Overthinkings: Choosing A Setting

This summer I attempted to write a beach story. It didn’t work. Partially, I think, because I had always thought of the idea as a mountain story and it just didn’t translate culturally to an island. It is a palate cleanser story that I will eventually come back to, but there will be some nice mountain passes closing to ramp up tension when I do. 

Sometimes it takes a few tries to find the right setting. Historical fiction writers often have more narrow parameters for obvious reasons, but that doesn’t mean we can’t move an idea around in time and place within historical reality. When realism isn’t a factor, there are several things I take into account when choosing my setting:

1. Do I want to visit/Can I afford to visit? For me, there is no better way to immerse myself into a narrative than walking the fields and streets, visiting the gardens, and listening to the birds. Writing in a specific location gives me an excuse to do that. On the flip side, if I really don’t want to spend a few days trudging through the terrain and meeting local wildlife, I may find an excuse for my characters to avoid the area. 

Cost is a huge factor in travel. Don’t get me wrong, I am keeping my receipts for the day that Netflix deal goes through, but in general I am not setting my work in Australia. I always try and schedule an extra day or two for research when I am on a non writing trip. Even a bus tour, or a couple hours in an archive can offer enough first hand experience to add depth of realism to a story. 

2. What is the research climate like? My historical fiction is based heavily around primary source documentation. Some parts of the world have more of that readily available than others. Colonial New England was filled with groups obsessive about their records, and had an educated population who learned reading AND writing skills which led to a wealth of paper documentation available for the willing researcher.  Every local historical society I have visited in the North East US has had both knowledgeable staff and volunteers who were willing to email back and forth, dig for answers to my niche questions, and even give me in person tours when I (fill in the blank)

In the American South, many records were lost during the tragic burning of Richmond during the Civil War. Similar situations throughout the region, along with lower literacy rates, and later requirements for birth certificates and the like have left pockets of populations with few historical documents. I have still found a wealth of information in places like the Virginia State Archives and Colonial Williamsburg, but it has been hit and miss outside research hubs. 

Internationally, England has an amazing National Archives with many digitized collections that include previously colonized areas, which I have used extensively. 

Basically, I need access to the history I am writing about. Thankfully the internet makes it a lot easier to gain that access.

To be fair, there is also a freedom to writing in a time or place with little documentation, but that is a topic for its own article.  

3. How well do I already know the time/place? There are so many components to world-building and the better I know the world before I start, the less research time I allot. 

I have workshopped for a few people in my college years who chose settings that were entirely unfamiliar to them; it showed. Anachronisms—goofs in historical accuracy—happen. Being fifty years off on all your technology? Not okay. Naming an Irish guy Oliver post Cromwell years? People are going to notice that. The catch 22 is that when you jump into a new time and place you don’t always know what you don’t know. 

 There are two general types of historical data an author needs to know: Day to day, and big picture. Day to day includes what a character is wearing, how they behave in society, weather patterns in the area—the details that show up on the page directly. 

Big picture data shapes the world in less visible ways like government policies, social structures, geo-political conflicts, and prominent religious ideas. It is difficult to understand a character’s motivations and desires without understanding the big picture data. As someone who has been slogging through The Enlightenment philosophers in an attempt to prepare myself for writing about the American Revolution, let me just say that there can be too much research, but better to err on that side of the coin. 

There is a reason that people say “write what you know”. I would tweak that to “write what you don’t mind researching.”

4. Does the setting fit with the story? Okay. I know this feels pretty far down on the list, but often there is a lot of wiggle room to where a character might go. I have plenty of 3×5 cards with events or historical details that will never see the page, but I can’t take my girls everywhere. Back to my beach story this summer, it took me one chapter to realize that setting that particular novel on an island would labor the plot. I would have to write around more possibilities, and factor elements in that I didn’t want to be bothered with. 

“The Cell Phone Dilemma” is one of my favorite writing terms. Basically, modern technology is a plot killer because characters can just pick up their phone and google things or call for a tow truck. Many authors just set their stories pre-tech; others factor the tech in. I am tossing this idea in to setting because even adjusting your setting by a decade can make huge plot differences. 

I have an exercise for you to wrap up this week: Flora Peabody finds a book with a mysterious picture as a marker on page 117. Recognizing the image, Flora heads out on an adventure. 

Write a few paragraphs then rewrite in a different setting or two. See what feels best!