Hello guys, I have some questions for you. - What is your novel's genre? - How you decided its setting? - And why you decided that place? - In what storical period do you put it in? Past, Present or Future?
I've intentionally made mine in an ambiguous time. And the characters' mannerisms and wording keep tripping the reader up. Because I can.
My genres are often psychological, but they are quite a mash-up. The setting is not fixed in my novels. If I write, I tend to use either the present or the past tense. The time period itself is often undefined, usually around current days. =)
Well, I'm writing several at the moment, so general answers... My genre of choice is fantasy, but I sometimes venture into romance, contemporary, and sci-fi. Usually, it's YA. Period and settings all over the place.
The genre I wrote... I'm not sure. My book is a mix of plenty of stuff, but, I would say it's a social kind of book? In the sense that it's based around human interaction more than anything. It's set in a school because human interaction is seen as its best here. Good and bad can be seen. It's often a critical period in people's lives, so I find it interesting as a setting. Tense, well I put it in the present to make it more meaningful to people who read it. Not to say that a book that isn't in the present is not meaningful, but to know that the story could happen right here right now lets the readers relate more. That makes me think, I should really revise my book again if I hope to publish it
I am planing to write a novel (ill probably give up after 2 chapters). I would say the genre is fantasy YA. The setting is a town in Australia, New South Wales, South Coast. I decided that place because I have been there, so it is easier to see it. Also because it suits the main character. Present
A good way to avoid that is to plan the thing from beginning to end before you even write the first letter of a draft. So then rather than trying to craft a story while also making artistic decisions, you can work on one at a time. A question about your questions: Why these particular ones?
Genre: Fantasy How I decided on the setting: It was always going to take place in my own fictional universe. I never questioned that. Still working on building the whole map of their world, though. Why: It just belongs in another universe. That, and I don't like the universe I live in, so I wanted my own to escape to, in a way. Historical Time Period: It's in a different universe, so none? But it does have more of a medieval feel to it, I suppose. So... past?
Sad cyberpunk, I guess I didn't. One night I saw something, woke up, wrote it down. In the next morning I found the concept of story and "Hmm, it isn't bad! I should write a novel". Nonetheless I decided the occasions will take place in another universe that reminds our but has another way of development. Because I need a huge hyperbole of some global problems. It looks more like future. It's between 2000 and 3000 millenniums.
I'm not exactly writing one, but there's this story I've wanted to write for a long while now. Genre wise, it's a historical military story, with a bit of added fantasy to it. As for how I decided the setting, I've always liked historical stuff, and this particular time period really lends itself to transmit all the feelings I want to put in paper. And regarding tense, I always write in past. It's a habit built up during high school that I never managed to get rid of.
Thanks guys for your answers! ^^ Because I changed my story's location. As setting, I decided London but (nothing against this city) I was getting bored! So, I need a new location and I don't know how to manage it. Furthermore, I change its storical period. From the Past to the Present/Future. Of course it's a big change, but I'm building the story from basics, so I haven't spent useless time to write a wrong story
You can create it. For example, something like " in 19**, the huge island rose up from the bottom of the sea. It was populated with nearby inhabitants." Or make a new city. Choose your favourite cities and towns and mix their advantages and disadvantages. If it will be a Future, you even can name this Frankenstein-city as London or something like that ( sometimes it's really hard to think of a name, I know x) ) because no one knows what is waiting us in the next centuries even years Good luck with your novel! I think it should be great
Thanks for the suggestion! I have already had this idea before but I completely forgot it I think it's a good choice. I hope so ^^
Yeah, I always use this method. Cities, towns, countrysides are so various, colorful and unique that you can create with their parts something really unusual
No active novel project. But a couple of examples from the past. #1: an unfinished novel that I still dabble with from time to time. Genre is "new adult" (characters are about 20). The primary location is a college campus, possibly chosen simply because it provided a convenient place to stick my 20 year olds. The college and the town are imaginary, but both were influenced to a degree by a college I attended. Probably because it was easiest--all I probably cared about then was having a logical place for my characters. Although over time the college has developed a life of its own. The action takes place in the past, about 1980. I made this decision, a decision I made for reasons I can't recall. (Interestingly, in this case, two characters were the starting point. And when I first imagined then, they were solidly in 2001, when I started the project. But before I started writing, they took a little trip back in time.) I have mixed feelings about the decision to go back in time--it means a lot of work to make sure that details are correct--but it's also been a fun challenge sometimes. And I have fun with small details: characters using typewriters, getting Dittoed handouts in class, etc. Project #2 Completed short novel, National Novel Writing Month Genre: mystery Scene: was actually the first choice. The location is actually a real life place I know, and an idea hit of what if a murder happened here? The location could be fictionalized to a degree--and some things did change to suit the story--but the changes were minor since it kept things easy, and made "winning" NaNoWriMo easier. Supporting scenes (the city, and some places the characters go) are also real life, partly to keep things easy, also partly because they were fun for me to write about. Or at least the supporting scenes had the potential for makings easier--I spent a ridiculous amount of time researching an area college's historical timeline to find out what the place was like years ago... And I probably still made errors, like giving one building the name it has now, rather than what it was probably called at the time in question. Time: mostly present, but there are flashbacks in time showing some past history that has importance.
The majority of fiction is written in past tense, as if the writer is narrating something that happened. I think the original question was the historical setting. I can't really give more advice than the others did without knowing about your story, but if you set it in the future, really anything goes. Even the wildest changes (that don't break your world's reality somehow) can be explained away with things that happened between our present and the future of the story. And in most cases, the setting should enhance the plot (even if its only role is shaping the characters in some meaningful way), not just be a place for the characters to live/do stuff.
I am writing/have the synopsis for several novels that I am writing. I have alot of ideas and stuff but I need to actually start writing them lol. 1 is an adventure/action fantasy fiction and 2 are fiction biographies (with some personal experiences in them and 3 are like thriller/fiction stories with abit of real life events in them. They are all set either now or some time in the future. When I get them down to a T, I will post more info on them, watch this space. It may be in several years though haha, lmao!
