Location, Location, Location

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed through a few posts that I took a research-cation to England recently. While there I got to check out some amazing places, which got me thinking about how locations can play a role in a good book. Some writers have the talent of making a place become as much of a character as any of their flesh and blood characters when the book calls for it.

The Moors

Yorkshire moors. Photo by author

I took a bus tour and got to see some of the Yorkshire moors. Rolling countryside with browning heather, whistling winds, and not much else but sheep as far as you could see. It instantly made me think of the scene in Jane Eyre when she leaves Mr. Rochester after discovering he’s already married and goes wandering, lost on the moors, before being found by the people who would turn out to be her cousins. I can’t even imagine what the place is like in the winter!

We passed an inn called The Lion where weary travelers could stay once upon a time instead of traveling all night in a poorly sprung carriage (the bus driver claims it is half way between towns as the coach goes. It was definitely the only building we saw!). There was also a tall stone cross with a little dip at the top that our guide claimed was for travelers on horseback to leave spare coins, the idea being that those walking who had no money would know to look there for coins and then be able to afford some food and shelter at the inn.

Whitby Abbey

199 steps at Whitby. Photo by author.

We also visited Whitby Abbey. Bram Stoker stayed at the Royal Hotel in Whitby across the bay from the Abbey on vacation here and would sit on the benches looking up at the Abbey. One evening a dense fog rolled in and the combination of the fog and the Abbey inspired parts of Dracula. He even has Dracula, in the form of a black dog, run up the 199 stairs to the abbey from the town at one point. And yes, there are 199 stone steps from the town to get to the Abbey- they are now marked and people count them while climbing. It may seem like a little thing, but it certainly shows you that Stoker knew the area, and had probably climbed those stairs himself many times- often enough to have memorized how many stairs there were!

Location, Location, Research

Of course, depending on what we’re writing, maybe a slightly spooky ruined abbey isn’t what you’re looking for. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be any less familiar with the places you are drawing your inspiration from. Are you writing a book that takes place in your home town? If you live somewhere that offers tours of your city, I recommend taking one. It might seem like a weird thing to do in your home town, but even if you do one of those “hop on, hop off” bus tours, you may learn something about your town that you never knew before, or they’ll highlight something that you’ll see in a different way that might get you thinking. If your characters are going to a real city that you can’t get to, go online! Between places like Google Maps and various chat groups, you’ll find people willing to answer questions about what it’s like to live somewhere and photos about what it looks like.

Do your research first- there’s no worse feeling than sending your book out into the world and then having someone who lives there write to you to tell you that the city isn’t like that. For example, when I read about New Orleans (the city I grew up in) and they talk about digging tunnels or going underground to the basement, or anything like that? I know those authors didn’t do their research. That isn’t a thing in New Orleans. So I’m completely thrown out of the world the book was trying to create for me.

Or are you making up a place, but basing it on somewhere you know? Maybe that means you’re inspired by your local coffee shop and you want to spend time there to get the atmosphere just right, to know which would be your character’s favorite table because it has the best view (of what is entirely up to you!). Does your character take the bus to work? If it’s an actual bus route (and you’re planning on describing it in detail), make sure you know the real life route!

If you plan on describing the feel or scent of the air as your characters walk along the beach or hike in the forest, do you know what those scents are? Can you make sure your readers will be lost in the locations you’re describing? Maybe that means going to that kind of place on your family vacation and taking notes of the sensations around you to help bring it all to life.

Remember, getting lost in a good book can mean more than characters and plot. Depending on your writing style and the book’s needs, it can mean location as well.

Whitby Abbey. Photo by author

Are you looking for a writing, marketing coach or a developmental editor? Contact me and let’s talk about your project!