Creating the Landscape of Your Novel, a Post by R. Clint Peters

Have you ever wondered why you feel as if you are part of some novels, that you recognize where they actually take place, while other books seem to leave you high and dry as a disinterested observer?

It is all in how the author paints the landscape of the novel, in how he or she configures the details.

The primary location of my first novel, The Pendergast Prerogatives, was in and around Seattle, Washington.  Why did I choose Seattle?  The best answer is because I had grown up in Washington.  I had a personal knowledge of Seattle, and other areas I used as the landscape of my book.

The hero of The Pendergast Prerogatives was John Pendergast.  One incident used in the book was a reference to the differences between the IBM PC and the Apple computer.

As the reputation of Prero grew, so did the reputation of the programmer.  John was soon on a first name basis with almost all of the computer industry.  However, he did not warm up to Apple.   

When asked why he didn’t like Apple, John replied, “If I want an apple, I can drive to Wenatchee.  Everyone knows that Wenatchee is the Apple Capital of the World.” 

Anyone from the state of Washington knows that apples are grown in Wenatchee, and everyone who owns a computer has either a PC or an Apple.  The remark about driving to Wenatchee for an apple adds a new layer to the landscape of the book.  In two sentences, it was established that John doesn’t like Apple computers.

As I developed the landscape of later novels, I made a conscious decision to create  completely new landscape instead of utilizing an existing backdrop.  Two cities which have become the centerpieces of most of my novels, Pendergast City, Idaho and Sanctuary City, Idaho,  cannot be found on any map of Idaho.  They, as well as several other landmarks, exist only in my mind.

If anyone asks why, the answer is simple — I found nothing I could use in existing locations in Idaho that would assist me in creating the landscape I wanted for my novel.  Yes, I could have used an existing city in Idaho for a backdrop, but I was creating completely new history.  I was painting my landscape on a blank, pristine canvas.

There are several well documented towns and cities near where I created Pendergast City and Sanctuary City.  Boise and Coeur d’Alene come to mind, and both are used liberally in my novels.

However, for the purist, the reader who looks at each line of the novel and compares it with reality, the creation of an event that did not actually occur will raise several flags.

For example, if I create a street in Coeur d’Alene, ID, the purists will focus on the street, not on why I created the street.  If I create an event that occurred on that street, the facts associated with the event will be examined for historical accuracy.

So, what does an author who is striving for accuracy do when the facts might not fit the situation?

My solution was to retain as much accuracy as possible in all aspects of the landscape my characters have been placed into.  If the distance from point A to point B was actually twenty miles, my landscape was painted at twenty miles.  If I included a unicorn in the story, I did not paint a unicorn with pink and purple stripes.  Everyone knows unicorns don’t have stripes.

There is, obviously, some risk in painting a picture that is half imagined and half reality, but there are benefits, too.  The risk is a reader will try to chase down every statement made in the novel, to verify its accuracy.  However, that reader may discover that not everything is imagined.  Some things might have actually happened as you have written them.

Reynold Bowen, who reviewed The Alberta Connection, a Ryce Dalton novel, gave me what I consider the ultimate compliment.

The Alberta Connection, a Ryce Dalton novel is a good action novel, made even better by the author’s attention to detail.

As an author, I want to be remembered as someone who filled the canvas of my novels with the best colors possible, in the most detail available.

#BestPracticesforWriting #RClintPeters