Setting?

Jen

I know setting is important but I'm not sure where to set my story. I lvie in Wales and always have so thats probably the best.
Do I have to be spercific? ( Can't spell today!) Can I just have a whole town/village but not an actual place that exists?
Thanks

Stirling

Yes there is nothing wrong with making up a fictional village. Think Midsomer Murders.

My WIP is set in Newcastle and Northumberia, but I have created my own housing estate which is central to the book.

snailmale

My WIP is set in Brockberrow-on the-Wold and is a bit, but not entirely, Cotswoldy. A fictional location gives you lots of scope and wont give offence to any locals should the plot eventually lead to its obliteration. :)

Nefertari

I've been watching Midsomer Murders lately there seem to be a lot of little villages in a big area called Midsomer? The number of coincidences makes me laugh ie someone is murdered by a bell ringer and surprise surprise Barnaby's wife is going to bell ringing classes, that sort of thing.

dorothyd

write of what you know, Jen, fictitious it can be but set it in Wales because you know it.

Jay Mandal

Or draw on bits from several places. You can always use guide books for places you haven't visited. You don't have to stick to what's "real", though, if you invent your own place name.

Rivington

In my own novel I used fictionalised real settings. I used fictional names - though drawn from among common regional names - for the parts where the action takes place but with plenty of real locations to anchor the setting in a spec ific area. And two of the real locations to which I've given fictional names are seventenn miles apart in real life but about twnety minutes walk from each other in my novel. And anyone who knows the area could have a good shot at identifying my locations. I'm just waiting for someone to tell me I got it wrong - I didn't, I just fictionalised it. I'm doing something very similar with current project.

Woll22

I am a member of Ideas for Writers and happened to send an email with the same concern. Look at a map of the UK, a good one mind you and a guide book of England perhaps as well. Now one of the things he suggested is add perhaps parts of the compass, north, south, east or West, if there is a river nearby, even a tributary then add it at the end. For instance I live in Suffolk and our main river is the Stour and its tributary is the Brett so you could for instance put Bretton North perhaps or Brett North, Stourbury, Bury upon Stour if you wanted to make it more or less ficticious. Watch the landscape in Escape to the Country if you feel you cannot travel any distance or petrol costs confine you, observe the landscape, is it undulating and hilly, flat, mountainous. What are the houses like, what sort of material is used? Are there trees planted along the pavement, look at the general architecture, is it all similar or are there variations.....the list is endless. For instance I have just finished a rough out the CWA Gold Dagger competition, set in the Peak district so I will have to mug up on the details, use Google Earth if necessary or go on to Jeeves, god bless him, perhaps look at our Selective Guide to England or Britain. It is not easy by any means but isn't that really half the fun of writing.

Stirling

[quote=Stirling]My WIP is set in Newcastle and Northumberia, but I have created my own housing estate which is central to the book. [/quote]

D'oh!

How the hell did I mis-spell Northumbria?

Jen

[quote=Woll22]a guide book of England [/quote]

Wales?

Its just that horror novels are not often set in Wales. I don't want to write a cosy book about Wales- though that sounsd tempting, so I don't want it to be extremly prominant. Perhaps I'll jsut map out my ficticious place and set is somewhere and mention it once, or imply where it is.

megrose

Yes, we commented on that too, Kateyanne. As Joyce Barnaby seems to be involved in everything, do you think she has had something to do with all those murders? Maybe Barnaby has got the wrong murderer every time!

Jenny

Maybe that's how they're going to finish John Nettles' appearance at Barnaby!

ceka

I've elasticated the landscape around Exmoor before now, to make room for a few extra farms that I then populated with my characters.
Stick 'Combe' on the end of a careully chosen word and you can get a reasonably DevonAndSomerset feel to a name

Dwight

For the Lancs/Cheshire equivalent you add 'Kirby'. Just trying to be helpful.

pragmatist

[quote=Jen]Its just that horror novels are not often set in Wales[/quote]

Surely that's a good thing ! I'm not a reader of horror myself but I would have thought that the mountains of Wales, the remote areas, even the industrial towns of the south coast could all be used to excellent effect as a backdrop - landscape as character ? If it's a bit different then surely it will have added interest to the publisher and reader ?

Van

Instead of the beast of Bodmin, you could have the beast of the Brecon Beacons, devouring sheep and hapless hikers.

SilentTony

What about The Dark. I know they filmed it on the Isle of Man because of Manx film financing, but it was set in Wales. Also the Yorkshire Moors parts of An American Werefolf in London were shot in Wales. So that gives some indication of how scary it can be.

Jen

Some good points