A Question

[awanderingbard]

I have a question for my fellow writers: when your characters enter a location that's not established (a place you've seen in a show or film) do you create the location, or is the location already there when they arrive?

Because when I'm world-building, the location is there and I don't have to think about what it looks like because it looks like what it is. In other words, with something like Molly's flat, I don't go 'and I'll put the couch here and the TV here', it's already there when I picture it. Even with somewhere like a hospital room, which my characters are in a lot, in each case it's a different layout without my consciously making it so. I also find it really hard, because the locations are so fixed, to move something around that's not working for a scene. For example, if my characters need to move to the left to make the scene work but I've got in my mind that that object is on the right, I get very distressed at having to move it. Even if I haven't written anything about where it is.

So, how do you build worlds?

Somewhat related to this:



I think this is my favourite room I've made so far. The library at the Holmes Ancestral Home. Though I still need to figure out how the lights work. The glare on the door is annoying.

Comments

[aeron-lanart.livejournal.com]

Places that don't exist in the canon in which I'm writing don't cause me problems as everything is just *there* when characters walk in and if they want to move the furniture round, they do.

Places that exist literally but not visually are the same (e.g.McAnally's in the Dresden Files doesn't cause any problems, it's so well described in the books).

Something that exists on the telly can be a minefield. I've watched and screen capped Dresden Files and Sherlock til the cows came home just to get the layouts straight in my head and even then I've taken liberties (I refuse to believe that the teeny-tiny en-suite thing next to Sherlock's room is the only bathroom at Baker Street, I bet there's a decent sized one upstairs next to John's room, with a huge claw-foot bath).

I am considering building 221 (a, b and c) Baker Street in Sims 2 at some point, just because. Usually I build castles, so it would be a challenge to do something different but I think a game reinstall might be required first.

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

I had a helluva time with Harry's flat on the show, too. I somehow managed to convince myself there was a second floor and not just a loft, and one of my stories no longer makes any sort of sense unless Harry did some serious renovations at one point.

And for a while I had the impression that the flight of stairs went directly up to 221b, instead of hitting a landing and turning around, so I had all the rooms swapped in terms of front/back in my head.

A few people have attempted to make sense of 221b. I gave someone some links here (http://joonscribble.livejournal.com/352943.html?thread=3068335#t3068335). It still requires a TARDIS to actually exist in the space in occupies, in my opinion. Especially if Sherlock's walk-in-wardrobe actually exists, as I read someone.

I am in definite agreement that John has a bathroom on his floor. Otherwise, he's got too much space there for just his bedroom. There has to be another room there, especially given the relative size of British bedrooms. I've been looking for flats for characters, so I know how tiny things are in London.