location, location, location

Greeting fellow writers! My posting schedule is definitely going to need some adjustment, Tuesdays just don't have the room anymore. I am currently accepting applications from other week days, Wednesday is kindly hosting us this week.

So what's been going on with you? Any great ideas for new stories? For the story you're writing? For new Olympic sports? We don't discriminate between great ideas here.

This week I've delved more into the details of my story's location, as you may have guessed. For this WIP I selected a town that I know of through my husband as the setting of the story and this has proved both a blessing and a curse. I've always considered it so much more effort to create a place from scratch, make it both real, and yet so unique as to be it's own location separate from others readers might think of. What I'm discovering, though, is that if you do use a real place in your story telling, you need to do your research because if someone from said tiny town happens to read your book, you don't want them to get hung up on inexcusable inaccuracies [we have google, guys, come on]. Research is not my forte, never has been, and so even in this context a part of me bristles at the necessity for it but it is necessary. I'm also getting a bit antsy because, optimally, I'd like to be able to visit this town, walk around, take pictures, get a feel for the place so I can better embody it in my writing [maybe a road trip, Tim?].

I've always been blown away by those authors that write their stories around almost generic towns that seem real but have no defining aspects that would help you pick them off a map. I think this is best accomplished when the location of the story isn't a huge part of the story and characters themselves. But the more your characters and plot are tied to a location, the more you have to put into developing the setting aspect of your WIP. I know, I know, more work, always more work. I don't have time for more work! Me either! I just keep reminding myself, baby steps. I decided yesterday where in town my main characters live, including street names, and that was a nice big baby step for me [why yes I'll take another hot-chocolate shot in celebration].

So how about you? What role does setting play in your story? Is it a main or supporting character? Is it a real place, generic hometown [insert country], or a place of your own wonderful imagination? What kinds of struggles or successes have you had with discovering and writing your setting?