Jane Edwards' expertise comes from nearly
thirty years of writing and the publication of twenty novels. She shares how to find
the right setting for your fiction, how to use travel to advance your plot; how to write
of places you've never been, and how to create verisimilitude – detail by detail.
This book contains dozens of examples, a plethora of innovative ways to use travel
experiences, and a list of essential resources.
Writer's Digest Book Club states, "This
book puts a whole new twist on traditional travel writing, teaching you to use the
characters, setting and "flavor" of the places you visit as material for your
fiction."An excerpt from Settings that Generate
Fiction in chapter two,
Margaret Chittenden is such a firm believer in the
importance of "being there" that she often depends on a place to provide all
three of the main elements for her novels. . . .
She gives a vivid example to show the difference between
depending on guidebook research and making actual observations on the spot.
. . . "One thing I wanted to know more about was the
Shinkansen, the Japanese bullet train."
Her guidebook supplied the information that refreshments were served
aboard the train. It also claimed that finding one's place aboard would not be
difficult.
That, Meg said, was an understatement. "When we
arrived at the depot I found that a seat number is stamped on every ticket. A
matching number is marked on the platform. You go stand on it. The train stops
with your seat right in front of you.
"Soon after the journey gets underway several small, very pretty
young women come trouping down the aisle pushing little carts or trolleys ahead of them.
They have this little chant they do: 'Cahn-ned beer, cahn-ned soda, cahn-ned juice,
sandwichee, how are you, what would you like?' . . . It was charming and much more
colorful than you would ever suspect form simply reading 'refreshments are served on the
train.'"
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