KindleBoards logo   
*
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
May 23, 2012, 05:46:06 PM


Login with username, password and session length


Pages: 1 2 [3]   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: Using Real Places in Plots  (Read 1199 times)
scslawin
Status: Dr. Seuss
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 44


View Profile
« Reply #50 on: February 06, 2012, 05:27:53 PM »

Writers should write what they want, but be willing to put in the work (where necessary) to do the research to get it right(ish).

Yes, but isn't it the writer who decides what is "right"?
Logged
telracs
Status: Isaac Asimov
********
Online Online

Gender: Female
NYC
Posts: 12205


avatar by Phil Chen


View Profile
« Reply #51 on: February 06, 2012, 05:31:35 PM »

Yes, but isn't it the writer who decides what is "right"?

the writer decides what is right for their world.

but the reader decides what is right for their world. 

if the two don't match, you may get annoyed readers. 
Logged
Monique
Status: A A Milne
******
Online Online

Gender: Female
California
Posts: 4867



View Profile WWW
« Reply #52 on: February 06, 2012, 05:36:45 PM »

Yes, but isn't it the writer who decides what is "right"?

Sure, but if you're writing a thriller set in modern-day NYC and you have a character run out of Central Park and toss a gun into the Hudson, you're going pull a large set of readers out of your story. You can do it, but it's probably not smart.
Logged


Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon DE

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon DE
  Time Travel Romance with a Paranormal Twist

The Out of Time Series combines romance, time travel,
adventure, mystery with a dash of the paranormal.

         website | twitter | facebook
scslawin
Status: Dr. Seuss
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 44


View Profile
« Reply #53 on: February 06, 2012, 05:37:00 PM »

if the two don't match, you may get annoyed readers. 

That's true, indeed. But I write first to please myself. It would be very difficult to write if I worried about whether something I'd written would unintentionally annoy a reader.

Then again, I've written things in the past that are intentionally designed to annoy readers. Writing should definitely evoke emotion.
Logged
CoraBuhlert
Status: Scheherazade
*****
Offline Offline

Gender: Female
Bremen, Germany
Posts: 1011



View Profile WWW
« Reply #54 on: February 06, 2012, 05:37:48 PM »

That reminds me of something I saw not long ago...

I was watching an old episode of "The A-Team" during which Hannibal and the gang had to go help a beachfront hotel owner who was being forced out of business by the local baddies. There were several nice, long panning shots of "Miami Beach" that included the large south Florida mountain ranges that surround it.


Try watching the A-Team episode where they visit East Germany to smuggle out a defecting scientist or some such thing. The backlot where the episode was shot is so obviously not East Germany and the set designer had zero idea what the real thing looked like that it's funny. The people who did the German dubbing went wild with that episode and slipped in all sorts of references, so that it's incredibly funny.

Though I admit that when I was younger, I was usually fooled by German made crime movies and thrillers that used a mix of stock footage and scenes shot in Berlin or Hamburg and tried to pass them off as set in New York or London. When I first visited London as a teenager, I was stunned that it didn't look like it did in those vintage thrillers at all. Nowadays, those films are great for blooper spotting, e.g. German signage visible in the background.

The Jackie Chan version of Around the World in 80 Days is a joy for blooper spotters, too, because it was largely shot in Berlin and tries to pass off all sorts of very well known Berlin landmarks (a lot more well-known than the shady sidestreets used in those old German films - we're talking major tourist sites here) as Paris or London.

Berlin geography is blooper prone anyway, because street names and city layout changed with every regime change. Hence you get Hitler driving down the Straße des 17. Juni/Street of June 17th (impossible, because the event the street was named for took place in 1953), you get chase scenes in Cold War spy thrillers that go from East Berlin to West Berlin and back again without ever crossing the border and the author of an otherwise meticulously researched novel gets the name of the space in front of the Brandenburg Gate, which is one of the very few locations that have never changed their name in more than 200 years, wrong. Really, if you're writing about Berlin, get a map and preferably photos from the time your story is set.  
Logged

telracs
Status: Isaac Asimov
********
Online Online

Gender: Female
NYC
Posts: 12205


avatar by Phil Chen


View Profile
« Reply #55 on: February 06, 2012, 05:47:32 PM »

Sure, but if you're writing a thriller set in modern-day NYC and you have a character run out of Central Park and toss a gun into the Hudson, you're going pull a large set of readers out of your story. You can do it, but it's probably not smart.


Well, depends on how far he's gonna run..... 
Logged
Monique
Status: A A Milne
******
Online Online

Gender: Female
California
Posts: 4867



View Profile WWW
« Reply #56 on: February 06, 2012, 05:49:06 PM »


Well, depends on how far he's gonna run..... 

I thought it was clear I was implying immediacy.

*sigh*
Logged


Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon DE

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon DE
  Time Travel Romance with a Paranormal Twist

The Out of Time Series combines romance, time travel,
adventure, mystery with a dash of the paranormal.

         website | twitter | facebook
Decon
Status: Arthur C Clarke
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 2281



View Profile WWW
« Reply #57 on: February 06, 2012, 05:50:18 PM »

 

Well, depends on how far he's gonna run..... 


 Grin Grin Grin Grin That is so funny.
Logged

Amnesia of the Heart - Paranormal Romance- Where There's a Will, There's a War FREE short      Declan Conner's - blog
        Survival Instinct full length Thriller: Murder Mystery
telracs
Status: Isaac Asimov
********
Online Online

Gender: Female
NYC
Posts: 12205


avatar by Phil Chen


View Profile
« Reply #58 on: February 06, 2012, 05:51:33 PM »

I thought it was clear I was implying immediacy.

*sigh*

You might have implied it, but I did not infer it.  That's part of my point.  Just because you know what you mean doesn't mean I'm going to understand it the same way.  Especially since I walk from the edge of Central Park to very near the river every day.
Logged
Monique
Status: A A Milne
******
Online Online

Gender: Female
California
Posts: 4867



View Profile WWW
« Reply #59 on: February 06, 2012, 05:53:13 PM »

I give up.
Logged


Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon DE

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon DE
  Time Travel Romance with a Paranormal Twist

The Out of Time Series combines romance, time travel,
adventure, mystery with a dash of the paranormal.

         website | twitter | facebook
Pages: 1 2 [3]   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Use our Link-Maker to include Amazon links (pictures or text) in your post!

New! Browse Kindle skins and post images in your posts: DecalGirl | GelaSkins

           


    KindleBoards is an independent resource for people who own or have interest in Kindle - Amazon's family of wireless reading devices, tablets, and content.    
KindleBoards.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Apart from its participation in the Associates Program, KindleBoards.com is not affiliated with Amazon or Kindle in any other way. Amazon, Kindle and the Amazon and Kindle logos are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
(c) 2007 - 2012 KindleBoards. All Rights Reserved. | email KindleBoards
Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.16 | SMF © 2011, Simple Machines

Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS! Dilber MC Theme by HarzeM
Page created in 0.084 seconds with 17 queries.

Two ways to promote your book on KindleBoards: a banner ad, and our Featured Book ad. Ads appear on a 50% random basis at the top of every page in the forum; your ad will display about 30,000 times per day. Sign up below, or get more info on our banner ads and featured book promotions.
Book not published yet? No problem - just put "TBD" for your book's ASIN.
To support KindleBoards:
Sign up for a KB full banner ad
Currently booking: August 2012
Enter book's ASIN
Sign up to be our KB Featured Book
Currently booking: January 2013
Enter title, author name, ASIN