Wednesday, October 6, 2010

WiP Wednesday - October 7, 2010 and . . . things!

First - WiP Wednesday: I'm at the Ta-Da Moment of Book II, i.e., the Climax. Woo-hoo. Next is Falling Action and then the Denouement. As I was working on the Climax scene - confession, gun, life threatening moment - I suddenly shifted gears. This was something I had considered, very briefly, earlier in the novel, and somehow the idea stayed with me and appeared, almost on it's own, while working on a chapter Monday evening.

As I was writing the chapter, I had a different scenario in mind for the end of the chapter. I'm typing away and suddenly - BAM - I end the chapter a bit differently. Now, I have to pick up from that point and begin the falling action.

Check out this prior post about The Basics as well as the links in that post. Good stuff.

Now, on to other things . . .

Here's my question: when setting fiction in a real town, do you use real television stations and newspapers, or create fake ones?

To me, if I set something in New York City, I'd probably, at some point, have a character reference The New York Times. If I set something in Nashville, I'd have them reference the local paper The Tennessean and/or an actual television affiliate like Channel 2 - WKRN. It's just me.

Okay, the reason for my question: reading a book, set in Nashville, and the author created a fictional newspaper. I'm just wondering . . . why?

How about you? Would you create your own newspaper or use an actual one? I'm just confused.

Is it easier to make up newspapers and/or television stations? Does it give a novel a more realistic feel to reference actual realities of the setting? I mean, yeah, most people aren't going to know there isn't a newspaper called The Nashville Hound Dog (no, that's not what the author in question used in their book). Still, I like, especially when reading about cities I've lived in or visited, seeing the, well, realism.

Case in point - I just read a book set in Salem, MA. I go there every year for a work conference. I knew the streets and landmarks the author mentioned in the novel. I could, well, relate.

So, I'm thinking - yes, I know, a dangerous thing for me to do - that by inserting actualities (i.e., real newspapers, landmarks, etc.) into my writing I'm creating a bit of realness.

How about you? Thoughts?

S

1 comment:

Jemi Fraser said...

I tend to write fictional towns and cities. I worry about accuracy if I'm writing about real places I've never been - and I've done very little travel in the States. I think it would be too hard :)