Researching Setting

I’m discovering that one of the hardest things to research is the setting for my work. There are three different scenarios you will run into with setting, and they all come with different ways of handling them. Some are easier than others in some ways but then harder in other ways.

The three different different cases are:

The story is set in a mythical place of your own creation. We see this, of course, in science fiction and fantasy, but we also see it in fiction. For my book Dream with Little Angels, I created the mythical town of Alvin, Alabama. The story may or may not be set in present day. In fact, most science fiction is set in the future, and most fantasy is set using some made up calendar only the author fully understands.

The story is set in a real place on the planet at the current time. Many novels take this approach. If you get your setting right, it makes for a very believable book, and people like to read about places they live in, so you’re probably going to get a boost in sales wherever you happen to set it.

The story is set in a real place on the planet at some time in the past. Now we’re in the realm of history, or if you’re writing fiction, you’re book will probably fall under historical fiction, historical romance, or historical fantasy. Or possibly some combination of the above, or maybe even a new historical grafting I have yet to hear about.

Now let’s look at the different obstacles each of these three different conditions present.

In the first case, you may still want to set your mythical city or town somewhere on the real Earth, so it will require a little bit of research and decision on your part as to where you put it. The nice thing about making up your own city, though, is that you’re not going to piss anybody off by getting the Fred Meyer supermarket on the wrong side of Main Street. Within the city boundaries you’ve mapped out in your imaginary city, you’re free to do whatever you wish. Within reason, if it’s not a science fiction or fantasy book.

I say within reason because, depending on what part of the world you set your place in, you will want to research things like the architecture of that area, the land formations, the weather, etc. For instance, you wouldn’t set a story in a mythical town in Maine with everyone living in shotgun shacks sitting on arid desert land. It just wouldn’t work. But these research requirements, by comparison, are at least minimal.

I do strongly suggest you keep a Story Bible containing every detail of information as it enters your story. You should have maps outlining all your streets and keys that relate to textual documents where you list everything you mention in the book. For instance, if you did put a Fred Meyer supermarket on Main Street, maybe give it a 1M key and then, in your city documentation, under 1M list every detail you say about that supermarket as it comes up in your writing. Anyone you mention working there should be written down, the name of the owner, what time they receive deliveries, anything. Whatever goes into your book should also go into your Bible. My Story Bibles are generally thicker than my books when I am done, but trust me. You’ll love yourself for taking the time to do this.

If you’re writing science fiction or fantasy, you may not need to refer to the real world at all. You might not be required to position your mythical place on the real Earth, so you can just run with whatever imaginary pieces of culture you wish to put into your setting. Maybe everyone owns butterfly farms and live in soap bubbles, I dunno. There is absolutely no need for researching the setting, because the setting is going to come out of your head. I would still keep a Story Bible, though, so you have easy access as to who owns what butterfly farm and who lives in what soap bubble. I’d also like to see your maps

With science fiction and fantasy, you don’t even need to adhere to any local standard because you are creating the local standard. The downside, of course, is that you have to come up with everything. Every little detail is your responsibility and, if you want to create the most verisimilitude you possibly can, you want to make your setting as deep as possible. This includes weather, government, history, social aspects, etc.

The second case is more demanding, because now you’re dealing with real cities in the real world with real details that readers are going to know about. And trust me, when you get things wrong, they’ll tell you. So you have to research the layout of your places. You have to know the hills and the valleys and the temples and the bazaars. You need to know every statue, and every cobblestone road. You not only need to know the names of places and buildings and rivers, you need to know if there are local names for them as well. Often people living somewhere don’t call things by the names they are given on maps. Things have colloquial names, too. Like the Red Memorial Bridge might be called Stone Bridge to locals because that’s what it used to be called before they renamed it ten years ago.

These things are hard to find in books. You can look at maps, but it’s hard to get the real details, like rocky steps or cobblestone streets, and even harder to get the sounds and the smells you would take in while walking along those streets.

If you’re lucky enough to be able to travel to your locations and go on what I refer to as a “camera safari” (a term I stole from Barney), it is probably well worth your while. But sometimes you’re writing about places on the other side of the world and simply can’t afford to go.

So what do you do?

You need to find people who have gone, or better yet, people who were brought up in these places. Better still, find people who live there now.

The internet has made the world small, and if you ask around enough, you’re bound to find someone who fits the bill. Be nice to that person, offer him or her an acknowledgment in your book, offer a free copy or even five free copies and you might be able to nudge them into going on a camera safari for you.

I’m not advocating giving up on traditional research. You’re still going to need that. But having someone you can interview on a regular basis is a godsend.

The third and final case is the worst, because now you’re writing about a place that no longer exists. My suggestion to you is to still get someone with the knowledge of the place in present day. They may, if you are lucky, have heard stories about how it used to be. This is also where books continue to come in handy, along with Internet articles. Try to imagine yourself what it must have been like, now that you know the details of how the place looks today. You can read about what wars or devastation assaulted the area and try to piece together a hypothesis that is at least somewhat believable.

One rule of thumb: if you’ve exhausted all the research material you can find on a place in the past, and followed up every lead for people to interview that you can, you’re pretty safe going with your imagination on whatever is left, because it’s doubtful that any of your readers will know anyway. And if they do, you’ll find yourself with that one bad review on Amazon that keeps dragging your score down to a 4.8.

Having said all that, now comes my commercial:

I’m writing a book that takes place in 10th century India and Tibet and I have been to neither place in neither time. Now, I know there’s no time machines available (that’s a work in progress in my garage), but I was wondering if there was anybody who has been to either place and could discuss setting with me? Or maybe even have photos?

I’d value any chat about either country, but the specific cities I’m looking at are: Bengal, Bangladesh, the Munshiganj District, Nalando, Bodhgaya, Sumatra, Vikramasila, the kingdom of Gugemarker, Nyetang, Lhasa, and Dhaka.

You can either fire me off an IM from here at the Village, or email me at whiterabbit7844@aim.com. Or just reply to this topic.

I thank you in advance for any help you can give me, and you’ll for sure get a big acknowledgment in the book plus a signed copy! Or even five, if you’re willing to be a big help

Michael out.

The post Researching Setting appeared first on Michael Hiebert.