Location, location, location

Setting the scenes for your story is as important as knowing who your characters are.  You would hardly expect to have a believable story about a polar bear set in the Sahara desert.

Once you have decided on the main character (the protagonist)  of your story,  you need to give careful consideration to where the action takes place, and unless your story is a fantasy, you need to make your setting believable; in fact even if your story is a fantasy it still needs to be believable!

You can have a fictional setting, made up of different components of places you know, or you can have a factual setting, for instance, Aberdeen, Scotland.  The main problem with using factual settings is that, unless you have actually been to the place, how do you know what it’s like? It is common knowledge that Aberdeen is also known as The granite city , but what does that actually mean? (In case you are wondering, it’s because the city buildings are mainly constructed of granite, a very hard, usually grey, stone; the kind they make Curling stones from)

It is always a good idea, as I have said before and often, to write about what you know.  That way, your stories will have the ring of truth about them. 

You can put money on the fact that if you get it wrong, someone, somewhere will take great pleasure in pointing out that, actually, the railway station is Kirkby Brough is  not next to the Flying Pig public house, thank you very much.

If you decide to use a fictional setting then plan that setting, draw a rough map of the place, mark in the locations you are likely to use in your story; where is the dental surgery in relation to the bookies, the surgical appliance shop in relation to the barbers shop? Essentially, make up a little guide book to guide you through the little places in your world.

There have been very few successful stories which have been written without a cast-iron geographical  setting, real or imagined. 

One that comes to mind is ‘One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, which is set in a psychiatric hospital that could, more or less, be anywhere.  Most of us ‘less gifted’ writers will rely on using location to give our stories an element of believability.

Once you have decided on your location you will need to stick to it, make sure it is consistent throughout the story, this is where your map and guide book will be invaluable.

Another tip is to refer to pictures or photographs , using your sight as well as your imagination, picture postcards can be a useful tool here.  It is no good describing to your reader that the protagonist is looking at the wild, churning sea through the sitting room window when later you have him watching ambulances coming and going from the local hospital, unless the hospital is actually on the beach: not really believable, eh?

Of course the problem with these tools is that you can’t experience smell or noise or ‘atmosphere’ which may be a bit of a drawback.

You may be surprised to find that you seem to be spending a lot more time planning your story than writing it, this is often how it works.  What you will find, I’m sure, is that your writing will improve no end with the consistent use of carefully thought out plans.

Have a go at writing a descriptive scene about a man cycling to work: describe the route he takes, the sights he sees, the smells and the sounds as he travels through from one side of a busy city to the other, use pictures from magazines or from the interent to make your location plan. (Or you could have a go at using the Googlemaps  service which allows to you take a virtual journey through real places.)

 

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