I hit the streets of historic New Hope, PA to immerse myself in my characters’ world. You guys know I’m anal about the details. I sucked up the sounds and smells. I took lots of notes and pictures. I expected to see Ona walking to work or Antoni shooting by on his motorcycle. Going on location really got me back into the story. After a long period of burn out, I’m ready to get back to revising The Sculptor of New Hope.
More to come!
How do you research your location?
What kind of locations do you like to experience when reading a novel?
Have you ever read a book with inaccurate location descriptions?
Traveling tends to get me in the mood to write. I like to write alone, inside in the dark but I get my inspiration by going out, interacting with nature and/or people and just taking it all in. 🙂
I love your picture! The location looks intriguing. I bet you were able to soak in a lot there!
I had to research alot about San Francisco recently. I did it all online, but I did wander through the streets using maps. I was able to write about a particular street as though the character’s house was there.
Otherwise, when I can, I love to write places I’ve been. And I love to read about the historical locations in an area, or the state parks, the real things in an area that I could do / visit if I went.
I’ve used Google streetview too. It’s fantastic! What did authors do before without Google? We have it so much easier.
I also still prefer to write about places I’ve been. I know as a reader, one of my favorite things about books is their ability to transport you to a place you’ve never been. The only way a writer can transport the reader effectively is to describe the area to the last detail.
Very cool. Traveling always inspires me! Even other people’s travel inspires me. I remember I was in a writing class once around the time I was writing the Africa portion of Oo7 and a guy in my class used to lead tourist trips in Johannesburg (what are freaking odds, right?) So after class I asked if he’d write down everything he remembers about Africa. The sites, smells, the people, EVERYTHING. He brought me like 3 pages of notes. How cool is that?? Totally shaped my Africa section.
So you say you’re revising your book? It’s still in the works? What’s it about? Sorry I’ve been under a rock and don’t know!
What luck you had, Beth! Going to Africa would’ve been a huge expensive trip for research.
I was just going to ask you what Oo7 was (a James Bond spinoff?), then I realized you were referring to Order of Seven. LOL!
My trip to New Hope wasn’t actually planned. I was in New Jersey for a family emergency. My 95 year old grandfather is in the hospital with pneumonia. The situation is grave.
It was a comfort to end such a difficult journey with an impromptu visit to my book’s location. I’m revising a three part series and New Hope is where my first book is based. The second book takes place in the Lower Eastside of Manhattan. The third book is in NOLA, Puerto Rico, and then, finally, my home of Panama!
You can read more about them on my WIP page http://christawojciechowski.com/works-in-progress/. Thanks for stopping by 😀
What fun – there’s nothing like being on site for gathering sensory details. I visited an Alabama bayou for one of my books and it helped tremendously.
It does help. I hadn’t been to New Hope in over twelve years, so it was great to go back and refamiliarize myself. Every place has a different vibe. Now I’m back in the groove.
I can’t wair for more Antoni and Oma