Monday, September 12, 2011

Time Setting

How much thought do you put into choosing the year your novel is set in? If you write contemporary fiction, perhaps that is a foregone conclusionyour storyline begins now, or in the recent past! And if you write historical fiction, you likely have a specific time in history in which to frame your plot. Sci-Fi is often set in some distant time in the future. Sometimes, though, time setting is far more subjective.

For instance, I would have set Story for a Shipwright in the year I began writing it2008. However, because of an important plot point, I had to take into consideration the significantly more stringent security measures of international travelwith emphasis on provable ID since 9/11. I could not pull off a major plot point unless it was set prior to that event, thus, I chose to open the story in the spring of 2001.

As for Portrait of a Girl Running, I picked the year 1978 because it was the year I graduated high school; I could write about it with authenticity. Also, with the increasing awareness of privacy issues and boundaries in ‘fiduciary’ relationships over the past 30 years, it would have been trickier to establish credibility in my plot and character development, had I set it in present day. Sometimes, even in few decades make a big difference in the attitudes of society in general.

With my WIP, Whispering Narrows, I chose the pivotal year 1969 for two reasons: 1) I remember 1969 as a child, and so does my husband who is a couple years older and whose experience I draw from. 2) The Woodstock Festival of 1969 is a plot feature (at least I think it might be at this pointI want to leave my options open).

What factors do you take into consideration when you choose the specific year or time frame of your stories?  

24 comments:

  1. Funny, when I wrote REMEMBERING YOU, someone wondered why Genna didn't use her cell phone. And the point was, I didn't own one so I had no reference. I had to write one in.

    I don't think of the small things when I write contemporary. I grew up in a time without cable, without computers, without Atari and Pacman.

    With my historicals, though, some people had indoor plumbing and running water, some did not. I have to be aware what was available in 1810 and what wasn't.

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  2. Anne, In 2001, I had a cell phone, but back then, people didn't have them glued to their heads the way they do now. I didn't include them in SFAS--it just didn't fit into the provincial lifestyle. Besides, I think not having cell phones adds conflict and tension!

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  3. I love those titles you have. Time setting is crucial. It's easier to write in present day but my first novel is also set in the pivotal sixties and encompasses the Vietnam War. My current one is present to future date and I had to consider things like cell phones and texting which changes so many things in a story with the different ways to communicate. What a sharp contrast between the Vietnam War when soldiers only means of communication was the written letter and today's conflicts. There is a lot more potential for conflict and tension without today's gadgets. I think that's why I enjoyed writing my sixties novel so much.

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  4. This probably sounds wimpy of me, but I tend to end up choosing the year that's the easiest for me to deal with. Whenever I can, I make a story contemporary, and only if that doesn't work at all will I do research on another time. I always hated history as a kid, and by the time I was wise enough to realize how interesting it was, I felt to clueless to do anything about it. Now I try to make up for it by following the news more closely!

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  5. I adore books set in specific contemporary times, honestly, and I think you pulled of Shipwright just fine in that area.

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  6. My WIP and all of my other planned novels take place either in present day or at some point in the near future. Though, once I start some of the others, I may end up backdating them if I want to remove the prevalence of cell phones and other mobile devices...

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  7. yes, it's like a piece of the puzzle that we have to figure out at some point. when i wrote the glitch, i needed 80s pop culture but also the characters visit a riverboat casino. since the pop culture of the decades spill over a couple years into the next decade, i went with 1992. the year is so important for scene and setting.
    great thoughts, topic.

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  8. Yvonne, It’s amazing how much technology affects the way we build tension in our plots. In present day stories, communications can be instantaneous—where’s the drama of searching for a pay phone? What no answering machine?

    Personally, I like the sixties for a setting—it’s very nostalgic for me and a time in history that marks so much change. So many things were on the brink.


    Domey, Some stories are simply timeless, and if you can get away with placing it in an easy-to-maneuver-through time frame, all the better. I don’t think I cared much for history as a kid, either, until I began to realize how different things that happened in different places at the same or different times affected each other. Frankly, I like history better than current news!


    Michelle, The trick with Story for a Shipwright was researching American history and making sure it jibed with Venezuelan! Not that anyone will know or care when the Federalists came into power, lol.


