 Action/Adventure: October 19, 2016 Issue [#7925] |
  Action/Adventure
This week: On Location and Travel Edited by: NaNoKit  
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Action/Adventure stories can take place anywhere, but some locations are more suited to it than others. What do you do, though, when your characters are in a location you've never been to?
This week's Action/Adventure Newsletter is all about settings, and travel.
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Action/Adventure stories don’t often take place in a quiet little village. The most excitement we've had over here in a good while – and it did make the news – was when a goat appeared to be stuck on the rocky side of a hill. Concerned villagers contacted rescue services, upon whose arrival the goat happily bounced down from its spot – as it would, being a goat.
We’re not so big on the car chases here, and though we do have the occasional helicopter flying over, there’s a distinct lack of people dangling from them. No explosions, no treasure hunters, no criminal networks unless you count the recent spate (a whole two!) of disappearing bins.
What that means is that if I were to write an Action/Adventure story, I’d likely have to use another setting. And if I wanted to use an existing town or city, I’d have to do research, because otherwise I would look very silly.
That’s especially a problem when using places you’ve never visited. There may well be those amongst your readers who actually live there, and if you get anything wrong, they’re going to notice! You may have a car chase during which they turn from Main Street into Bond Street – nice, common names – but what if the two do not connect in your chosen city? Locals picturing this scene would be confused. And realise that you haven’t a clue what you’re talking about. Which may well make them think less of your work.
So, what does your chosen city look like? Fortunately, we have the Internet which can provide some insight into that. Shops may change, but it’s less common for street names to change. What is life like in the city/town as a whole, and in the different neighbourhoods? Is it fast-paced or more leisurely? Is it big on industry or more service-based? Does it have a large student population? Is it multicultural? Which cultures? What’s the crime rate like? What kind of crime? There are many factors to take into consideration, depending on your story and if it’s set there or if your characters are just passing through.
It may be even more difficult to set your story abroad – especially if you are writing about a place in a nation that you have never visited. You don’t just have to deal with the issues mentioned above, there is also the national culture to take into consideration, and local variances.
As an example, I have some family in a town on the border between Belgium and France. The place shows characteristics of both nations, and both cultures. It even has its own dialect. Great to visit, but it would be difficult to write about if you’d never been there.
It is not uncommon for Action/Adventure pieces to involve travel. You may have to research a variety of different locations. And check your timing... if your characters fly from London to Los Angeles, for example, and they set off in the early evening, what time will they arrive? Don’t forget about time zones! And are there direct connections, or would they have to change planes part of the way through?
There is, of course, such a thing as a suspension of disbelief. Nor does the reader tend to expect a huge amount of detail, as too much detail can interfere with the flow of the story. But that only takes you so far. If your story takes place in the world that we know, you’ve got to stick to a certain level of realism.
A solution is to invent a place of your own. It is not uncommon for authors to do this. That way, your story can still be set in the modern world, and you get to pick and choose all the details yourself. So long as your characters stay there, and you offer you readers enough information on what the place is like that they don't feel lost, you’re good.
Research doesn’t have to be boring and tedious, though. Depending on what you like, you can watch documentaries and movies (taking into consideration that movies aren’t always accurate portrayals, either). You can browse the Internet, read books, look at maps, and here on Writing.Com we have authors from all over the world who may well be willing to answer some questions.
Be creative, have fun. That’s what being a writer is all about. Okay, sometimes it’s hard work, too, but then again, the end result is oh so rewarding.
NaNoKit
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