Getting it right: location, location, location - CrimeSpace2024-03-28T22:11:44Zhttps://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/537324:Topic:21833?commentId=537324%3AComment%3A22131&feed=yes&xn_auth=noI really do think it's essent…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-11:537324:Comment:224592007-04-11T13:41:14.389Zp. b. smithhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/IveyHunter
I really do think it's essential to get your descriptions of a time and place accurate because, as was mentioned in an earlier topic, the place itself can become a character if it's done right. Accurate descriptions of place are essential for me both as a reader and as a writer, so I tend to set my stories in locations where I've lived, or at least visited frequently. That way I don't have to worry about the accuracy of my details. I know that's somewhat limiting, but I have lived all over the…
I really do think it's essential to get your descriptions of a time and place accurate because, as was mentioned in an earlier topic, the place itself can become a character if it's done right. Accurate descriptions of place are essential for me both as a reader and as a writer, so I tend to set my stories in locations where I've lived, or at least visited frequently. That way I don't have to worry about the accuracy of my details. I know that's somewhat limiting, but I have lived all over the US and even lived three years in Canada when I was a child and a year in Italy as a young bride, so I do have quite a good choice of settings. <br />
<br />
As for Patterson not getting it right, I wonder if he's become a bit sloppy now that he's so successful? I've noticed that increasingly he's using co-authors, and when I interviewed him about two years ago for a TV news piece, he said he was spending more and more time on his literacy program, which is really quite a notable effort. So I wonder if the slip in his accuracy is due more to a publisher that wants to keep a branded writer's line going even after that writer has moved on to other things? I wonder how much of the writing Patterson actually does himself these days?<br />
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Pat Young Irish girls in NYC. Wha…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-11:537324:Comment:224312007-04-11T13:00:09.415ZDavid Terrenoirehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Terrenoire
Young Irish girls in NYC. What could happen? Come on, bring the kids. As Stephen said, they'll be safe with us. <br />
<br />
Heh heh.
Young Irish girls in NYC. What could happen? Come on, bring the kids. As Stephen said, they'll be safe with us. <br />
<br />
Heh heh. John, Barbara, and Karen,…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-11:537324:Comment:224012007-04-11T12:19:31.035ZPat Mullanhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/patmullan
John, Barbara, and Karen, <br />
<br />
Thank you for your thoughts. John, I used to live in Toronto - before they tore it down and rebuilt it - lots of character (and characters) when I lived there. And, Karen, Australia is still on my list of places left to see ... <br />
<br />
Slan, Pat.
John, Barbara, and Karen, <br />
<br />
Thank you for your thoughts. John, I used to live in Toronto - before they tore it down and rebuilt it - lots of character (and characters) when I lived there. And, Karen, Australia is still on my list of places left to see ... <br />
<br />
Slan, Pat. Stephen,
They're both youn…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-11:537324:Comment:223972007-04-11T12:14:12.045ZPat Mullanhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/patmullan
Stephen, <br />
<br />
They're both young ladies. Promise! So 'cross your heart and hope to die'!
Stephen, <br />
<br />
They're both young ladies. Promise! So 'cross your heart and hope to die'! Having something written set…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-11:537324:Comment:222322007-04-11T04:41:34.224ZKaren from AustCrimehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/austcrimefiction
Having something written set in Melbourne used to be so startling that the details sort of passed you by a bit in the excitement :)<br />
<br />
Having said that Shane Maloney, in particular, sets his novels in the not so distant past - sort of 10 years or so ago, and he says that part of the reason he does that is that it's harder for the reader to remember which corner on Kingsway the BP service station really was, so people obsess slightly less about it.<br />
<br />
I'd not expect to find the exact locations he…
Having something written set in Melbourne used to be so startling that the details sort of passed you by a bit in the excitement :)<br />
<br />
Having said that Shane Maloney, in particular, sets his novels in the not so distant past - sort of 10 years or so ago, and he says that part of the reason he does that is that it's harder for the reader to remember which corner on Kingsway the BP service station really was, so people obsess slightly less about it.<br />
<br />
I'd not expect to find the exact locations he mentions but he's got the general feel and flavour of Brunswick and the inner suburbs whilst he plays around slightly with specific streets. You know you're in Murray Whelan territory when you're in Sydney Road, but you'd never be able to exactly pinpoint where the electoral offices are supposed to be.<br />
<br />
Most of the books I've read set in Melbourne use exactly that concept - references vaguely to a general area - that works for me, although I am reading something at the moment which described a motorcycle crash on the Mount Dandenong Tourist Road (which is about 15 minutes from me) and he's described the bend in the road pretty well perfectly. :) I just finished the most rece…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-11:537324:Comment:221312007-04-11T02:27:15.098ZBarbara Fisterhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Bfister
I just finished the most recent in that series - man, he's a good writer! And the place feels very real.
