: Re: Any advice on creating fictional locations in real places when writing historical fiction? I am currently working on a historical fiction novel set during the tail end of the Harlem Renaissance,

@Karen856

Having reality as a foundation for the fiction makes it more believable, and limits how much explanation you need in the work. If it is set in New York, you don't need to explain why the ground is covered with melting, dirty snow on a warm February day. If it is in the 50's, you don't need to explain why some guy is wearing a Fedora hat.

I've read fiction that was wedged tightly into a reality I knew. In my reader's eye, I saw in which building each of the scenes was placed. Every word lived.

Were I writing this, I would ask if a theater could exist on Lenox Avenue. Wikipedia says yes, there were theaters and clubs. This would be another. Total plausibility. Where do your characters live? Chances are you can find a reality-grounded answer. Where do they eat? How do they move about in the city? How to they travel? Where are their parents and extended families? All of the backstories can be assembled from bits of the lives of real people and places.

By having a well-known setting -- historical, geographic, temporal, and social -- your story can focus on what is unique to your story. Who is different? Who is special? What do they do? What problems does that make? How are they changed? How do they change others? Why does it matter?

This can work well.

Vote Up Vote Down

0 Reactions   React

Replies (0) Report

Login to post a comment!