Story takes place in Arizona but never been there

For my November book I was thinking of writing a story that takes place in Phoenix Arizona for various reasons but I never been there to my knowledge. Also the story takes place in 2004. How do I set up the scenes when I never been there?
Not sure if this is in the right spot, but I am not sure how to set up the setting in a real location that I never been to and currently unable to go visit before November. I can do YouTube but they are what Phoenix looks like now.

 

This is just me so keep that in mind.

If you've never experienced searing dry heat, thirst so strong you actually consider drinking your urine and sun so hard it feels like lead on your sunburned shoulders, you're probably going to have a hard time writing about it in a manner you and others will find convincing.

Not that you can't write about places you've never been but you run the risk of either coming off as unreliable or using language different than you'd normally use. You'll need to be far more careful than if you were writing about a locale with which you're familiar. If you must use Phoenix you'll need to stay away from descriptions of the surroundings and focus on the characters. That isn't difficult depending on what you're writing.

If your take takes place in the desert you're in trouble. If it takes place in downtown Phoenix, well, cities are cities. Asphalt and concrete are universal. Keep in mind that water is a precious resource in that part of the world.

That's my useless $0.02 but I hope it helps you work around any issues you might hit.

 

Oh, you might want to start following the Phoenix newspapers too. That'll give you a feel for locally important topics and details.

 

Second Google Earth. I set a story I sold on the Isle of Man. Never been there. The audio version was narrated by someone who grew up there and he contacted me asking when I visited. Didn’t believe I had never been.

 

That's fascinating. My daughter and son-in-law spent months on Google Earth, Youtube etc. to prepare for their PCS to South Korea. They lived off base in the middle of a midsize city and spent most of their time with locals.

My daughter told me after arriving that it was wasted time, she wasn't even close to as prepared as she thought she'd be. It took her a good six months to feel she had enough of a grasp to not look or act like an idiot in public.

How did you get enough of a feel for a local to think you'd been there? The local idioms? So much to learn in a new place.

Thanks in advance!

 

Well, Google Earth can only go so far.

I set my horror short story in anytown USA. I've only been to the USA once, when I was 12.

I made the assumption that there are charity shops in the US the same as we have over here, where you donate goods which they sell and the money goes to their charity. Now, I don't know if that is the case or not. If not, the story would need a bit of rewriting for consistency.

I also originally made the assumption that there are betting shops where you can bet on sporting events, but of course, sports betting was, until recemtly, illegal in the US. I got round that by simply letting the reader assume the MC had a private bet with friends.

And that's with a country where the culture is not dissimilar in many ways to the UK's.

When I first went to Japan, I was hit with major culture shock - and that's despite the fact that I knew what to expect. I'm pretty familiar with Japanese culture and I speak Japanese. I wouldn't have had a cat in hell's chance of setting a believable story in Tokyo before that. There are so many little, subtle aspects of life that you simply wouldn't pick up without experiencing it. It wasn't until my third visit before I felt comfortable.

 

For purposes of the story I didn’t need the kind of information you’d need to if you were going to go visit. I just did as much from looking at image and a bit of reading to give the overall flavor—weather, description of road architecture, landscape, and the like. That was enough for the narrator to believe I’d actually visited, but I don’t think it would have been enough to make me seem like a native if I’d visited myself, and certainly not if visiting an even more distinct culture like S. Korea.

 

Gotcha. Still, hat's off! I don't think I'd do well composing anything about an environment of which I know nothing.

OFF TOPIC They've been back stateside since April. Last week my now four year old grandson told his mom he wanted to go see the Fruit Ahjumma (the middle aged lady who sold fruit in the open air market.) The Fruit Ahjumma took a shine to my grandkids and gave them treats every time they went to the market. My grandson doesn't yet understand the market is across an ocean.

My granddaughter attended a Korean preschool for a year. She just started American kindergarten and is having trouble with the fact that the Asian kids in her school don't understand her when she starts using Korean with them.

Thanks again!

ETA: I'm wrong. She said their learning the phrases for excuse me, thank you and other social niceties earned them a pile of bonus points with the locals. So I guess she was wrong too, it wasn't a complete waste of time.