I just finished the most recent in that series - man, he's a good writer! And the place feels very real. "... and most importantly - t…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-11:537324:Comment:220872007-04-11T00:01:52.826ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
"... and most importantly - to the way Russians interact, the way to approach them, the credibility of dialogue..."<br />
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Yes, I certainly agree this is the most important stuff. I don't usually like a lot physical descriptions in books, but places have character and I like to see that.<br />
<br />
There aren't many books set in Toronto where I live now, so there's not much for me to recognize or not. There aren't even that many in Canada, but I thought Louise Penny did a great job with rural Quebec in "Still…
"... and most importantly - to the way Russians interact, the way to approach them, the credibility of dialogue..."<br />
<br />
Yes, I certainly agree this is the most important stuff. I don't usually like a lot physical descriptions in books, but places have character and I like to see that. <br />
<br />
There aren't many books set in Toronto where I live now, so there's not much for me to recognize or not. There aren't even that many in Canada, but I thought Louise Penny did a great job with rural Quebec in "Still Life," and even though Giles Blunt calls the place Algonquin Bay, he's doing a great job in his John Cardinal series with the city of North Bay and surrounding area. I'm deathly afraid of screwin…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-10:537324:Comment:220642007-04-10T22:58:31.670ZStephen Blackmoorehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/sblackmoore
I'm deathly afraid of screwing up place. Some things I can fake, but only if I have enough of a sense of the place to know what its stereotype is. The desert's hot, the ocean's wet, that sort of thing. If I can find one or two small details that add a sense of reality, I hope that's enough. But I'm pretty sure it's not.<br />
<br />
So I prefer to focus on Los Angeles. It's safer.
I'm deathly afraid of screwing up place. Some things I can fake, but only if I have enough of a sense of the place to know what its stereotype is. The desert's hot, the ocean's wet, that sort of thing. If I can find one or two small details that add a sense of reality, I hope that's enough. But I'm pretty sure it's not.<br />
<br />
So I prefer to focus on Los Angeles. It's safer. So bring the teenagers to New…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-10:537324:Comment:220602007-04-10T22:55:23.995ZStephen Blackmoorehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/sblackmoore
So bring the teenagers to New York. I'm sure they'll be just fine. They'll be safe with us. <br />
<br />
Promise.
So bring the teenagers to New York. I'm sure they'll be just fine. They'll be safe with us. <br />
<br />
Promise. Hello Harry,
Thank you! Ye…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-10:537324:Comment:220412007-04-10T22:24:42.315ZPat Mullanhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/patmullan
Hello Harry,<br />
<br />
Thank you! Yeah, it's tough getting it right when you're used to describing a street and the people you know and are intimately familiar with ... boy, that sure shone through in 'The Next Time You Die'. I might add that I did my paramedic training at Fort Sam and spent a lot of time in San Antonio and whereabouts ... hey, I've got to set some action there now that I think of it!<br />
<br />
Slan, Pat.<br />
<br />
P.S. That photo of you looks like you've been taken apart by the denizens of your…
Hello Harry, <br />
<br />
Thank you! Yeah, it's tough getting it right when you're used to describing a street and the people you know and are intimately familiar with ... boy, that sure shone through in 'The Next Time You Die'. I might add that I did my paramedic training at Fort Sam and spent a lot of time in San Antonio and whereabouts ... hey, I've got to set some action there now that I think of it! <br />
<br />
Slan, Pat. <br />
<br />
P.S. That photo of you looks like you've been taken apart by the denizens of your book !