La Vie Boheme

Setting questions

Now that I've actually commited myself to writing this monster, I'm left with some of the same questions I've had before, particularly with Sword. How do I describe a setting I'm not completely familiar with? Writing The Host was easy in that respect. I set it in Ann Arbor, which I know pretty much like the back of my hand. NOW I completely understand why Stephen King sets everything in his little corner of Maine (with some notable exceptions--which I've noticed, are also places he's lived). The only problem with that is, I haven't lived in very many interesting places. Just Michigan and Nashville and then the hellhole that was northwest Tennessee.

I don't think this story will work in any of those places. It's definitely urban in feel. I decided on Philadelphia because I've at least been there several times, but I still don't know much about it. I could probably fake my way through writing about New York, but that seems a little tired and cliche. I suppose this means setting research as well as mythological research--although, not so much of the latter. I've got a good handle on the fae side of things, I just need to figure out what take I'm using on it. And unlike with The Host, I'm not going to leave the major questions like that until I'm 50,000 words into the manuscript.