Trusting the Reader

Marc

Marc

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I have a question for those of you who enjoy reading fiction. Do you need the writer to tell you which country a city is in? I've seen a lot of American films and TV shows where the action takes place outside of the USA, and text appears on the screen: "London, England", despite showing a wide-angle shot of The London Eye and the Palace of Westminster.

So, to my question. Do I really need to write:

We were parked up in a lay-by on a country road, around eighty miles east of Krakow in Poland.
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When I could just write:

We were parked up in a lay-by on a country road, around eighty miles east of Krakow.
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If it's fiction, it doesn't matter either way, in my opinion.
 
If the fiction is 'pure' it matters not because locations may not be real e.g. as in Sci-Fi

However, where the writer is adding real world geographic locations it might add context to identify the country but not necessarily so!

Why, well based on some of the vox pop interviews from the USA on the news and even news interviewees, the average American has a lamentable knowledge of places outside of the USA.

Also, I fear that the same could be said of many in the UK too who haven't got a clue when it comes to world geography :(
 
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Marc said:
I have a question for those of you who enjoy reading fiction. Do you need the writer to tell you which country a city is in? I've seen a lot of American films and TV shows where the action takes place outside of the USA, and text appears on the screen: "London, England", despite showing a wide-angle shot of The London Eye and the Palace of Westminster.

So, to my question. Do I really need to write:



When I could just write:
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It's a very American thing and it annoys me when I read it. As in, I ffs know where Krakow is.
But of course a lot of Americans would not so from their pov it's understandable. Most of Europe is small interconnected countries whereas the US is a lot of 'small' interconnected States very far away from 'the world'.
 
Box Brownie said:
If the fiction is 'pure' it matters not because locations may not be real e.g. as in Sci-Fi

However, where the writer is adding real world geographic locations it might add context to identify the country but not necessarily so!

Why, well based on some of the vox pop interviews from the USA on the news and even news interviewees, the average American has a lamentable knowledge of places outside of the USA.

Also, I fear that the same could be said of many in the UK too who haven't got a clue when it comes to world geography ;(
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Yes, I've seen a few of those, including some who think that Europe is a country, a small one at that!
 
What really annoys me is when a TV production company decides to film a series of detective novels which are set in the Peak District, and then for some utterly baffling reason actually films them in Dublin. Not only that, the killer in the TV series is different to the killer in novel, and someone who was murdered in the novel is alive and kicking in the TV series.
 
If the location is relevant, maybe, but by and large in most fiction the location should be irrelevant, just "parked in a country lane, two hours drive from the nearest city" or similar.
 
It irritates me Marc and is one of the many reasons I rarely read American authors.

If you're aiming for the American market, then you'll need to include the country. It's not only their high level of ignorance about anything outside of America, but also the fact that they've named so many of their towns and cities after others - especially the UK.

If you're aiming for the UK and European market, I don't think you need to.
 
Box Brownie said:
If the fiction is 'pure' it matters not because locations may not be real e.g. as in Sci-Fi

However, where the writer is adding real world geographic locations it might add context to identify the country but not necessarily so!

Why, well based on some of the vox pop interviews from the USA on the news and even news interviewees, the average American has a lamentable knowledge of places outside of the USA.

Also, I fear that the same could be said of many in the UK too who haven't got a clue when it comes to world geography :(
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This,
My "Favourite" - but perhaps I miss-spell the word - was when an American introduced me as "Garry Edwards, from Wales in England"
 
Sky said:
It irritates me Marc and is one of the many reasons I rarely read American authors.
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I'm the same tbh
Sky said:
If you're aiming for the American market, then you'll need to include the country. It's not only their high level of ignorance about anything outside of America, but also the fact that they've named so many of their towns and cities after others - especially the UK.

If you're aiming for the UK and European market, I don't think you need to.
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Definitely the UK market, although i have sold a few in the US.

As for naming their towns after others, it's amazing - or possibly not - how many Americans think it's the other way around!
 
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Marc said:
I have a question for those of you who enjoy reading fiction. Do you need the writer to tell you which country a city is in? I've seen a lot of American films and TV shows where the action takes place outside of the USA, and text appears on the screen: "London, England", despite showing a wide-angle shot of The London Eye and the Palace of Westminster.
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It depends on the genre. I read a lot of historical fiction (some military) so I expect places to be given and accurate.

Dave
 
It would depend on the obscurity of the location for me, how important it was to know which country and whether there was a clue in the name. So you could have them parked at Ashby de la Zouch, which could confuse many because the name sounds like it belongs in at least a couple of countries. They might drive from London to Surrey within British Columbia.

Just provide the details you think it reasonable for a likely reader to require, considering you want people to be invested in your stories and buy your books. I wouldn't be offended to read Krakow in Poland. :)
 
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