Rosalind M's comments (member since Aug 09, 2008)

Rosalind M's comments from the Goodreads Sci-Fi/Fantasy Authors group.

For me, it greatly depends upon the point of view of the story being told. If it's being told by an all-seeing narrator, I expect there to be more detail included to build the scene (but only as will be pertinent to the mood or plot of the storyline). If it's being told by one character in particular and he's not interested in, say, the nearby spice market, then I don't need to hear about the scent of different spices in the air or the voices of the spice hawkers, except, perhaps, a passing mention or sneeze.

And another good tip for place names is to determine what existing country resembles (or once resembled) the culture you're creating and look at a map or listing of some of the more obscure present/ancient names of cities in that country. Even if you don't use an exact name, you can make some interesting variations on the ones you find.