make the narrator computer averse and shuns social media. Or I can keep it as it is, maybe date it as the Millennium as suggested, so bring it forward a few years. But there isnt any real reason for it to be written in 2000 other than the fact that in my early 20s I started writing from the point of a 20ish narrator looking back at events that had happened in university and going back to his home town, and was writing about what I knew, about real situations and at the time the references were fresh. I am worried it will sound dated. Im happy with the story, its just that reading it back now, as a reader I might be perplexed at why if the narrator is searching for someone, just go on social media etc. I think Im getting bogged down in the details about the town too, and wondering if it matters that I play around with certain places not being there anymore, no one will know unless they actually live her. But I do like books that are written about real places ie Catcher and his wanderings around places in New York. I think Im thinking maybe make it non-specific, so it could be anywhere between 2010-2018, and just make the narrator averse to modern gadgets, phones, social media. This would actually fit with his character as hes continually harking back to the past, no able to live in the present day. I like the Millennium idea for a setting, but theres just no real good enough reason for it to be set then, it would have to have something to do with the plot, and I cant see a way of making it fit into the plot in any meaninful way, apart from dropping in a reference to the Millennium near the beginning, for no good reason other than to make it fit better.
