I am starting to write my first book. What advice do you have?

Question

My book is fiction and I can't decide if I want to use real locations or fabricated ones. I haven't traveled much so I wouldn't know a lot about places other than where I live. Also is the any general advice you can give me?

Answer 1

You can write what you know. That is one of the writer's best tools. Or, you can write about places you've seen on television, or on movies. Don't completely copy the name of the location or place, but it will give you a good idea.

Answer 2

Whatever you choose (real or fictional town) make it somewhere that isn't far from where you are. You can, if you research well, but you know your home very well, so for your first book it's a good choice.

In fiction, plots can be very out there sometimes. It's good to have a good, solid setting that you can describe very well. You'll know how people talk, what they do for fun, etc.  This helps add a realistic element to a fictional story, making it seem more believable.

Answer 3

When I start to write a story, that is always my problem.  Reality, or fantasy?

For a real place, you do need to know a bit about it.  You can't just pick a town someone in the middle of a state with out knowing anything about it.  I'm not saying you have to have been there, but doing a bit of research on it always helps.

Personally, I'm a fan of a fabricated place.  My imagination is wild, and I like to make the characters world how I picture it in my mind.  This works even better when you write a fantasy story/book.

Hm, any other advice...plan it out as best you can.  I always get an idea for a story, but I can never plan it out.  I always get stuck someone in the story, and can't figure out what to do.  If you get an idea, but aren't sure if it fits, all you can do is try it.  It may be exactly what your looking for.

Good luck=]

Answer 4

People tell you to write what you know, but I think that's a weak approach to writing.  I say write anything you can imagine, because that is how the best books come out.  If you want big cities, use real ones, and if you want a small town you can make it up.  If you really know nothing about the place you're writing about, you can always have an element of an alternate universe, which solves any discontinuity.  In addition, I always suggest that you take a close look at each and every one of your characters.  Make a strong backstory for all of them, and know where they're coming from with each move they make.  Know everything- their birthdates, religious and political views, what kinds of foods and drinks they like, and most importantly, the reason they react the way they do.  Also write out the general plotline so you know where your characters are going and how they get there.  This saves you from having a swiss-cheese story, (a book with plotholes the size of Canada: see Twilight) and helps you move it forward.  Good luck, and if you need any more help feel free to IM me (klelos123)

Answer 5

I am a published author and I have limited travel experience.  I start out most of my novels with a basic concept of 'big city U.S.A.' or rural small town U.S.A.  Then the type of clothes, accents, details and little things I need in the story begin to pop up, whether it's a particular type of house, or rainy season, or lots of hills, mountains, dry arid heat, snow, a cabin, a condo, subways to work, cabs, do I need everything close by or far away.  I then begin scowering the map for locations.  I buy a travel book for those areas and then get to researching although I think before I start writing I sort of have a location in mind because my characters remind me of some place.

     Because I am a writer I went ahead and reorganized the map to suit my purposes by moving a small river over a state or two, changing the name of a mountain or the depth of a valley or made my own town smack dab between two that were already in existance and then I apologized to the entire state of North Carolina for messing around with their map. ;}

     But the library has plenty of travel guides with locations of all the hotels, hot spots, best restaurants, coolest clubs, touristy sightseeing, and trendy shopping.  Keep in mind that saying 'me and Myrtle ended up walking down the most trendy street in Kansas City Missouri that did a fair job of looking like a short Rodeo drive' gives the reader a decent picture even if you nor they have ever been to Kansas City or Rodeo drive.  And it's pretty save to say that most cities have on or two streets where not everyone can afford to shop.  To get specific names of stores go on the internet, that's also a way to find out who carries what items you can have your characters looking for in rural America or big City U. S. A.

     So I suppose what I do is start out with some fabricated place that I made up in my head that looks alot like where I live or want to live then find something as close to it as possible and then mix and match reality with my world.

     Use that creative liscense to travel baby!

     Let me also mention that since I've never been outside of America, I've yet to write about anywhere outside of America, only because most states are relatively standardized where in one corner of Japan you may find NYC type skyscrapers, Miami type nitelife, Cali traffic, and Amish life all within an hour of each other.  So I'd suggest you research other countries and customs as much as possible before sending your character abroad.

J...

Answer 6

Don't write anything you don't know about unless you do extensive research. A well-researched book is always appreciated by not only readers, but more importantly, publishers.

I guess I should add that, even though its rather contrary to my above comment, write a book for yourself. In reality, you want it to get published, but the best books are written for the auther who wrote them. Write a book you would love to read, something you know you can't find anywhere. Write something tailored exactly to you, and you'll find that you've written something everyone can enjoy. Passion is what makes spectacular art.