So you have picked the perfect characters for your story.
You have the story line all worked up and you want to have your characters fighting the elements on a desert island while the waves are crashing against the shore and the sharks are trying to snack on your characters body parts one at a time.
But wait! Have you ever been on a desert island before? Have you ever been to the beach? Do you know what the ocean smells like? Do you know what the air tastes like? If you don't you may want to experience it before you start writing about it.
I have been reading a fair amount of short stories lately and I have been noticing a common trend with more and more of them.
They all have believable characters but their setting seems off, like it isn't real.
I have read stories about a man caught out in a winter storm, which is something that I have experienced and it didn't seem at all like how I experienced it.
The elements were wrong the emotions were misplaced and the overall setting was not believable.
The story line was great and the characters were well presented but the location sucked.
Location, location, location.
Who would have thought that it would apply to, not only a business, but your story writing as well.
If you have been to the location that you want to write about, then that's great! Start Writing! If you haven't been to that location then here are some tips to help you write it like you've lived it.
Find Something Similar For the deserted island story I mentioned earlier you could go to a local beach and feel the sand beneath your feet and smell the salt in the air and get a pretty good idea of what all your senses would experience, if you were on a desert island.
It isn't perfect, but going somewhere that would be close to what you want to write about will help your writing immensely.
Talk to Someone With Experience Again with the desert island story, if you can't get to a beach or you live nowhere near a beach, or the ocean for that matter, then you could talk to someone who has been on a desert island or been to the ocean and watched the waves crash against the shore.
Just get them to talk about it and ask specific questions about each of their senses.
Ask what it smelt like, how the air tasted and other descriptive questions like that.
Do Research Research is the last and least effective way of getting the information you need.
It won't give you everything but if you read stories that have good descriptive words in them then you may be able to get a good sense of what it would be like to be there.
You can also look at pictures and read news articles that relate to that location.
Once you have the perfect location for your story and you can describe it with all of your senses then you are ready to write a wonderful short story that will engage the reader and make them feel like they are there experiencing it with your characters and they will come back to you to read more of your stories.
Every aspect of writing requires a degree of knowledge about what you are writing about.
Good writers know a little and great writers know a lot.
Just look at some of the best novelists in the world.
Imagine how much research they did to get to their final work.
If you put in the effort you will see the results.