    Nate, I’m telling you, those cell phones and other devices will suck the tension out of your plot! You are probably too young to remember the angst of missing a call—for real (not just having it go to voicemail, or seeing it on caller ID, lol). I’ve always been fascinated by near future stories—how to anticipate what could happen, based upon what’s cutting edge today…


    Ed, Ah, the 80’s pop culture—I lived through it, but to be honest, it’s pretty much a blurr…and not drug induced, lol—procreation induced. I sort of grieve for the 80’s—the decade I missed.

    It’s a lot easier to look back on a time period and define it, and watch it meld with a new decade. Sometimes just a few years can be pivotal for a setting. Single events can change everything…

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  9. Setting can account for lack of technology though. Where I live(in Ohio) there is absolutely no cell service. I have to drive ten miles and sit atop a hill to even get a crappy connection, so I am rarely on cell. Heck, there's barely any cable out here (it ends about 1/2 mile from me where my road T's with another). If you want to make things hard on modern characters, strand them in Appalachia :)

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  10. Amalie, Astute observation! You make a great point about availability of technology based more on location than time! In fact, if a character decides to forgo the use of cell phones or computers/Internet, well, that would say a whole lot about the person.

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  11. I'm writing in the mid-eighties because I didn't want to introduce cell phones or computers. As real life technology updates itself, stories using dated equipment become obsolete. I wanted to avoid that.

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  12. Liza, I'm really amazed at how many writers (that don't write sci-fi) would prefer to not have loads of technology. I hadn't really thought of it in terms of 'dating' a story or making it obsolete. Good observation!

    By the way, The Lit Lab (Davin) wrote an interesting post on Dated Writing--sort of ties in...

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  13. I set The House on the Corner in the early 80s, because I wanted to highlight the origins of some of todays pop-culture phenomenon and the impact it had on kids in that time.

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  14. Andrew, it seems that a particular 'pop-culture' plays into a lot of writer's choice of time setting. it seems the 80's were popular.

    It's hard to tell from your avatar (how old you are, I mean), but I wonder if you expericed the 80's as a kid or watching your own kids experience it.

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  15. Ten years ago, I chose 2017 as the year when all hell breaks loose in NYC. I figured I'd be published in a year or two! lol

    Maybe I should up it a decade or two.

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  16. Charlie, it's probably risky to set anything in the too-near-future--could end up seeming prophetic.

    I know a guy who wrote a novel just before 9/11--ended up having too many similarities to the actual event and made it virtually unsalable. Sometimes, timing is everything!

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  17. My current novel (YA horror) takes place in present time, but an event from the early 1900's plays a key role in the story.

    Because of the location of the setting, I had to do a lot of research to make sure I had the time period right. No point saying something happened in 1850, yet no one had settled in that part of the state during that time period.

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  18. Yeah, Stina, there will always be sticklers for history who would gladly point out inconsistancies! I would imagine that back in the 1850's settlers were sparser in Northern Minnesota than other places in the nation!

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  19. I guess because my books are like Star Wars - "In a galaxy far, far away..." - I didn't have to worry about a timeline.

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  20. Alex, I kinda envy you that! But then, you have to worry about all sorts of other contingencies--but I'm not sure what they are (I just like the word!, lol)

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  21. One of my stories is set in 2005, primarily because it takes place in a fictional district of Baghdad--so the timing is set to account for that.

    Other stories are more or less set in the present, but I am concerned about how technology will change over time, so I like to place a time marker somewhere near the beginning so readers ten years from now--if I should be so lucky to have readers!--will still feel like things make sense, and say: "Ah, 2011! I remember those heady times before everyone had subcutaneous computer chip cell receivers instead of those bulky I-Phones!" :D

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  22. Ha! Jon, I had to look up "subcutaneous"! One more reason why writing about the past or present is safer than near-future fiction!

    When it comes to places which get a lot of publicity and have undergone (or are undergoing) recent change and upheaval, timing really makes a huge differnece if we want to maintain credibility. It helps to have a semi-fictional setting where we can take some literary liberties :)

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  23. I started my most recent project in 2008, and thus it takes place in that year. The financial crisis, however, which began several months after I started writing, wound up becoming a plot point of some significance, so I suppose that in a very loose sense my story could be considered historical fiction.

    These novels of yours sound very intriguing. I'd like to read them.

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  24. SftS, I think it's those details, peculiar to a time or place that give the story authenticity. Certain plots simply can't happen anyplace at anytime. It's great that you're flexible enough to weave the economy into your storyline!

    ...and I'm glad you think my novels sound intriguing :) Perhaps I'll finally get them out there and you can have a read!

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