REAL OR FICTIONAL SETTINGS?

Every author wants their books set in the best setting possible. The best setting tells the best story, but do you want a real place or a fictional place?

Fictional setting leaves a lot for the author\’s imagination. If you have a problem remembering the places in the settings, draw a map. No one sees it but you, and it will save a lot of time. List the business names in the town, the streets, etc. Even if the setting is rural, you\’ll need to remember the road names.

Some authors use both. This is especially true in fantasy manuscripts. You can have a real place, but add things that are important to the fantasy. Erin Howard does this well in her Kalila Chronicles series. She uses towns or cities we are familiar with, but she includes portals and such in the stories.

Then, there are those of us who use the real settings. I have done that in my Nothing Shady Ever Happens In Shady Valley Series. Shady Valley is a real place, and I use the roads in the valley in the story, but the house Daisy inherited is fictional. I use the only restaurant in the valley, the Cranberry Festival, the Appalachian Trail, and Backbone Rock. These are things that are in the valley, or they are yearly festivals. I\’ve lived in the valley, and my husband was born and raised there, so I have a pretty good knowledge of the area. I feel safe in using the real places. I also use Google Earth to see the valley in real time.

Whatever you do, get it correct. Make it believable. Make it interesting. Most of all have fun.