Describing cities and places

keep.walking · Post by **keep.walking** » 19 Sep 2010, 10:01

Greetings Fellows writters.

I must add some cities on my first book, cities where i will put my characters, i am not looking to describe them entirely, but i want to make sure they are real, or at least they can remember the original place.

So, the thing is, I will need cities all around the world, and at my twenty-fives, i cant say i had enough time to explore the world. So i need a few tips on how to do that, how to describe a city I have never been and still make it real.

I dont need saying things like technical details, but I will probably need more than nameless places to make the reader believe me.

As you can see, I am a bit lost on this matter and need some help. My fiction passes at actual days, and I chose I few cities to start, Winnipeg - CA, Johannesburg - South Africa, Amsterdam - Netherlands.

Besides Canada, I never been on any of the other countries, So, how much details is it needed to make those places real on my novel?

Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks

StephenKingman · Post by **StephenKingman** » 19 Sep 2010, 12:12

Many authors have set their books in cities they have never visited before. Of course it helps if you have personal experience of a city but if not then you can always research the city online to get an idea of its layout and sights or else read a travel book about the particular city to get a feel of what to include in your book, hope that helps.

patrickt · Post by **patrickt** » 19 Sep 2010, 19:50

When I was working as a police officer I received a request from a fiction writer. He had sent the request for assistance with information about our city to the police chief who passed it to his administrative assistant who passed it to the patrol division chief who passed it to a lieutenant who gave it to my sergeant who gave it to me.

I wrote the author and mentioned a few things about the city such as the odd, and famous, rock on a foothill above the city and the fact that we still had parking in the center of the main street and no parking meters. Later, I reviewed his draft and commented on whether or not his city rang true.

Some cities are famous for the oddest things. I dealt with a young woman with an ID that said she was from Marietta, Georgia. The picture on the ID looked like 80% of the incoming female freshmen at the local university. I said, "Tell me about the big chicken."

"Well, I haven't been there in awhile."
"The big chicken was there before you were born, it's still there, and you're not from Marietta, Georgia."

If you're from Boulder, Colorado, you'd know who Alferd Packer was.

So, try to think of some group in other cities you might have a connection to. Masons? Other fraternal groups? Professional groups? Schools? Give it a try. You're just out some emails.

keep.walking · Post by **keep.walking** » 19 Sep 2010, 20:37

Really interesting idea.

I will probably get along writting to schools, cause i am a teacher myself, so I can appeal to that.

I also like the idea of the oddests things on each city wich make it singular, i will do some research on that, and use these places to give my cities life.

Thanks.

Perrywinkle47 · Post by **Perrywinkle47** » 25 Sep 2010, 10:38

I guess the best thing would be to search the web..

Clark Peterston · Post by **Clark Peterston** » 06 Dec 2010, 17:32

I think that it is easier to write about a place that you know. I find it's easier to write when you enter 'the zone'. This is almost like an out-of-body experience.

To enter that world you need to know your way around it. That's my tuppence anyway.

Hazelrah · Post by **Hazelrah** » 06 Dec 2010, 21:28

I think it's always easier to write what you know, but with the internet, you can research anything in a matter of minutes.

That said, I guess unless I need to make use of some well known landmark (Statue of Liberty or something), I tend to set my stories in fictional places. I'm the world's foremost expert on all the things I make up, so no worries of having to research anything.

-Shane

gavinol · Post by **gavinol** » 07 Dec 2010, 01:32

I really enjoyed this post, even though I will likely never be a writer. Why are winters tough in Asheville? And how can you get to and live in St. Louis for four months for $2,600? That’s around $650 a month!!! My rent is more than that. I guess you could do that in North St. Louis, but it wouldn’t be so “solitary” with gunshots being fired every other night.