Sense of Place

[Franzeska]

One of the things I like best about urban fantasy is how specific the settings are.  A lot of pseudo-Medieval quest fantasy feels like it could be set in any generic fantasy universe, but the better urban fantasy could only be set in exactly the spot the author chose.  I'm currently writing a story set near where I currently live, but I'm not from around here, and I'm having trouble generating the sense of place that I want.  What do you guys do to work on the settings of your stories?  I've been wandering around trying to see the area as a tourist might and taking notes on my impressions.

[LizW65]

Just go there as often as you can, study maps of the area, drive around it to find out how long it takes to get from A to B, talk to people who actually live there if possible (preferably ones who have been there a long time), take and download lots of photographs.  My current project is set in Manhattan circa 1947, so I'm fortunate that I live just a few hours away, much has been documented about the time period and setting and many of the landmarks from that period are still in existence.

[Cophet]

I get what you're saying about settings being more accessible in Urban Fantasy novels, but I don't believe it's because the authors are inherently more talented. If you have semi-humans throwing energy around in Manhattan, the reader knows there's a Statue of Liberty lurking. But if your heroes live in Westeros, a place that only exists as much as the author tells us it exists, you won't see the Titan of Braavos until the characters do. That's why some works of fantasy can feel contrived, and why setting (and how it's conveyed) is so important in a masterwork.

To my mind, it goes back to the idea that urban fantasy is easier to get into than high fantasy; the reader doesn't have to walk nearly as far to meet the author halfway. The only things that are different in Dresden's Chicago are the things he tells us about.

The setting troubles that you're having, are they about setting the story, or setting the story in the real world? I don't think you'd have much trouble plopping a starbucks where there isn't one, your readers aren't like to punish you for it. If you're blocked with setting in general, you could go back over some mechanics of writing stuff, remind yourself of the fundamentals of setting and come back to it fresh.

If that doesn't work, I suppose you could sacrifice a beanie baby to the gods of frustration. That usually works for me.

[Yeratel]

As I recall, there's been a good bit of discussion on this subject in the Codex Alera forums, with lots of readers wishing Jim would provide a Tolkien-like map of the Alera world, so they can get a feel of the N-S-E-W of where all the key places are in relation to each other.

[Adam]

I love it when a novel gives the reader (me) a good taste of some groovy city.  Some don't handle it very well, but some make me want to jump on a plane and go check it out.

[Moritz]

As I recall, there's been a good bit of discussion on this subject in the Codex Alera forums, with lots of readers wishing Jim would provide a Tolkien-like map of the Alera world, so they can get a feel of the N-S-E-W of where all the key places are in relation to each other.

Personally, I think those maps are overrated. People in the middle ages also didn't know where on the globe they were. Now, for a modern city, giving good descriptions is fundamental, especially if I don't know the city well. I recently read an Urban fantasy story set in some city I have never been to, and you could also feel that the author never went there, becasue the only two places he named were, like, the most famous sights.

I have to admit that in Dresden Files, Chicago doesn't come across that "groovy" to me (to quote Adam). There are some specificv places which stand out, but it's not that Harry walks down the streat and you go "woa, what a cool place".