What Makes a Sense of Place in A Story?

[forestofglory]

I've been thinking recently about what makes a story have sense of place. I've noticed that quite a bit of fanfic feels placeless. Just the settings feel generic, like things are in a city, or maybe a university, and there are some streets but nothing has name or more than the vaguest description. To me as a reader it can feel a bit adrift. I like stories to feel grounded, and to have a lot of texture. My favorite books tend to be SFF that makes me feel like a whole other world is real. I know that not everyone is into that. So I thought I would chat about what does give a story a sense place for me.

A key thing is simply specificity, places with names feel more real. Also things like a quick nod to the existence of seasons and weather can really help. If people are eating something then what are they eating? All of these kinds of things helps the reader build a sense of the the place the story happens in.

A long the same lines sensory details really add texture to a story. I want to know what buildings look like, what the food tastes like, how it smells when the characters enter a new place. That kind of thing is very grounding.

Finally a sense of space and movement. This one is the trickiest. But if you've every read a story set in a place you know and thought "those streets don't connect!" you might know what I mean. This is about how spaces relate to each other, how close or far away in both space and time are things? How big are spaces relative to other spaces?

A sense of place is something that takes work to create in story. These things all require the author to do a bit of work. And it makes readers like me very happy. So what make a story have sense of place for you?

Comments

[littledust]

What a good post! I've been mulling over it + the comments for days. I adore a story with a strong sense of place, even though I don't do much visualizing when I read. Sensory details go a long way for me, especially details about food. How characters react to the food says so much about the setting and the characters themselves. Also I just love scenes where characters share meals. *G*

Re: the sense of placelessness in CQL fics, I agree that it's a problem with many English-speaking fans lacking familiarity with modern day China. The modern AU I'm working on right now is set "somewhere in China," but I'm going for more of a City X approach than trying it to anchor to a specific city. I did look up a bunch of regional cuisine based on the MDZS sect map, though.

Reading the comments on this post has made me realize how much I'm willing to handwave if (1) the author does it, and (2) the story is engaging. I don't particularly care if the fantasy geography, economy, etc. makes no sense. "Because magic" and Rule of Cool go a long way for me. My lack of familiarity with a lot of disciplines for sure has to do with this trait as well! I will nope out of a story featuring kids who don't act like their developmental age, unless there's some kind of in-universe explanation.

[forestofglory]

Thank you! I may be slightly obsessed with fictional food and how it can tell us so much about the setting and characters! I'm just really interested in cooking and food systems generally.

I asked around a little bit and people in fandoms with English speaking source material also say that placeless fic is common. But I think it's more complicated in CQL fic because for a US set fandom I can just treat it like city X. Where as with CQL you have to wonder if its supposed to be set in the US or in China.

I definitely think that what you know will effect what bothers you. I'm perfectly willing to handwave basic physics, but I would like SF writes to stop treating DNA like magic.