My story takes place in the real world, somewhere in northern North America (think Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio) One of the opening scenes is in a zoo, the location is extremely important for character development. I never mentioned the state in my first draft, and I laid out the zoo as I felt convenient. I’m wondering now if it’s important for the layout and description of the zoo to be accurate if I do decide to mention whichever state I choose. This is my first book, but it’s also a story idea I’ve been kicking around since I was nine. It means a lot to me, and I want it to be as good as possible. I don’t want to go through all this work and love to find out something as silly as “the zoo isn’t accurate to the area” breaks the immersion.
Is it an existing zoo, or have you made it up entirely? Because I think that readers can accept new locations being plopped down in existing cities. Pretty much every author does that, I think. But if you named a zoo that readers might have gone to and then gave it a different layout than they remembered, it might feel jarring.
It is a made up zoo that, at this point, has no pinpointed location. I didn’t give it a name. Thank you for the advice, it’s a relief I don’t have to rewrite all of that! I appreciate it.
Just make sure you factor in the environmental issues of a zoo in the midwest if you create one there. A good portion of the zoo is going to need to be indoors, and you would need to put it in a semi-dense population area. Midwest cold is only going to allow certain animals in the outdoor portions, and the air is inherently dryer during the winters, so even indoor animals, mainly reptiles, have difficulty with this. Just some extra stuff to consider with a grain of salt. You could go deep down a rabbit hole on the design if you wanted, which is a writing trap.
I live in Ohio just an hour from Columbus and 2 hrs from Cincinnati. Our summers are hot and our winters extremely cold with the polar ice caps. Gorilla's always get an indoor and outdoor enclosure. Matter of fact most of the animals do. If I remember right, Columbus has a kids water park area. I'll try to find some pictures. I can't remember if the ones I have are in KY or Columbus though. I've been to both.
I don't agree that our winter air is dry. As a matter of fact it's the opposite! Winters are usually very wet. Rain a lot and ice/sleet/snow when the wind from the polar ice caps swing our way.
Which state? I'll correct my statement to upper midwest. Minnesota, Wisconsin, dakotas, Montana, and Iowa are so cold for so long that it sucks all the moisture out of the air. I live in a desert now, and it's still not as dry as the winters up there.
I'm in Ohio. You may be right in the Dakota's and Montana. Over this way though ...very wet. Our weather is known to be "bipolar". One minute it's great, the next you're wondering if you're going to freeze to death.
I think it's fine to use a real city or state and place your fictional zoo there. There are zoos everywhere and they're not all that different. And even if your zoo is different, you're writing a novel. It's fiction. You are allowed some creative liberties. I published a short story that takes place in a bar. I name the city. I name the street. But the bar is not there in real life, at least not the one in my story. But it works. The story sold. So, I wouldn't stress too much over this. I think you'll be fine.
