This post is made more out of curiosity then anything else and obviously it doesn't apply for stories set in fantasy worlds.
I've found that in my nanowrimo novel, as in a couple of other things i've written in the past, the default place for my Character's to live, or for the main bulk of the plot to take place is Birmingham and the surrounding areas, simply because I know the area so well, having lived in it all my life and when I write I feel I can describe it and talk about it with more conviction than I could somewhere like London or Nottingham etc.
Does anyone else find that they do this. Do you even have Birmingham and the surrounding area feature as the setting for your novel this year? Let me know.
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145,054 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 13 36
Not at present. I'm working on an urban fantasy that is based partly in the Afterlife, and partly 'Live Side', which is Earth. At the moment, it will be in and around London, though Birmingham is always on the cards. I haven't really planned it, so I'm not quite sure, but we'll see.
48,050 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 14 12
I live in Wolverhampton, and always have, yet I worked in Worcester for a couple of years and always loved the City, so my novel is set there.
I'm hoping to spend some time there over the month for extra inspiration. I look forward to sitting by the river with the cathedral as a stunning backdrop and let the prose roll.
However, more than likely I'll just end up feeding the ducks!
----------First-timer from Wolverhampton and so excited!
Meriel Flavell
Freelance Writer
46,081 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 15 18
Well my story is a far future space opera type thing, so I'm kind of at the other end of the scale in that I'm making everything up, more or less.
Not really a relevant answer I guess.
13,974 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 15 19
My protagonist spent her childhood in a farmhouse in germany, where a small but definate portion of my story is set, until a fire killed her parents. Thankfully she being a child I need only describe the fictional farm house and surrounding area as that was her life. She now Lives with her aunt and uncle in Wombourne, studies photography at Wolverhampton University and has a friend who lives on the Stourbridge road, Dudley. Most of my locations are local enough to me and no more than a bus ride away at the most, the exceptions being the fictional farmhouse in Germany and a section of the novel where she and friends do a spot of urban exploration at Stafford County Lunatic Asylum.
Write What You Know.
31,491 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 16 24
I'm not originally from this region, but I'll tackle the question instead as whether I set stuff in my native homeland.
I hail from south Wales, and I did find I wrote a lot of fiction set around that area. I still do write stuff set there, but I'm getting out of touch with some things. I need to do a rewrite soon of a story as a particular building I used to be familiar with has now had a refurb, meaning I'm not so familiar with it anymore, making my fiction a little less believable. A fair portion of my writing isn't set there, but in fantastic worlds, etc. However I tend to write about places that I'm familiar with, if set in our world.
Now I live in this area, I'm starting to write stuff that's set around here, but my current piece isn't around here; it's set in a fictional place, inspired by a real world place I have not visited but have read about. If I were to visit the real world place, I would need a LOT of money to do so, so I'm using a fictional place instead.
----------2009 - "On Tuesday"
http://www.damonlord.info
42,470 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 02 25
Yes my novel is set in Birmingham, present day.
Like you it made sense to set it somewhere I know so well. Plus, its a big enough city to stage the kind of story I am writing (Crime thriller).
The local knowledge of suburbs, architecture, night spots, and intimate knowledge of atmosphere dervied from actually living in Birmingham most of my life is priceless.
Although for part of the novel, my main character visits oxford, and I will have to revisit there to refresh my memory when it comes to the rewrite.
31,409 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 05 00
So far all of my 'main' characters grew up in and around Birmingham and most of them still live there. So far in terms of settings we have London, Birmingham, Manchester and Burnley. God knows where else this novel's going take me. I've never actually been to Burnley but I will have before the end of November.
I tend to think that I should base my work in Birmingham purely because there's a distinct lack of Birmingham-based fiction available. And no, I don't think this novel is in any danger of being published but, as always, I try to write as if it could be!
16,472 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 07 32
I always set my novels in fictional locations that I can picture in my head, occasionally I draw location plans.
I do, however, need references to other real places and tend to make these as unspecific as possible so I can't be sued...
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Nano 2005 - Won - Crashed
Nano 2006 - Won - Drama in Skitham
Nano 2007 - Lost - No title :(
Nano 2008 - Won - The Train Journey