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I am on my third attempt to start the next book in my Nocturne trilogy.
The first attempt started with the POV of the lead character of the last book who is a minor character in this one. I think I did that because I'd spent 300 pages with him and knew him, and it felt familiar. I was seven pages in before I realized he's a minor character in this book . . . so he really shouldn't have a POV at all. The book opened in his home in British Columbia.
Attempt number two was the same scene--only from my main character's point of view. I was sort of getting into the head of New Guy. Still opened in British Columbia. Scene full of back story. I wanted to puke all over my pages. They sucked.
Attempt number three. Scene opens with New Guy. Only it opens in Alphabet City in Manhattan. Avenues A, B, and C. Bordered by Houston Street (note to non-New Yorkers . . . NOT pronounced Houston like the city, but HOW-ston.) In a gutter. In the rain. And . . . I felt my whole self relax. New Guy belongs in Alphabet City. It grounds the whole book.
Oh, New Guy will eventually travel, fish out of water, to British Columbia. He will marvel at the Pacific. But like all people who have New York as part of them, it won't feel like Home.
I never really thought much about setting before yesterday. I borrowed from places I'd been--Sanibel Island, Boca Raton, Washington D.C. I'd borrowed from places where people I loved had been--Prague and Paris, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos. I'd borrowed from places I'd only read about--like 19th century Shanghai, or Moscow.
But yesterday, I realized when I set my books in New York City, I'm Home. I get it, I know it, I love it. I love the Yankees. I love the Giants though they rip my heart and sometimes part of my lungs out each season. I love the pretzels sold on the sidewalk, the lions outside the library. I love the energy. I love St. Patrick's Cathedral. But most of all, I guess, when my characters call that Home, I know them. They're under my skin.
So how about you? Where do you set your books? Or what place is Home for you?
The first attempt started with the POV of the lead character of the last book who is a minor character in this one. I think I did that because I'd spent 300 pages with him and knew him, and it felt familiar. I was seven pages in before I realized he's a minor character in this book . . . so he really shouldn't have a POV at all. The book opened in his home in British Columbia.
Attempt number two was the same scene--only from my main character's point of view. I was sort of getting into the head of New Guy. Still opened in British Columbia. Scene full of back story. I wanted to puke all over my pages. They sucked.
Attempt number three. Scene opens with New Guy. Only it opens in Alphabet City in Manhattan. Avenues A, B, and C. Bordered by Houston Street (note to non-New Yorkers . . . NOT pronounced Houston like the city, but HOW-ston.) In a gutter. In the rain. And . . . I felt my whole self relax. New Guy belongs in Alphabet City. It grounds the whole book.
Oh, New Guy will eventually travel, fish out of water, to British Columbia. He will marvel at the Pacific. But like all people who have New York as part of them, it won't feel like Home.
I never really thought much about setting before yesterday. I borrowed from places I'd been--Sanibel Island, Boca Raton, Washington D.C. I'd borrowed from places where people I loved had been--Prague and Paris, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos. I'd borrowed from places I'd only read about--like 19th century Shanghai, or Moscow.
But yesterday, I realized when I set my books in New York City, I'm Home. I get it, I know it, I love it. I love the Yankees. I love the Giants though they rip my heart and sometimes part of my lungs out each season. I love the pretzels sold on the sidewalk, the lions outside the library. I love the energy. I love St. Patrick's Cathedral. But most of all, I guess, when my characters call that Home, I know them. They're under my skin.
So how about you? Where do you set your books? Or what place is Home for you?
posted by Erica Orloff at 7:49 AM
7 Comments:
Sometimes, truly, I feel homeless, like I don't really belong anywhere.
It's a lonely feeling.
I think it comes through in my fiction, too. Maybe it does. The lonely and displaced.
Texas is home and I think it's a fun state to write about, but in general I just love writing about the south.
Amie:
I live in the south now, but I tend to write about it in a fish out of water way.
E
Jude:
I am rooted in that way.
I guess I am grateful for that
E
10 second psych: everyone belongs somewhere, Jude. Maybe you just haven't found it yet. Session over :)
I stick close to home as well. Ontario has a little bit of everything I've needed so far. Toronto for a city setting, a few hours north and you're in a different world, as well as all the drama of changing seasons I can incorporate if the need arises.
I did set the majority of one book in Cozumel--more for myself. I wanted to revisit the fantastic time I had there. But it worked for the story too. I think. :)
Lainey:
Our couch is always so crowded here. :-)
E
Thanks, Lainey. I could use some therapy today.
Got a Valium?
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