Can I set an interesting novel where I live? - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T11:48:52Zhttps://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/can-i-set-an-interesting-novel?x=1&id=537324%3ATopic%3A192181&feed=yes&xn_auth=noAbsolutely.tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-04-12:537324:Comment:2323482010-04-12T18:04:24.328Zdoug andersonhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/douganderson
Absolutely.
Absolutely. Hi Eve.
Any progress? Keep us…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-04-12:537324:Comment:2323162010-04-12T12:15:18.419ZAlan Forsterhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/AlanForster
Hi Eve.<br />
Any progress? Keep us informed.<br />
<br />
Coming from a small town originally Ive attempted to use its possibilities a couple of times and currently have two half developed novels laying around awaiting revival. An outside catalyst is the way i went both times.<br />
Im amazed no-one (Adrian excepted) mentioned the possibility of an "outsider/interloper" arriving in the small town. Ala Michael Caine (Get Carter) or Dustin Hoffman (Straw Dogs) style. Mixed in with some big city action this may increase…
Hi Eve.<br />
Any progress? Keep us informed.<br />
<br />
Coming from a small town originally Ive attempted to use its possibilities a couple of times and currently have two half developed novels laying around awaiting revival. An outside catalyst is the way i went both times.<br />
Im amazed no-one (Adrian excepted) mentioned the possibility of an "outsider/interloper" arriving in the small town. Ala Michael Caine (Get Carter) or Dustin Hoffman (Straw Dogs) style. Mixed in with some big city action this may increase its "saleability" in agents eyes.<br />
<br />
Ive just had to delete a paragraph before posting which virtually gave away the plot and ending of one of my WIP's.<br />
<br />
So how much progress have you made? If any? Don't forget, you can also ba…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-04-17:537324:Comment:1940342009-04-17T19:37:42.491ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
Don't forget, you can also base a fictional town on someplace real, or combine a couple to suit your purposes. Add or remove locations as you wish. Fictionalizing a real place can give you a lot of freedom to create scenes as you wish, while still allowing you the security of a place you know to fall back on.
Don't forget, you can also base a fictional town on someplace real, or combine a couple to suit your purposes. Add or remove locations as you wish. Fictionalizing a real place can give you a lot of freedom to create scenes as you wish, while still allowing you the security of a place you know to fall back on. Well Cardiff is an all day tr…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-04-17:537324:Comment:1940262009-04-17T18:18:00.221ZEvehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Eve
Well Cardiff is an all day trip...Swansea is nearer...but I don't like Swansea. We've certainly got two near by villages which are very deliverance.
Well Cardiff is an all day trip...Swansea is nearer...but I don't like Swansea. We've certainly got two near by villages which are very deliverance. Hi, Eve,
I was once told nobo…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-04-16:537324:Comment:1939262009-04-16T17:21:31.404ZAdrian Magsonhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/AdrianMagson
Hi, Eve,<br />
I was once told nobody would be interested in a novel set in Banbury, Oxfordshire, near where I live. They might have been right, so I set my novels in and around London (used to live there) and had my characters travel a bit. A way round your dilemma might be to have your main character start off in a city and go to wherever you live, and set the action there - sort of 'Deliverance Takes an Away-Day'.<br />
Good luck!
Hi, Eve,<br />
I was once told nobody would be interested in a novel set in Banbury, Oxfordshire, near where I live. They might have been right, so I set my novels in and around London (used to live there) and had my characters travel a bit. A way round your dilemma might be to have your main character start off in a city and go to wherever you live, and set the action there - sort of 'Deliverance Takes an Away-Day'.<br />
Good luck! Some time ago I heard the phr…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-04-14:537324:Comment:1936232009-04-14T16:21:29.767ZMarie Cashhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/MarieCash
Some time ago I heard the phrase "write what you know", and I have it posted all over my writing space. Every time I try to go out of the realm without doing a lot of research, I find myself at a loss for words. It sounds to me like you live in a place where stories abound. Listen to the walls.
