location, location, location

[Thump]

I'm trying to write a YA fantasy novel (trying because I'm not very good at sitting down and writing :p). My MC is being forced to go live with an aunt in India.

I haven't said which country he lives in which of course would have an impact on which of the schools in New Delhi he would go to. I'm neither American nor English and I'm having a hard time choosing where to set this. I think my story has more of a "British flavour" but the English I speak and write is American (which makes sense since I learnt English at an American institute). What would you advice?

[Willowmound]

Have your MC be from whichever place you are most familiar with. Be sure you have been to all the places your MC visits.

It is so easy making a mistake if you try to write about places and cultures you aren't familiar with. The readers will know. Especially readers who know these places already themselves.

[Elektra]

May I ask why you're choosing to write in English instead of your native tongue?

[The Lady]

It's a complicated one. I suppose the English/Indian angle has been explored many times due to the colonial history of those two countries, so it might be an idea to try something new and make the child American.

If the country he comes from is going to figure prominently in the novel, even in reference, you would need to be very familiar with that country and be comfortable referencing it.

Why not have the child come from your own country even if it's not an English speaking country. It would still be perfectly acceptable to write it in English. I remember reading Heidi as a child and that's set in either Germany or Austria.

[PattiTheWicked]

If it's fantasy, you can set it in an existing locale and still have some of your own world-building going on. Look what JKR did with England -- you hop on a train in a very real station in London, but you end up at Hogwarts.

[Willowmound]

Look what JKR did with England -- you hop on a train in a very real station in London, but you end up at Hogwarts.

You'd have to locate platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross station first though...

[Thump]

:) I write in English because I'm actually more comfortable with it than with either French or Spanish which are my native tongues :D It sounds a bit odd, I know, but that's the reason I'm doing a B.A. in English :)

I know India well as I lived there for close to five years (which is why I'm having him move there). I though maybe having him possibly going to the French school (which is where I went) but it's not so important as all that as the school is not going to be appearing much. It's mainly for some background information and give a concrete setting.

Hmm...maybe Canada would be a fair compromise?

Reader-wise, do you think youngsters will respond well to Canada as a location for the story? The U.S and U.K are much more familiar, I think, that's why I was considering these two primarily. Like Rowling uses "Muggle England" to anchor her story to reality. Most of my novel won't quite take place in the "real world" but it won't be in some "magical boarding school" either :p There isn't as clear a division between worlds in my story as in the Potter series.

[Willowmound]

Why this need to have your MC not be from wherever you grew up?

[Thump]

Because I grew up all over the place.

My mother works for the French Embassy and has to move from country to country every 5 years or so. I've never spent more than 6 years in any one place. I lived in Uruguay, where I was born, then Guatemala, then India and now Canada. If you put together all the summers spent in France, that still only comes to about one year spent in my mother country.

[rugcat]

If it's fantasy, you can set it in an existing locale and still have some of your own world-building going on. I often mix fictional places with real ones. I'll use actual bars, restaurants, etc. along with ones I've made up. I'm not above twisting reality to suit my plotline either. I've done that with mysteries as well as fantasy. What I don't do is lie about things that can be checked, i.e., if a certain park is actually on the west side of town, you can't put it on the east side.

[Willowmound]

Because I grew up all over the place.

My mother works for the French Embassy and has to move from country to country every 5 years or so. I've never spent more than 6 years in any one place. I lived in Uruguay, where I was born, then Guatemala, then India and now Canada. If you put together all the summers spent in France, that still only comes to about one year spent in my mother country.

Then make your MC Canadian, like you suggested. Why not.

[farfromfearless]

I prefer to write from experience - except in the case of fantasy (mostly). I would think that a story set in your own country, in the places that you are most familiar, might lend believability to your setting?

[PeeDee]

I moved around a great deal for most of my life, all my early years and most of my teen years. I covered the western hemisphere pretty well. What this means is that when I go to write a story, if it feels like it should be somewhere special, it winds up being somewhere I've lived.

The joy of places I lived when I was young was, I don't always remember specific details, but I remember moods and flavors and feelings and people and houses. They make great details when I go to write. The technical details, I can fill in.

I guess I'd suggest writing the story based somewhere where you have emotions that you can harvest. Even if they're just emotion-tinted memories. They can be very useful.

[Elektra]

Austen, I think, made up fake towns and put them in existing counties of England. Perhaps you can do the same in whichever country you decide to use?

[farfromfearless]

Because I grew up all over the place.

My mother works for the French Embassy and has to move from country to country every 5 years or so. I've never spent more than 6 years in any one place. I lived in Uruguay, where I was born, then Guatemala, then India and now Canada. If you put together all the summers spent in France, that still only comes to about one year spent in my mother country.

Should I take it that you are currently in Ottawa, Canada?

[farfromfearless]

Austen, I think, made up fake towns and put them in existing counties of England. Perhaps you can do the same in whichever country you decide to use?

There are quite a few authors who do this; Charels de Lint created a number of fictional cities and towns drawn from various bits and pieces of the places he lived and visited. They blended the best and worst aspects of each place, but in the end they were just backdrops really.