Writing A Novel: Locations

If you are going to research a terrestrial location, try to do so in person, or risk looking the fool to someone who has actually visited or lived there.

You can get facts and maps online, but the stuff that really resonates with readers (or generates discord with those who really know the place) is much harder to discover online. Smells and sounds, the pace of life, the people, the overall feel of the place; the graffiti, the local foods, street culture; these are best discovered in person.

 

Thanks everybody for your advice

I'm thinking of setting my novel in America but in a made up small town.

Does that sound ok?

 

Just remember: Because you're making it up doesn't mean you shouldn't still Google each and every name you drop. In my series of YA novels set in a 100% fictional British village, surrounded by 100% fictional British towns, in a 100% fictional British county, I Googled every single thing I mentioned, from made up public figures, town names, saints, everything, just to make sure there wasn't one, or wasn't one nearby. There's a Bilsworth in America, but not one in the UK, so I was happy with using that. The people's names just came up on those family tree websites but weren't anyone important. Etc etc.

You can really shoot yourself in the foot by inventing specifics only to discover they already exist, and someone is sueing you for misrepresentation.

 

My places do exist on earth lol I have taken names from my local area for a lot of places and things.

 

I agree with what Cogito said about actually visiting where you're basing the novel on. I think it still applies even if you're writing about a fictional setting - visit some small towns (and large ones to get a comparison) in America and adapt your experiences there to the fictional small town. There's only so much you can get from researching online after all.

 

just be sure to make it a town in the region you live in [or one you know well], so you'll get the area, culture and speech patterns right...

 

Or, if the timeframe doesn't matter, set it a couple of hundred years into the future. That way, you can have a couple of the main street names the same, but the rest is up to you!

 

I made up a town.
Stuck it in the middle of Canada.
All my stories happen there.
There's a city side, and there's a forest, and there's a country area. Lol.
I guess it's a big area. xD
Oh, and there's an underground, town.
All my novels are connected (even though they're not in the same series)
and all take place in the same place.
In some novels they meet, and interact.
It's really trippy. =D
I can control everything, bc the town doesn't exist.

 

I don't choose a place. I just Choose a name, because then it is easier to fit to my purposes. I may base it on a real place though. If you choose a real place you need to do some good research, probably visit it. I'm not a proffessional thoough so maybe you don't want my advice (Im just 14)