Location, location, location – authors don’t always use them wisely. -

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Joe McCoubrey

27 Jun 2012, 10:46 AM | Post: #1

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Location, location, location – authors don’t always use them wisely.

One thing most authors agree about is the need for accuracy when describing their locations – but just how far can they go in pinpointing exact street names and addresses? A bit of caution, and commonsense, is often needed. For example, it’s all very well describing a car chase through Lower Manhattan or London’s East End but beware having your drug baron or child kidnapper pull up outside a precisely numbered house in a precisely identifiable street! Think of the poor sod who just happens to live there!

It won’t do either to try to get around the issue by saying something like “midway along the terrace” or “at the far end of the street” because, you’ve guessed it, there’s another poor sod living there too!

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Plummielass Reading bill rogers

27 Jun 2012, 07:52 PM | Post: #2

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RE: Location, location, location – authors don’t always use them wisely.

I have a thread on virtually the same subject.

One great howler I found was someone was taking a short cut from Leicester Square to Piccadilly Circus, via the back streets. Well any eejit knows you can see one from the other.

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Dorte Hummelshoj Reading Winterlude by Quentin Bates

27 Jun 2012, 08:02 PM | Post: #3

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RE: Location, location, location – authors don’t always use them wisely.

(27 Jun 2012 10:46 AM)Joe McCoubrey Wrote: One thing most authors agree about is the need for accuracy when describing their locations – but just how far can they go in pinpointing exact street names and addresses? A bit of caution, and commonsense, is often needed. For example, it’s all very well describing a car chase through Lower Manhattan or London’s East End but beware having your drug baron or child kidnapper pull up outside a precisely numbered house in a precisely identifiable street!

Good point. Recently a Danish reviewer criticized a thriller because the writer used a house number which didn´t exist. I thought he might have done it on purpose because unless the guy who jilted you 30 years ago lived there you wouldn´t want to use a real location Tongue

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patrickt

29 Jun 2012, 03:57 PM | Post: #4

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RE: Location, location, location – authors don’t always use them wisely.

Worse than an address is a phone number. I have read that the phone companies in the U.S. have dummy numbers that go no where to use for advertising and such. It is a good idea.

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quaser Reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

29 Jun 2012, 06:19 PM | Post: #5

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RE: Location, location, location – authors don’t always use them wisely.

The late, great Ed McBain, writer of the The 87th Precinct novels invented the district of Isola, which was based on New York's Manhattan, partly to ensure that he didn't fall into the trap of identifying too closely with a specific location. He also made up other names for New York's remaining districts. Though thinly disguised, it was very effective in that the geography existed, but no-one could specifically claim they were targeted inappropriately.

In a similar way, Batman's Gotham City was NY too.

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George Reading In The Blood Steve Robinson

29 Jun 2012, 06:28 PM | Post: #6

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RE: Location, location, location – authors don’t always use them wisely.

I base the books I write on my home county of Staffordshire. However, if there is a need to stray I will probablt take advantage of Google's Streetview. I've been to some brilliant places on that already and it hasn't cost me penny for petrol.
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Trace Reading

02 Jul 2012, 05:50 AM | Post: #7

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RE: Location, location, location – authors don’t always use them wisely.

I write fantasy so location is never a problem for me but I'd really hate to have my address listed in a book because a writer was going for too much authenticity. I know, for example, that the house at the center of The Amityville Horror has become a virtual tourist attraction with hundreds of people going to look while there's a perfectly innocent family just trying to live there. That would be such a pain.

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cecilia_writer Reading Bang

02 Jul 2012, 11:34 AM | Post: #8

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RE: Location, location, location – authors don’t always use them wisely.

I've invented an extra small town on the Fife coast exactly because of this kind of issue. The only larger place I've written about is Edinburgh, where I live and where I can be reasonably certain that I know where the central library is and whether there are steps from the National Gallery up towards the Royal Mile (to name two examples). I often find when visiting somewhere new that looking at a map beforehand just doesn't give enough detail - for instance, whether there's an almost vertical climb to get to my b&b! (this once happened to me on a trip to the USA).

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Steve Robinson Reading

02 Jul 2012, 12:13 PM | Post: #9

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RE: Location, location, location – authors don’t always use them wisely.

I like writing about real places. I think it can add to the realism but you have to get it right or you'll have the locals after you. Smile

Having said that I made up a place in Cornwall called Porthwithian once because I couldn't find anywhere that exactly suited my needs. I go for real if I can though and it's nice to get emails from readers saying they plan to following in a characters footsteps next time they're in the area I've written about.

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alexroddie Reading "Pompomberry House" by Rosen Trevithick

05 Jul 2012, 09:58 AM | Post: #10

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RE: Location, location, location – authors don’t always use them wisely.

This is tricky ... I write historical fiction set in the 19th century, and a lot of my work is set in London. As anyone who's studied the subject knows, there's a pretty huge difference between the London of the 1890s and the London of the 2010s!

I find there's nothing like actually visiting the place and seeing it for yourself, preferably with a good map and an eye for architecture. It works wonders.

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