My buddy Mary seems to have really good luck garnering comments to her blog posts that ask for opinions on writing topics, so I’m going to try to post more of those in hopes blog readers will share their views.
Today’s topic: Settings
I love to travel and see new places, and I almost always come away with an idea for a story that has grown out of the setting. I’ve read books where the setting is so alive that it’s a character itself. Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon mystery series set in national parks or Hogwarts School in the Harry Potter books come to mind. I decided to create a list of all of the settings I’ve used in my books and try to analyze why those appealed to me.
The Heart’s Journey — the Oregon Trail (the only historical I’ve written)
Another Sunrise — in and around Yellowstone National Park
Cry of the Wolf — same
A Thundering Herd — same (it was a trilogy)
Faith, Hope, Love — Memphis mostly
Hill Country Hearts — Texas Hill Country
Wild Blue — rural North Dakota
Dangerous Kisses — Nashville
Firefly Run — East Tennessee on the edge of Smoky Mountains National Park
Wyoming Sunset — Cody, Wyoming
The Big Apple’s Calling My Name — oddly enough, Nashville
Out of Sight — Washington, D.C.
Dress Me in Wildflowers — rural East Tennessee
Fanning the Flames — Gulf Coast of Florida
10 Really Important Things They Didn’t Teach Me in Journalism School — Nashville
The Wishing Tree — North Carolina mainly
As I look through that list, I notice a few things:
1. Many are set in rural locations because I grew up in a rural area and know that lifestyle.
2. All are set in areas where I’ve either lived or visited on vacation.
3. You can tell I enjoy the outdoors based on most of the settings.
Despite the ability to research settings without ever setting foot there, I’m a proponent of visiting them and seeing them with your own eyes if possible. Out of Sight was probably the most difficult setting because it’s set in the White House and I can’t say I’ve gone traipsing through there lately. And when I wrote Wild Blue, I hadn’t visited North Dakota yet. Using a map, I’d created a fictional town on the real Cedar River. So, when I drove across North Dakota a few years ago, I took a side trip to see how accurately I’d portrayed the setting. Most everything was okay — except the river. Okay, I’m from the South, and down here we have to have boats to get across rivers. Something I can make two steps across and barely get wet almost doesn’t qualify as a creek here. 
So, needless to say, seeing that “river” with my own eyes necessitated a change in the story.
So, what about you? What settings have you explored? What do you think drew you to them?
October 20th, 2005 at 8:53 pm
As you can see, I’m not getting to those 8 pages (did 1).
My settings are mostly remote, which is weird for someone who doesn’t like to be outdoors.
Hot Shot: Montana
Surface: Belize
DLB: Africa
Midnight Sun: Antarctica
(Clearly, these are places I haven’t been.)
Some are closer to home.
Second Chances: San Antonio (made the base of operations at the church down the street, how’s that for familiar?)
Pride’s Fall: San Antonio
Smoke: San Antonio
my first book (which has had so many titles, I can’t remember): a small town near where my grandparents lived
I do love stories where the settings are alive. I’ll never forget seeing the first Harry Potter movie and thinking, “How did they know what was inside my head?” I’m trying to pass that on to my students.
October 21st, 2005 at 9:14 am
Fairytale land, Las Vegas, Steven’s Point, WI, and cross country in a Winnebago. Oh, and New York City. I researched it like a good little ferner.
Have been contemplating the frightening land of high school as a setting.
I don’t see a pattern.