Some time ago I heard the phrase "write what you know", and I have it posted all over my writing space. Every time I try to go out of the realm without doing a lot of research, I find myself at a loss for words. It sounds to me like you live in a place where stories abound. Listen to the walls. There's nothing more compelli…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-04-14:537324:Comment:1935512009-04-14T09:54:21.053ZAaron Hiltonhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/AaronHilton
There's nothing more compelling for a reader than discovering (or escaping to) a small town they've never been to before. Add a crime scenario to that and you'll have a page turner. For instance...What if the sheep start disappearing? Evidence suggests it's theft. Lost tourists are passing through town a few days before the animals go missing, and get stranded due to car trouble. One of them has a questionable alibi during the sheep theft. Since you mentioned the sheep greatly out number the…
There's nothing more compelling for a reader than discovering (or escaping to) a small town they've never been to before. Add a crime scenario to that and you'll have a page turner. For instance...What if the sheep start disappearing? Evidence suggests it's theft. Lost tourists are passing through town a few days before the animals go missing, and get stranded due to car trouble. One of them has a questionable alibi during the sheep theft. Since you mentioned the sheep greatly out number the human inhabitants, sounds like there's a lot of money there. Maybe the town's survival relies on the revenue from the sheep? Next, a tourist shows up murdered in a remote foggy pasture, surrounded by a flock of sheep...Anyway, if your tourists were the main characters, you could describe the town fresh through their perspective, just the way you remembered it when you first moved there, then juxtapose those observations with the town folk, as both sides try to solve the crime...? This thread is having much th…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-04-12:537324:Comment:1930922009-04-12T00:26:46.282ZEvehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Eve
This thread is having much the same effect as your move to Massachusetts. I've been looking more closely at my locality. The local history is very rich. This area was the Welsh Wild West in the 18th and 19th century. The drovers drove cattle the 180 miles to London. They were hard violent men and there was a lot of double dealing, theft and murder along the way. Not mention our very own mad squire. I've also been looking into some local rumours of people smuggling on some of the remoter parts…
This thread is having much the same effect as your move to Massachusetts. I've been looking more closely at my locality. The local history is very rich. This area was the Welsh Wild West in the 18th and 19th century. The drovers drove cattle the 180 miles to London. They were hard violent men and there was a lot of double dealing, theft and murder along the way. Not mention our very own mad squire. I've also been looking into some local rumours of people smuggling on some of the remoter parts of our coast line, among other things. If nothing else this site has made me appreciate my own area. I set seven books an a bunch…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-04-11:537324:Comment:1930852009-04-11T22:10:39.578ZToni L.P. Kelnerhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/ToniLPKelner
I set seven books an a bunch of short stories in the area around Hickory, NC, just because I knew it well. But here's the kicker. I couldn't recognize what was interesting and unusual about the place until I moved to Massachusetts. That's when I figured out the parts that would be interesting to include in my writing.<br />
<br />
It was a convoluted way for me to follow the old saw: Write what you know.
I set seven books an a bunch of short stories in the area around Hickory, NC, just because I knew it well. But here's the kicker. I couldn't recognize what was interesting and unusual about the place until I moved to Massachusetts. That's when I figured out the parts that would be interesting to include in my writing.<br />
<br />
It was a convoluted way for me to follow the old saw: Write what you know. Thank God it is about fifteen…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-04-09:537324:Comment:1924592009-04-09T13:38:13.010ZEvehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Eve
Thank God it is about fifteen miles away. The village where it is located has a reputation for violence 2nd to none in Wales and when the Polish workers and locals kick off on a Friday night...it gets quite lively.<br />
Thanks to this site I'm looking at my area with new eyes. I thought it was boring but nice. Maybe I'm wrong.
Thank God it is about fifteen miles away. The village where it is located has a reputation for violence 2nd to none in Wales and when the Polish workers and locals kick off on a Friday night...it gets quite lively.<br />
Thanks to this site I'm looking at my area with new eyes. I thought it was boring but nice. Maybe I'm wrong.