tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post1120707327415653801..comments2024-03-29T05:45:39.184-06:00Comments on Blood-Red Pencil: Research for Sense of PlaceDanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471919576687777886noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-55257207939389630162011-05-24T05:11:17.873-06:002011-05-24T05:11:17.873-06:00I set my first novel in Seattle, Washington becaus...I set my first novel in Seattle, Washington because it was a place I'd always wanted to visit. <br /><br />My current novel is set in Las Vegas for specific reasons: the homeless population and the crime rate. It's also a place I've always wanted to visit.<br /><br />Since I've never been, I've had to do a lot of research (fortunately have some Twitter friends who've been a tremendous help) to make sure I have the setting and feel of the area correct.<br /><br />I don't mind the research, however. Learning new things is one of the best parts of writing!Stacyhttp://stacygreenauthor.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-6690928733456118652011-05-23T22:54:50.961-06:002011-05-23T22:54:50.961-06:00Great advice! I'm tweeting about this great po...Great advice! I'm tweeting about this great post.Lauren @ Pure Texthttp://www.pure-text.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-26246227820467487012011-05-23T15:59:13.120-06:002011-05-23T15:59:13.120-06:00I grew up in extreme eastern Montana, and I now li...I grew up in extreme eastern Montana, and I now live in Billings, MT. <br /><br />My parents' ranch is so different than what the average out-of-stater thinks of when he or she pictures Montana. It's full of rolling prairie and the badlands, and the wildlife looks different than in the western part of the state, if you know what to look for. My folks can't see their neighbors' houses, and we can see 50 miles to the west and all the way to North Dakota in the east.<br /><br />My stories have either been set in Montana, a fantasy world of my creation, or in Seattle, which I visited last year. I'm very hesitant to use a setting to which I've never traveled.<br /><br />Incidentally, if you'd like to use Montana as a setting, a lady in northern Montana, Kari Lynn Dell, runs a blog called "Montana for Real." She chronicles what daily life is like on a working ranch, and will answer just about any question you have. Her url is http://montanaforreal.blogspot.com/2011/05/rockin-and-rollin-on-ranch.html.Scooter Carlylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06193754150220063430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-38508253993972954662011-05-23T15:43:36.944-06:002011-05-23T15:43:36.944-06:00I'm not sure I've ever researched an exoti...I'm not sure I've ever researched an exotic setting, but I had some pretty haunting parts of England, wreathed in mist of course, in mind when I wrote Black Widow.Sheila Deethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13465615546936319164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-62028631249278733482011-05-23T14:36:54.155-06:002011-05-23T14:36:54.155-06:00How wonderful that must have been - to find the ho...How wonderful that must have been - to find the house still standing. <br /><br />I set things in places I know, although I tend to add in things or places that are not there except in my story.Helen Gingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09794759602654727110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-18961317732606216022011-05-23T13:33:54.788-06:002011-05-23T13:33:54.788-06:00Writers more accomplished than I have said 'wr...Writers more accomplished than I have said 'write about that which you know' ... which, while certainly sage advice, would severely limit my writing ... thank goodness for the Internet!Christopher Hudsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03667548312923348614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-45520850280409554932011-05-23T12:38:13.096-06:002011-05-23T12:38:13.096-06:00I write science fiction, so it may at first seem l...I write science fiction, so it may at first seem like today's post doesn't apply to me. However, one of my favorite places was Yellowstone National Park. With all the hot springs and geysers... and that sulfur smell all around you... you really feel like you're on an alien planet.<br /><br />Mesa Verde in Colorado was another good one. Ancient Native American tribes carved their dwellings into the sides of the cliffs, and standing there now you can almost feel what life was like for them... it was a very different kind of civilization. Not alien necessarily, but not familiar either.<br /><br />Lastly, there's an abandoned quarry within walking distance of my house. No strange smells, no other way-of-life... but there's still something unearthly about the place. It’s become one of my favorite places to write.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-24714308855188266352011-05-23T12:02:13.336-06:002011-05-23T12:02:13.336-06:00I just wrote a 5k word short story about the war i...I just wrote a 5k word short story about the war in Croatia that made one of my readers think that I'd been there. That really stroked my ego, since I have never been there and in fact was 7 years-old when the events of my story took place.Hannyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05936315047570120258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-75536893559196275612011-05-23T11:01:26.641-06:002011-05-23T11:01:26.641-06:00Just the name conjures up an almost mystical reali...Just the name conjures up an almost mystical reality. Having spent only one summer month in the state, I have my own view of the state. Still, my experience there was enough to inspire my own take on the West, which takes the form of a short story called Leaving Montana.Henrihttp://bluefoxcafe.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-62341062405357689262011-05-23T09:16:38.161-06:002011-05-23T09:16:38.161-06:00I set my first book in central Oregon, where I'...I set my first book in central Oregon, where I'd visited and my sister-in-law lives. I had the broad brush strokes, and she gave me the details. For the next one, I didn't want to keep bothering her, so I set it in my neighborhood in Orlando. Now that I've relocated to the Colorado mountains, I'm enjoying incorporating that scenery into my new writing. Something about driving through the mountains, with the deep red cliffs, the green pines, and the ever-changing greens of the aspens--with the Rockies in the background never gets old.<br /><br />Terry<br /><a href="http://terryodell.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">Terry's Place</a><br /><a href="http://www.terryodell.com" rel="nofollow">Romance with a Twist--of Mystery</a>Terry Odellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11610682530545306687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-11179413101556485352011-05-23T08:18:31.890-06:002011-05-23T08:18:31.890-06:00There are many historical villages in our area and...There are many historical villages in our area and I love using them as setting and inspiration.Mary@GigglesandGunshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07350818228268801008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-28574488907750259312011-05-23T08:15:14.986-06:002011-05-23T08:15:14.986-06:00I set my first novel ms in southern IL so I could ...I set my first novel ms in southern IL so I could learn more about where my mother grew up--she never spoke of it. I'd been to her grandfather's farm once when I was a girl and based the family farm of two fictional brothers, Joe and Deke Turner, on it. Imagine my shock when I found it-- via a map hand-drawn to my mother's cousin's specifications--to discover this name on its mailbox: "J. Turner." I've had other instances like that too, where my research affirmed what my imagination had invented. Creepy, but cool!Kathryn Crafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08371458857187160425noreply@blogger.com