Isn’t it nice when…?

[EmilyMiller]

I wrote a short story about rock climbing (actually bouldering) for the Sports Event back in 2024. I set it in a real Californian town and the surrounding area which is famous for its climbing. But I never mentioned the place name, nor state, nor area, nor anything else bar rock types and some features and geology.

Today I get a comment from someone who has been there and correctly identified the place just from my loose description. That’s

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I included minor details such as street names and building nicknames in my Past, Present and Future series, ones from my old alma mater. I also used a very real town and beach in a story about painted bikinis. I was tickled in both cases when a couple of people said they knew.

 

[old_prof]

I'm curious when my Pink Orchid novel goes live if anyone recognizes the setting. I provide several clues to where it is, but I don't even give it a region (other than it's a flight from Seattle, but that's true for almost the entire country).

 

[ronde]

I use actual place names and street names all the time, though I usually make up house numbers. I often get favorable comments from readers who live in that state or city.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I can go one better. When I set part of a story in New York City in the 1950S, one commenter not only said I really knew my way around the city (never been there) but that they were surprised that I was old enough to remember what it was like back then(I'm not).

 

[EmilyMiller]

I can go one better. When I set part of a story in New York City in the 1950S, one commenter not only said I really knew my way around the city (never been there) but that they were surprised that I was old enough to remember what it was like back then(I'm not).

That’s a testament to research for sure. I find myself doing that about places like Miami (where I have never been, but which is the setting for one of my stories). I used Google Maps to figure out how long it took to drive from the UMiami campus to a local beach for example.

I have been to the climbing venue I mention (twice), though the story I set there was invented.

 

[ThatNewGuy]

I set one scene in a European city that I never mentioned by name, so I was chuffed when a reader emailed to say that she recognized one of the landmarks I'd described. She even shared a fun bit of trivia that I hadn't uncovered in my research. Apparently, the guy who designed the tower was also named Eiffel.

 

[WittyUserName]

I wrote a short story about rock climbing (actually bouldering) for the Sports Event back in 2024. I set it in a real Californian town and the surrounding area which is famous for its climbing. But I never mentioned the place name, nor state, nor area, nor anything else bar rock types and some features and geology.

Today I get a comment from someone who has been there and correctly identified the place just from my loose description. That’s

That's awesome! I haven't had the exact same thing happen, but I did write a detailed story set in Maine. I got a few comments from people who had been there, saying I got the details perfect. It definitely feels great!

 

[EmilyMiller]

That's awesome! I haven't had the exact same thing happen, but I did write a detailed story set in Maine. I got a few comments from people who had been there, saying I got the details perfect. It definitely feels great!

I had that with my two Jersey Shore stories - the one set at a Water Park was because I had a summer job there once.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I have been to the climbing venue I mention (twice), though the story I set there was invented.

I attribute the reader's comment to you providing the details and descriptions that made identifying the location easy for them. That's your talent.

 

[StrentWriter]

I did have my one reader of my novel drop me a line to say how much he enjoyed the mentions of the Vincent Black Shadow - as he’d had one.

I was delighted he’d identified it from very few mentions of the brand name and just went by the colour and the fuel tank shape described.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I attribute the reader's comment to you providing the details and descriptions that made identifying the location easy for them. That's your talent.

They were kinda only sketched

 

[Trionyx]

I mentioned a true place in my newest Valentine's Day story, the first time ever. All the other locations have been merely figments of my imagination.

 

[SkyBubble]

When I was in college, I wrote a couple of stories set in a small college town. I fictionalized it ever so slightly, but everyone knew what I was writing about. I used real street names and a few other tells, with fictionalized versions of friends of mine as characters.

 

[SugarStorm]

A reader went through one of my two-parters recently. You can see the trail: they favorite the first part, then the second, and then they decide to follow.

It was an important story to me, and seeing that small, deliberate sequence made me unreasonably happy There’s something very special about someone liking your work enough to think, I want to see what else this person does.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I referenced google maps rather relentlessly for easy LA street names and such and was ridiculed more than once for fucking it all up.

Clearly you guys are all awesome and I totally suck.

 

[ADirtyPerv]

I referenced google maps rather relentlessly for easy LA street names and such and was ridiculed more than once for fucking it all up.

Clearly you guys are all awesome and I totally suck.

I referenced Lodi, a town in northern California, in one of mine. I made a big point about it being a nowhere-ville (it is). The only response I got about that piece was an "umm, actually" about Lodi producing good wine. It was frustrating.

 

[YmaOHyd]

I got a "why did this character's parents name him that instead of this other name" once, which was nice.

 

[SkyBubble]

I can go one better. When I set part of a story in New York City in the 1950S, one commenter not only said I really knew my way around the city (never been there) but that they were surprised that I was old enough to remember what it was like back then(I'm not).

My dear late wife had the world's best sense of direction. Knew three ways to everywhere. Except in Manhattan. She couldn't find her way around Manhattan if her life depended on it. I would say to her "OK, you're at Grand Central and you want to go to Sardi's. How do you do?" (Keep in mind we did that walk dozens of times.)

"I follow you."

 

[SkyBubble]

I included minor details such as street names and building nicknames in my Past, Present and Future series, ones from my old alma mater. I also used a very real town and beach in a story about painted bikinis. I was tickled in both cases when a couple of people said they knew.

I did a couple of stories set in a college town (modeled on the one where I went to college.) I used actual streets. People knew.

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

I spend a lot of time on Google street view when I am writing about real locations.
Not just for visualization, but to make sure times make sense.

Yes, I have checked sunrise-sunset times to make sure things fit.

(Sitting in a restaurant I mentioned in a story as I write this.)

 

[redgarters]

I got feedback email the other day from someone who'd read Last Song, my Valentine's story, that takes place in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I have never been there. He described the feeling of being brought back to his time growing up in the southeast US, reading the story, because the setting felt authentic. I was really proud of that, because I've never been anywhere close to there and had to do a hefty amount of research to try to get it right.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I got feedback email the other day from someone who'd read Last Song, my Valentine's story, that takes place in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I have never been there. He described the feeling of being brought back to his time growing up in the southeast US, reading the story, because the setting felt authentic. I was really proud of that, because I've never been anywhere close to there and had to do a hefty amount of research to try to get it right.

That’s amazing - as is your story