Setting Your Story Partially In The Real World

Something many writers do is that they set their stories in pocket worlds set inside the real world. For instance, J. K. Rowling set the wizarding world in England in a way that we (as “muggles”) can’t see the world the characters live in but it could still believably exist. Many writers tend to create fictional towns in a given spot on the map so they have the history of the region is set, the weather is already set by the real world, and the typical jobs of the town (whether it’s farming, technology, factory, or other things) are decided by what is typical of the area. If you decide to go this route, remember to use the nearby towns as a guide. Having a town built of stone when the nearby towns are built of brick or wood as there’s no quarry around would make you a laughingstock to many readers or merely unbelievable so people won’t buy your book in that area.
Another thing to remember is that things that happen in your “pocket world” often affect the “real world” outside. J. K. Rowling realized that and made a comment when there was a lot of news in her wizarding world that the “muggles” noticed the increased owl sightings during the day and had a newspaper article on it. Anything major, such as an comet landing in your town or a town battle destroying the town, would bring notice from the outside world (such as the National Guard arriving or scientists showing up to take over). That can either be used as a part of your book, such as your characters hiding from the government, or you should have an explanation for why the government doesn’t know, such as news reports on something distracting the government or satellites.

Settings In The Real World

Now that you have in mind where your story will be set, you need to think about that setting as your character sees it and how they will show it to your reader. One huge thing to remember if you choose to set your story in a real place where people actually live now a day is that readers can tell if you get things wrong. Some readers will notice if you say the third house on the street is blue when really it’s yellow or if your character thinks a town is sweet and peaceful when really the town is dingy and filled with gang wars. If you decide to put your story in a real place, you probably want to take an extended vacation there or, preferably, have lived there for a time to understand the mode and habits of the area. (Putting a Georgia accent on a group of people all living in Florida could cause you to lose readers as well.) If your readers find too many discrepancies between the real world they live in and the “real world” your characters live in without there being some explanation, the reading won’t be as smooth and they may merely put the book down and never read it again so be careful how accurate your setting is to the real world.

Is Your Setting The Best For Your Story?

When you decide to start a story, the setting is usually decided by the plot points, the characters, or where you live as you write the story. Sometimes stories could easily be set in Texas in the summertime as Maryland in the summertime or California in winter without changing the story. The question is, would they have been the same? Would Gone With The Wind have been as effective if it had been written in Missouri during the Civil War or in France during their Revolution as it was set in Georgia and Atlanta during the Civil War? Would Grapes Of Wrath have been as good set in New York? Think about your characters, where would you likely find them, where would they probably have been raised to get their personality or chosen to go when they were old enough to chose? Is there a city that lends itself best to your story?

Why Is the Setting Important?

For the past few months this blog has been about creating a thorough setting for your fictional story, knowing the history, having accurate science, and having an accurate surrounding in space(a space station or a space ship). So why have I spent so much time on creating a setting? When I read a book, I do so to escape my real world for a little while. Maybe I just want to fill a few boring hours or maybe my day has been crazy and I just want to relax by being someone else for a little while. Whatever the reason I pick up a book, I don’t want to be sitting in my comfy chair in my familiar room, I want to be in another place living someone else’s dramatic life or having an adventure somewhere outside my window. I assume most readers want a total escape from their world and their lives when they pick up a book. To get that escape there needs to be good characters doing interesting things, a goal that the reader wants to see out to the end, and a setting that holds the reader deep enough in the story to remind them that what they’re reading about isn’t part of their everyday life. If a story doesn’t have those three necessary parts of a book, as well as being written well enough to flow smoothly, the reader will put down the book in annoyance and go find another book to read.
That is why I think that the setting in a book deserves at least as much attention as creating the character within the book. You need to develop a setting well enough to explain it subtly with writing that makes the reader feel as if they are right there with the character in the book. Such writing can be hard to do but if you manage to find the perfect medium between over-informing the reader and not putting the reader in the setting at all, you’ll be halfway to creating a story the publishers will buy and readers will search for.

15 Things To Think About When You Create A Fictional Space Station

The purpose of your fictional space station influences a lot about the structure and ability of the station.
Engineering systems are needed to keep the station active all day and all night.
Defenses are important when it comes to protecting the station and the ships docked with it.
The command center keeps the station operating at the highest level possible without confusion.
Docks keep the ships moving supplies and people flowing on and off the station in an orderly fashion.
Utilities keep the residents in sanitary conditions.
Medical keeps everyone healthy and heals those that are sick or injured.
Everyone needs sleeping quarters, whether they’re a family or single, humanoid or alien needing a different atmosphere.
Schooling is important to children and adults trying to advance faster in their job.
Currency is a necessary evil in this universe and you should know what your station uses.
Where the residents get their basic supplies is important so they don’t run out.
How they get specialty items and what vendors you let on your station can depend on the culture on station.
What restaurants and bars are on station can depend on the type of station you have.
How people relax on your fictional space station can really affect the moral on the station.
Casinos can be a one stop shop for relaxation.

How Is Gambling Viewed On Your Space Station?

Another way to relax that almost always makes its way where people are is gambling. If it’s not legal, than there is probably an underground game somewhere on station, whether they play for actual money or not. If it is legal than you can bet there is at least a set game with a regular buy in. More likely than not, if gambling is legal there will be a casino of some sort. It may be an underground one the station security pretends to ignore while quietly monitoring the seedy group of people through hidden cameras there or it may be like Quark’s in Star Trek: Deep Space 9 which was the center of social life on the station. Quark’s was the only bar, restaurant, and entertainment complex on station, according to the series writers, and everyone stopped in at one time during the day or night. Security also kept a close eye on the goings on in the casino to keep order and see what scam artists the casino brought in that week. As unlikely as it is that the station would only have one restaurant, bar, and entertainment area, the creators were smart enough to know that they needed at least one area and most of the episodes included Quark’s in one way or another. It may have been a drink at the bar and a conversation with Quark, who not surprisingly was the station gossip and confidant, or it may have been a conversation between friends over dinner or even an episode based in the holodeck. Whatever the story line was, you’d have troubles finding an episode set on station that didn’t involve Quark’s and people enjoying some time off. It just goes to show how important a good relaxation spot is to a story.

How Do Your Characters Relax?

We’ve talked about the workings of the station, where your residents get their basic supplies, their special supplies, and where they eat. But how do they relax after a long day at work? After all: all work and no play make people very dull and unhappy. People relax differently, some merely need a good book and comfortable place to read. Other people need activity and it would be smart to have some sort of sports complex. In a previous series I wrote about how to put sports for all ages on a space ship which may give you some ideas on how to integrate sports and physical activity into your designs for your station. Some people prefer to relax by putting in a good movie and sitting down with a good snack while others prefer to sit with friends and chat or drink alcohol. Everyone is different and what they may want one day may not be how they want to relax the next night.
The many Star Trek series created what they called a “holodeck” which could be used for anything from sports games to training programs to fantasy rooms of any type. It was a great way for the crew to relax as well as group bonding sessions. It also had it’s bad side, as do all inventions: people could become so addicted to the fantasy of having everything exactly as they wanted it that they no longer wanted to deal with reality.
However you decide to allow your crew and residents to relax, remember to allow your characters in your story to relax as well.