Noted re research. I am sure I have heard of the danger of endless research from someone else, another writer, whose name now escapes me.
I lived in The Netherlands for a few years while at Uni (not Amsterdam but I did visit). It makes a research trip rather easy, I agree. Glad to hear it has provided you with lots of inspiration and feel for the place. Would you say physically visiting a place is the best way to do that?
Also very much appreciated are the various painting references and the pictures you have shared with us!
Most welcome! Re your question about physically being in a place for research purposes. Yes, absolutely - whenever possible, that should be the first choice to get the sense of place about all things big and small. All my spec scripts were set in New York and, living there at the time, greatly inspired and helped.
Alas - we're not always fortunate enough to go places and it really isn't a must. We're writers, we can write ourselves into any place and world. Take sci-fi, nobody's ever seen it and yet writers often do an awesome job taking us there. My most recent book's a historical novel with a pinch of magical realism, set in time from the 1850s to the 1930s in Nevada. My protagonist travels a great deal and I've not been to most of the places he visits (some of them ghost towns today) - but research (yes, I loved it and spent an exorbitant time doing it) - especially newspaper archives (see here > https://danielmartineckhart.substack.com/s/quintus-hopper-of-nevada ) helped me give the reader the feel of truly being there.
In your experience, do specific places, e.g. New York, inspire specific type of stories? Or is all fairly universal with some notable exceptions (every place having its own history, culture, customs which will inevitably impact the stories that originate from there and / or are written about it)?
Will check out the link now. Newspaper Archives sound like a huge rabbit hole someone like me could end up in! :D
I'd say that, unless a story is place-specific (as the one I mentioned which has the history of Nevada and the plight of American Indians at the core), specific places will first and foremost strongly color a story. You can tell the essentially same love story both in rural Kansas or smack in the middle of New York City - it can't help but make a huge difference. Sometimes, when we struggle we a story we have in mind, it actually helps to change setting - sometimes that will make all the difference for it to click.
I feel like I took a trip back in time to Amsterdam while reading your piece. I loved the film Tulip Fever, didn’t know Amsterdam was also a coffee trading city.
Thank you for this article!
Noted re research. I am sure I have heard of the danger of endless research from someone else, another writer, whose name now escapes me.
I lived in The Netherlands for a few years while at Uni (not Amsterdam but I did visit). It makes a research trip rather easy, I agree. Glad to hear it has provided you with lots of inspiration and feel for the place. Would you say physically visiting a place is the best way to do that?
Also very much appreciated are the various painting references and the pictures you have shared with us!
Most welcome! Re your question about physically being in a place for research purposes. Yes, absolutely - whenever possible, that should be the first choice to get the sense of place about all things big and small. All my spec scripts were set in New York and, living there at the time, greatly inspired and helped.
Alas - we're not always fortunate enough to go places and it really isn't a must. We're writers, we can write ourselves into any place and world. Take sci-fi, nobody's ever seen it and yet writers often do an awesome job taking us there. My most recent book's a historical novel with a pinch of magical realism, set in time from the 1850s to the 1930s in Nevada. My protagonist travels a great deal and I've not been to most of the places he visits (some of them ghost towns today) - but research (yes, I loved it and spent an exorbitant time doing it) - especially newspaper archives (see here > https://danielmartineckhart.substack.com/s/quintus-hopper-of-nevada ) helped me give the reader the feel of truly being there.
Thanks, Daniel. That is super helpful.
In your experience, do specific places, e.g. New York, inspire specific type of stories? Or is all fairly universal with some notable exceptions (every place having its own history, culture, customs which will inevitably impact the stories that originate from there and / or are written about it)?
Will check out the link now. Newspaper Archives sound like a huge rabbit hole someone like me could end up in! :D
I'd say that, unless a story is place-specific (as the one I mentioned which has the history of Nevada and the plight of American Indians at the core), specific places will first and foremost strongly color a story. You can tell the essentially same love story both in rural Kansas or smack in the middle of New York City - it can't help but make a huge difference. Sometimes, when we struggle we a story we have in mind, it actually helps to change setting - sometimes that will make all the difference for it to click.
Fabulous, thanks Daniel. This is a great piece of advice! :)
I feel like I took a trip back in time to Amsterdam while reading your piece. I loved the film Tulip Fever, didn’t know Amsterdam was also a coffee trading city.