Set the Setting

   Okay, now that I'm at least coherent enough to put together a full sentence, (if you haven't read earlier post, I just received a contract for my book titled '7 Days Normal', and my fingers and brain are still shaking with excitement) I can post something that I've been wanting to for about a week now. Last May my husband gave me the best birthday present I have ever received: a trip to Hawaii. This was monumental for me for two reasons. First, I've wanted to go badly since I was a child, and second, the book I'm penning now is set there, on the island of Oahu to be exact. I viewed this as the opportunity of a lifetime, for even though I knew this book had to be set in this beautiful, tropical, and distant place, I had no idea how to make it believable, without actually going and experiencing it for myself. And so I did, only last week.
   'How much does the setting matter?' one might ask. I asked the same thing myself when I began this book, only days after I finished writing the one soon to be published. Maybe in some stories it isn't so pressing, but for others, I think it's imperative. Take 'Twilight' for example(yes, I'm going there again). Would the story be as magical, as fantastical if Mrs. Meyer didn't meticulously paint the picture of the soggy, green, and seemingly alive forest surrounding Forks? When you think of 'Twilight' do you think of the woods, the town, the never ending rain at all? I do. And she meant it that way when she wrote it. The setting is just as important to her story as the characters are. When we read her series, we feel we are in the state of Washington ourselves, partaking of the environmental factors as much as Bella is. Stephenie Meyer painted us a setting to be remembered and one that is irreplaceable, and I feel as authors, we should do the same.
When I began writing my new story, I relied heavily on reading about Hawaii, about the flora and fauna, the people, the history, etc. Since I figured at the time I would never get to go, at least not anytime soon, this seemed to be a reliable alternative. But the more I delved into the work, I began to worry. If the story was set anywhere else, maybe I would't have been so anxious, but for reasons you will find out when and if you read the book, I couldn't place my main character any other place. Hawaii had to be it, and I had to know this island like I do my own home, inside and out. If I didn't, I feared the book wouldn't be as believable, as wonderful, as concrete, as it could be otherwise. Although I had educated myself a plenty through all the reading, I still felt as though I was falling short. And as soon as I went to Hawaii, I was proven right.
   Never in all my life could I have captured the ambiance of this beautiful chain of islands had I not gone there. Yes, the books did a wonderful job of introducing me to the culture, but they don't hold a candle to actually watching the sun set over the never ending Pacific with your own eyes. I couldn't taste the exotic (and yes I admit, sometimes weird) cuisine, nor could I hear the vernacular spoken by the locals, or the accent in which they spoke it. Funny side note: my husband and I got stuck in the sand in our rental jeep, and four local surfers came to help push us out. With tanned and tattooed skin, sun bleached hair, and a slang known as pidgin, the locals were friendly and funny, calling my husband 'bra', which translated is bro, and looking at us as though we were silly, helpless mainlanders, something my husband and I only laughed about, because it was true!
    There are so many other things I experienced to help me write my new story, and I'm so glad I did, because I truly think if I hadn't made the trip, I would've fallen flat and not delivered what I think I can now. I can now say this book has a potential, simply because I've been there, I've seen the sights, I've heard the sounds, and tasted the flavors.
   Now don't get discouraged if your story is set in Australia or some other place very far away that you can't afford to visit. Just examine how important the setting will be to the story, to the characters, to the mood you're trying to set. Then go from there. My first novel, (did I mention it's going to be published!) takes place in L.A., but the setting wasn't near as important as the conflict of the characters, although it did play a small part. In this instance, I used what I knew about L.A. from television and the movies, deeming the setting only a small part of the story, not really making it or breaking it either way. So I will leave the judgement up to you. Determine how much the setting matters to the overall plot, and go from there. If it's monumental, then go all the way baby, and write yourself a story that takes the reader to the place, putting them in the midst of the setting, right next to the characters, and creating an unforgettable moment that won't be soon forgotten.