#WritersCoffeeClub May3 Do you write localized to the setting or your background?

Ultimately, everything I write is localized in the thick layer of delusion and fantasy that is my concept of the world. I might try to localize to a setting, but I've never really occupied that place; all I have is a fictional picture of it in my mind. So I suppose my answer is that everyone writes localized in their background.

#WritersCoffeeClub May 3: Do you write your works localised to the setting or to your background? How do you decide?

The vast majority of my work is fantasy or sci-fi, so I'd say it's localized to the setting. If I ever write a novel about catalog publishing, I'll localize it to my background. It will be RIVETING.

#Books #Writing #WritersOfMastodon #WritingCommunity

#WritersCoffeeClub for May 3:
Do you write your works localised to the setting or your background?

I hate the "it depends" answer but here we are. It really depends on the project. I love playing with language, dialect, register, rhythm. But I tend to make choices about "localization" based on the audience, not the story.

For example, my adult eco-thriller was a bit of a (self-serving) love letter to the millennial generalist - the people who grew up with rapidly-changing tech and learned to tinker and troubleshoot, and fit their "pursue your dreams" post-secondary educations into the boxes of their jobs rather than pursuing specific training. It had a podcast-y voice to it, honestly.

Meanwhile, my middle-grade mythological fantasy has a more poppy, colloquial, contemporary voice, despite being set in Hellenistic Greece. It's much more like The Mummy or The Mask of Zorro than it is like a typical swords-and-sandals epic - sharp, quippy, earnest, and fun. There are still distinct character voices, but I specifically *did not* try to add an archaic flair to the dialogue.

#WritersCoffeeClub 3 May:
Do you write your works localised to the setting or your background?

Since my settings are usually in the US (or some fantasy land), then I don't have to worry about different spellings in English, though when I edit, I always defer to the style of English used in the story and am happy to learn new turns of phrase.

As I have in my editing guidelines, I believe rainbows are both colorful and colourful.

#WritersCoffeeClub 3 May:
Do you write your works localised to the setting or your background?

I think this may be aiming at the somewhat rambling question I submitted, which was about whether you localise the spelling and words you use to the setting. For example: Synthetic Agency is set in the US, but I am a British writer. What to do when a character is referring to their 'trousers' aka 'pants' (which means something different and much funnier in British English).

I submitted this q as>

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 2. Have you ever written a character making one decision, only to later revise them choosing otherwise?

Yes. Sometimes as the story goes on, the original decision just doesn't fit the character, so revising it makes the current story make sense.

#writing #writingcommunity

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 3
Do you write your works locali(s)zed to the setting or your background?

I usually write fantasy, so the settings are not placed in the real world. They may be influenced by my research into other cultures, but it's not a one to one match. It's unique to the story.

#writing #writingcommunity