Writing A Setting Of Where You've Never Been

Writers are a tricky brood of people. You see, writers often must weave a tale set in a place (or a time period) that they have never been. How do you do that? Sure you can make it up and hope that it comes close to the real thing, but more often than not, you will get someone shooting you an email telling you that you are way off the mark in your setting. They used to LIVE in the place you are writing about and it never had the types of trees or flowers you wrote about.

What if I were to write a story set in Scotland, yet I've never been there? Let's say I've heard the song that goes..."You take the high road and I'll take the low road..." so I think there must be some mountains in Scotland. I've heard about the craggy cliffs there. Sure! So I begin to write the setting picturing this:

photo by CNaene
freedigitalphotos.net

Yes! It must look like Colorado. Mountains, right? Well, not really. Scotland looks more like this:

photo by James Barker
freedigitalphotos.net

Yep...a bit different, wouldn't you say?

So how does one go about writing a setting in a place you have never been before? Here's some ideas:

• If you have the money, take a vacation there! If you were published, you could write it off as a tax deduction. Maybe you can write it off even if you aren't published yet. Hmmm, possibly Krista Phillips would know the answer to this, being our only published author right now! 
• Check out or rent movies set in the area you are writing about. I wrote a medieval set close to the Scotland border so I watched movies like Made to Honor, Braveheart, Brigadoon, etc. Even though I wasn't physically there, I took note of things particular to that country. (Foliage, roads, rain, sun, etc..)
• Check out documentary type or travel type DVDs at the library. You can get a lot of great information from those.
• Check out books from the library about the country/area you are writing about. Yes, it takes longer to research, but who knows...you might stumble upon an old legend or great landmark that you didn't know about before!
• Talk to someone who has been there or lived there. Maybe they have photographs of their trip that they would share with you.
• The internet is a great place to find pictures of places. All you have to do is google the country/area and then search within google images to find pictures of what you need. (FYI...just don't copy them to use in any of your blogging...I learned the hard way!!!)

Those are just a few ways to learn more about the place you are writing about. You want it to be realistic. You want to transport your reader into the scene with the perfect setting. So do your research and make it REAL!

What other suggestions do you have for creating a real and tangible setting when you've never been there before?

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This post is brought to you by

 Sherrinda Ketchersid

Sherrinda is a minister's wife and mother to three giant sons and one gorgeous daughter. A born and bred Texan, she writes historical romance filled with fun, faith, and forever love.