I'm having a little problem. I'm trying to write a story about a country I've never visited. How do I describe something I've never seen? I can go online and do research, but that's only half the problem. How do I describe the smell of a place if I've never smelt it? Every place in the world has it's own smell and look (Is culture or feel a better word?). How do you describe what the character feels about a place if you don't know how you would feel looking at the same things?
A lot of people write science-fiction. I don't know how they do it. How do you describe the future when no one, but God, knows what the future holds?
How can I do this? Do I just make up a town in the country where I want the story to take place? I have an imagination, but this is taxing my brain lol. I don't want the story to come across as being something run of the mill. I want to take the reader to the place, not just tell them where it's at. Does that make sense?
_________________________ By losing you I not only lost love, I also lost my best friend. Don't know which hurts worse.
Writing teachers will tell you to write what you know. Write about the place where you were raised. You know how the flowers smelled in the spring. You remember the songs of the birds or the sound of the traffic, train whistles, etc. Tell how the snow sounded on the window when the wind drove it sideways. Look backward, close your eyes and remember--then write what you see. If you are writing about a character, think of an actor that would play that part in a movie and describe him. If you try a place you have never been and someone who knows it reads your story, you lose credibility. Try it! You will be suprised how it works for you. If it is science fiction, no one has been there, except in your own mind, then anything goes. Good writing! Maureen Maureen
That's what I'm scared of though lol. (The part where you said if I write about a place I've never seen and someone who has reads it.) I don't want my story to come across as uncreditable (sp?). I want to make it real. So for now, I guess I'll change the setting.
Thank you again for your comment.
_________________________ By losing you I not only lost love, I also lost my best friend. Don't know which hurts worse.
hi lori, would you happen to know anyone from one of the places you want to write about? I would ask them alot of questions or go to a travel agency and get some info there. just say you are writing a story and need some info if anyone who may work there has been to any of the places. its worth a shot!
i found if I researched about the country, it made it a bit more believable and realistic for everything except non fiction where it would be plain facts in general.
If you research and want to make a simliar country for fiction, it helps there two... you have something to base off of...
Research. That's the key. I've never been to Egypt, but I've written a story that takes place there. I've never been to Ireland, but again, I've written about Ireland.
With the internet your possibilities are greatly enhanced. Google Earth will allow you to walk the streets of Moscow, Berlin, or any one of a thousand cities in the world. Depending on where you live, you can try the cuisine and get a feel for the place. Find music that is native to the country you are writing about and listen to it. If possible, rent a movie or two and listen to the language.
You can create a place in the world that you have never been to and make it realistic. After all, you are a writer, you can create magic.
Thanks, I'll have to give this a try. I've put the story on the back burner for a while, for it wasn't going anywhere. Maybe I'll pick it up in another month or two to give it a once over.
_________________________ By losing you I not only lost love, I also lost my best friend. Don't know which hurts worse.
Sometimes stories stay on the back-burner forever, though once in a while they manage to come back out. Stories are what we are at the moment, and if we grow, they stay hidden...Though I must say it is fun to look at them and maybe they are worth something after a bit of a rewrite of where we are now.
To say writing is easy is a lie. It takes work and time, every word needs to be in the proper place, our meaning needs to be in the proper place.
I have found the more I write the harder it becomes..People will say grammer doesn't matter, well don't believe that, means everything to people who read it...
Those whom ramble on with "their stories" and grammer and concept don't matter are looking for the easy way out...I hate to break this to you, there is no easy way out.
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