The setting of a book is a very important part of the whole book creation process. And you find yourself with different writing tasks, depending on whether you are using a real setting or a fictional one.
In my first series – The Lamb’s Bay Mysteries – I based the fictional town of Lamb’s Bay on everything I have experienced and know about small towns located on the seashore. I took all my emotions, memories, both good and bad, and wove then into a picture of a town where, despite its lovely setting, murder and mayhem could occur. I seem to have done a good job as I have been asked by readers such questions as which town I based my descriptions on, the link for the B&B’s website, etc. And it’s great if you manage to draw your readers into your fictional world so much that they begin to feel it is real. Even I wish it was real.
However, it’s different when you set you book in a real location. Unless it is somewhere you live and know well, you will need research or a visit to scope out the areas of the city or places you want to include in your books. This can be fun if you like to travel and enjoy research. But you also have to be careful to use the information you collect carefully. For example, if you place a building or park in the wrong section of the city or village your readers may, probably will, call you on it.
I was nervous writing my recent book, Summers in the City, part of the Bailey Summers Mysteries. I was using my hometown of Montreal as the setting. What could I mention about Montreal and how should I portray it to my readers? I did not want to sound like I was dropping travel notes into my text. And mostly I used real place names and landmarks, but did make up a couple of them.
Well, so far, no Montrealers have complained that my portrayal of our city is not correct – if they do, my excuse will be that it is fiction and sometimes we need to move things around to accommodate the plot. But it helps if you put a disclaimer at the beginning of the book. I did that and have not had any complaints – so far.
What about you? Do you or did you use a real or a fictional setting for your writing? Have you had any comments from local readers?
