Tips on Visiting Real Places of Your Novel’s Setting
Make fictional characters seem like real people by using these tips on visiting real places of your novel’s setting. The best books are those that transport you to a place away from the hum-drum of everyday life.
Keep reading to discover ways to experience travel to the place of your novel’s setting. And learn how your characters feel by walking in their shoes.
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Walk in Your Characters’ Shoes
Walk in your characters’ shoes by traveling to the place of your novel’s setting. In other words, find ways to feel what your main characters would feel. Make the reader feel what it’s like to walk the actual streets of your setting.
However, the setting of a story can seem just as real because of much research done by armchair travel. And there’s a good chance your historical fiction story will captivate your readers’ attention either way.
Following up with the trip to France after a long time of historical research, though, turned out to be a good idea for my own novel. Although a place changes between different time periods, its authencity helps historical fiction writers produce believable characters.
Creating a Sense of Place in Fiction
Experiencing Paris through the five senses helped in creating a sense of place for The French Connection historical fiction books.
For instance, I stood in the area where unfortunate individuals lost their lives during the horrible Reign of Terror. My hair blew in the wind, and I smelled the scent of roses wafting from a nearby garden. My characters began to feel more real to me.
Perhaps an actual trip to the place of your setting is not possible for you. If that’s the case, read the section below on literary vacation clubs.
The Conciergerie
When visiting Paris, I toured the Conciergerie as part of my preparation for writing about the heroine’s ordeal in Return to Chateau Fleury. Formerly Louis XIII’s palace beside the River Seine, the Conciergerie is a short walk from Notre Dame Cathedral.
The former royal palace became a courthouse and the atrocious prison of Marie-Antoinette during the French Revolution. She was imprisoned there for 44 days until executed at the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
I visited the excellent displays and saw the cell where Marie Antoinette was held which was surprisingly small and sparse. Most other cells held many prisoners with only straw mats to sleep on, if lucky enough to get one.
Place de la Concorde
Afterward, I walked the short distance to the Place de la Concorde, where King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lost their heads to madame guillotine. As you may imagine, I passed on the excursion into the catacombs.
On the flip side, I loved the Hall of Mirrors (photo below) at Versailles that look out over the gorgeous La Notre gardens. Each of the examples contributed to the authenticity of the scenes depicted in the book.
The French Connection
The French Connection series exemplifies how visiting historical fiction novel sites can be beneficial in writing the scenes. Three trips to France with my husband inspired settings in the series. The vacations, including staying in a chateau, made history come alive for me.
Taking a literal vacation to the place of your novel best provides a visual for you to step inside your character’s skin. But if an actual trip to the setting’s site isn’t possible, sign up with a literary vacation club. That could be quite fun and also enable you to get a close feel to walking in your characters’ shoes.
Consider joining a literary vacation club if you can’t go on an actual writer’s vacation.
Literary Vacation Clubs
Look up literary vacation clubs, and join one that you like. This will give you a feeling of what it would be like to live in a particular city or country. And similar to traveling to the place in person, you’ll be able to experience things through the five senses as your characters do.
Intrigue your readers with a strong sense of place by taking a writer’s vacation. Visit the places of your novel’s settings. If scheduling a trip to the place of your historical fiction book is not feasible, join a literary vacation club.
International travel to cities and countries in historical fiction settings is certainly beneficial to a writer. However, don’t let that hinder you from pursuing a literary vacation while writing your novel.
There’s even a Literary Vacation Club Reading Passport paperback by Ashley Nestler for your literary journey.
Memoirs and Autobiographies
Read true stories about other people’s lives such as through memoirs and autobiographies. This enables a writer to feel and understand different cultures.
Researching a historical period through memoirs and autobiographies has helped me along my writing journey. Using accounts of real events recorded by primary sources and secondary sources is an important aspect of the research process. So definitely, I include them in my own personal experience of research in the historical fiction genre.
Literary Vacation Reading List
Write down your own literary vacation reading list. Are you a hobby reader, or do you only choose books for research purposes? Bring along a couple of books about the place you’re visiting, fiction and nonfiction.
If by any chance you plan to travel to Paris, order The French Connection series set of books listed below.
Silk or Sugar and Return to Chateau Fleuery, the first two volumes of The French Connection, will take you to past eras in France with the series’ de Fleury family.
The third volume in The French Connection series, Mon Amour, Friend or Foe, was published in March 2020 (after another trip to France in 2019). The setting is 1939, and the book is about eighteen-year-old American Paulette Rousseau who arrives in Paris to study at the Sorbonne and ends up joining the French Resistance in May of 1940.
Mon Amour, Friend or Foe:
Mon Amour, Friend or Foe is available for purchase on Amazon:
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