 

There are charity shops all over the USA ...I was one of their best customers when I lived there. But they are NEVER called 'charity shops.' They are referred to as 'thrift stores.' Or by the name of the charitable organisation that runs the particular store. The Salvation Army store. The St Vincent de Paul store, etc. Those names will be fairly local. But the generic name is 'thrift store.' Or at least it was in Michigan, where I lived.

Yeah, the betting shop thing. I was astonished when I moved to the UK to find 'betting shops.' What? Nope, we didn't have those. There were casinos in certain places in Michigan in latter years, but that's not the same thing. At the same time, we don't have 'liquor stores' here in the UK. We do have 'off licenses,' which are party-store kinds of places that are licensed to sell alcohol, but usually sell a few other snacky foods and light groceries as well.

Incidentally, 'party store' is also a term that doesn't get used here in Scotland. When I first said 'party store' I got a bunch of weird looks ...because people wondered if I was referring to a 'fancy dress shop.' In other words, a place you would go to to rent a costume for a costume party or 'fancy dress' party—or paper hats and streamers and buntings, etc. They had no idea why I might want to go to one to buy soft drinks and snacks!

Little things can trip you up. Never talk about going to the 'drugstore' here in the UK. The look you get is pretty funny. They're called either 'The Chemist' or 'The Pharmacy.'

Here in Scotland you go to 'the pub,' but when you're there you head for 'the bar' to order your drinks. Or you sit at the bar, meaning you're on a stool with the bartender right in front of you. You don't say 'I'm going to the bar,' meaning you'll be meeting your friends at the local watering hole. You say "I'm going to the pub."

Pubs often have separate rooms in them, that are away from 'the bar area.' They can be 'snugs' which are fairly small rooms with a table or two, or 'lounges' which are larger rooms with tables and fairly comfy seats. You buy your drinks at 'the bar,' and carry them into 'the snug' or 'the lounge' to drink them—if you don't want to be part of the crowd standing or sitting at 'the bar.' Most pubs also have 'function rooms,' which are often upstairs and where people can rent the space for parties, etc. Function rooms usually aren't open UNLESS there's a party or some event going on.

Research. It's the only way around these kinds of things. And never assume things are the same in all places. Ask. Research. Visit. Make friends with people who live there.

It's fine to set stories in places you've never been. But it really does require heavy research if you're not going to end up looking silly as a writer. Even if you do heavy research, you can still make mistakes. Some very very successful authors have made major mistakes ...often in the day-to-day things that research won't necessarily throw at you. Or overall attitudes towards things that outsiders might not know are there.

It's safer if your POV characters are from 'outside' the area you're setting the story in. Any mistaken perceptions will be the mistakes an incomer might make—that a native wouldn't. If you portray an area wrongly from the POV of somebody who was born and raised there, you can get into bother with your readers who actually know the score.

 

That's true of states as well as countries. I've lived in California, Colorado and South Carolina. Even among those three states there are significant differences in day-to-day life. California and Colorado have water problems that crop up in the strangest places. Early in our marriage my husband found acreage in Colorado going for $150 per acre. He thought that was a great investment. I checked it out and told him it was highway robbery for land without water rights.

I had to explain water rights to someone whose home state's only concern with water is flooding. And then there was mineral rights. ...

 

Phoenix is the third largest city in the country.
Yeah it is in a desert that gets up to 120's in the
dead of summer, but during winter it is much more
mild to the 70's/80's. Also you see saguaro cactus
every where.
What part of Phoenix does it take place, there is Mesa,
Fountain hills, Scottsdale, Chandler, and a few other
little sub-city areas that make up Phoenix as a whole
(kinda like the Burroughs in NYC).

 

I've lived in Osaka for nearly twenty years and I'd still feel uncomfortable setting something here; it's that old "gaijin bubble" thing going on.

 

I would too, if I lived in Osaka.

Osaka's suburbs are some of the most depressing I've ever seen...

Anyway, I don't speak Osaka-ben.

 

My two eldest kids met up with kids in Osaka and spent four days there, three in Tokyo. They stayed in a refurbished store that was converted to a B&B type motel. They adored Osaka. Tokyo was cool they said but Osaka was better.