Many people have asked me about how to write settings in stories, that is where the story is placed.  Especially, for foreign locations how do you write accurately about those places?

Luckily, with the Internet and Google maps, it’s a lot easier than it was.  Here are the things I use for setting my stories someplace other than my home.

1.  The location must be absolutely accurate to be believable.  And it must contain small, concrete details that will convince the reader that he is really in the fictional place.  If I can, I visit the location.  In my first book, Reprisal, I set a murder in something called the Cities of the Dead in Cairo, Egypt.  I was on a trip to the city and a cruise down the Nile.  When I heard the name, I thought it would be perfect in a story.  On a cab ride, I drove by the cemetery (one of the “cities of the dead”) and at least was able to look inside the grounds.  Then, I came home and researched it more through Google and Wikipedia.  From my experience being there, I could also add things like the smells, wind, dust, etc.

2.  For places I’ve never been to requires more detective work.  In my second book, Fallout, I place the criminals in a real city in Paraguay called Cuidad de Este.  I had read a few things about the place but needed more detail.  Google provided a lot of statistical and factual details about the town.  I also used Google maps to pick out details that made the writing seem real: street signs, names of companies, parks, names of streets, etc.  Luckily, I had been in a city nearby in Brazil and could use the things I experienced there to add to the city in my story.  The humidity, sounds, jungle, and the colors of the buildings all make the setting in stories real.

3.  I also use travel guides.  They are wonderful for factual information like hotel names, restaurants, sites to visit, and descriptions of the city and people.  I use the travel writer to translate their experience to my story.  Travel guides are also great if you want to add the weather, rain, temperature and things like that.  Or if your location is set in a city at 9,000 feet above sea level, the travel guide will warn you about altitude sickness and suggest precautions—all something you can have your characters experience also.  This will add to the setting in stories.

4.  I also read novels or nonfiction accounts of the country/city I’m going to write about.  For my new novel, Up Like Thunder, which takes place in Myanmar (Burma) I read several books to get factual information (from the nonfiction) but also to get a feel for the people and culture from the novels I read.

5.  I also interview people who have been there.  For Up Like Thunder, I talked to two people who travel there regularly for business.  They’re great because, unlike Google maps, they can answer your questions!!