Location is everything: where does your story take place?

Estate agents always say Location is everything, and it's a good mantra for a writer to follow.

Choice of location / setting shouldn't be arbitrary - a good and effective location will help build your story, contribute to plot and atmosphere. But can also put limitations on it: if your story is set on earth, chances are people subject to the laws of gravity. Of course, if you create your own world, you can create your own rules of physics - as Sir Terry Pratchett does so brilliantly with his Discworld.

Creating a new world is challenging - you need to think about what it looks like; what rules govern it; what creatures that will inhabit it; what languages they speak; what forces (eg: magic) are at work. Some of this planning will only be reflected in the final novel in a few words, but the setting needs to be carefully created and refined to work with the novel.

The location of your story contributes to character: if your story is set in the Far East, then the people inhabiting it are likely to be defined by their location and culture, or at the very least, if they are a westerner, it will have an impact on their life - many stories draw from the 'fish out of water' scenario for humour.

Location also contributes to the plot. If your character is going to hike across the desert, the story is not going to be set in a tropical rain forest (unless of course he is an explorer and moves around different regions!) The location presents a series of challenges that are integral to the narrative - in the desert, water is essential - how does the character deal with this? How

Location can enhance the mood. If you read about an abandoned house, covered in vines, with broken windows, creaky doors and floor boards; poor lighting and strange sounds, it is more likely to be a horror story than a romance. Of course the challenge can be to flip this, and make something unexpected happen in that location, and sometimes that is where a brilliant story can develop. It can also be a disaster - Sharknado has a degree of notoriety for being so bad!

As always, if you are writing about a new location, do your homework - research, and read about the area, especially if you have never been there. Google Earth is a wonderful tool, that allows you to have a good view of most of the planet.

The location in time is as important as the geographical location - but that is a subject for another blog.

An effective location contributes to the character and plot in a story. Chose wisely!