Knowing Where Your Story Takes Place

Where does your story take place? What do the houses where your characters live look like. What about the town or city? Is it on the earth? If so, what country? If not, what’s the planet like?

Those are questions you need to answer for yourself if no one else. I once read a cozy mystery series where the main character was on her way to California for a job interview. She was traveling by plane Kentucky to California. She ended up in a tiny town nestled between mountains and the sea. I have no idea where such a place could be as there is no coast between Kentucky and California. I suppose she might have gone east and ended up in Maine, but why would she go east to go west?

You don’t want your readers to be puzzling over things like that. It didn’t matter for the story, but it puzzled me and popped me out of the story for a while. I finally decided to ignore it and get back into the story. A lot of readers don’t when they encounter something weird that isn’t part of the story.

That said, if the author had left Kentucky and California out of the story, thus avoiding the whole issue. It wasn’t vital to the story. It did have a purpose, it tied two series together. The execution was awkward though. You want to avoid issues like that one.

I make rough maps of the towns I use in my stories. I’m not an artist so they are a series of rectangles to represent locations with road names. That way, I know which way my characters are traveling at all times. It also reminds me of where I said a particular location was. I even look at floor plans for the houses. It both orientates me, my characters, and the reader as well as keeping things consistent.

Taking the time to think about your story’s settings helps you to stay consistent. World building is important, even if your story takes place in the present in a real place. Spatial awareness is the key to realism. It helps your characters come to life which is, after all, our goal as writers.

You don’t need to draw detailed maps and plans. I can’t draw, so my maps, as I said, are rectangles. I label the rectangles as the bars, restaurants, friends’ houses. which should be there. I put street names between the rectangles. This type of map serves me. It helps my character take the correct course whenever it goes somewhere.

World building is part of the background work that you must never skimp on. Even if you keep it all in your head, keep it consistent. Know where your story takes place and your readers will know as well.

About pebblepup

I am not one who is comfortable talking about myself but here goes. I enjoy writing, family history, and reading. I decided to do this blog because I wanted to try something new. I decided to make it a weekly blog because I wasn't sure that I could keep up with a daily one, and monthly seemed like I was writing a magazine. I think I did ok with my choices. You'll notice that there are not a lot of graphics on my site. That's because there are graphics plastered everywhere on the Internet and those sites sometimes take forever to load. This blog is a place where you can kick back, relax and be ready to be amused. At least I hope I willbamuse you. This blog is on a variety of subjects from my ficitional cat agency, the FFL, which is monthly, to instructional blogs to editorials, which are my opinions only. I admit that I don't know everything and could be wrong -- I frequently am. Now, stop reading about me and read what I have to say!