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Ok, so I didn’t see a setting topic, so I guess i’ll just put this under historical fiction. My novel is set in the 1960’s, but i’m SO stuck on setting. I kinda want it to be set in Atlanta GA, but the internet is being difficult and just showing modern day stuff-restaurants, etc. I want to know where the Blacks lived and where the Whites lived (street names), where they ate, etc. Is it possible to make up a whole setting? Like create diners, stores, churches, etc. or do I need to find all that out somehow. (cause I’ve been trying and failing. lol)
*tags people she knows have information about Historical fiction* but if you have any advice, i’d love to hear it! XD
@joy-caroline @freedomwriter76 @gracie-j
You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.
C.S. Lewis
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@lrose5. Good Question! Now, I don’t know a whole lot about the 60s, due to the fact that I write, like, twenty years before, but I can try. XD
I totally get the internet being difficult. XD I DID just find a website with pictures from 1960s Atlanta Though! Here!
(I hope that helps…DX) Now, that is just pictures. As for finding out about where blacks lived, where whites lived, where they ate, etc, it will take a lot, and I mean, A LOT, of research. I’ve been researching WWII for a year, maybe two, now, and there are still questions I’m still trying to figure out! If you could, talking to someone that’s either from or close to that area during that time could help, or even any white or black person who lived through segregation.
I’m so sorry that I don’t have much help. DX All I can say is RESEARCH. Many Southern cities were probably similar during that time. I wish I could help more, but sadly, I don’t know a whole lot about the 60s and I certainly don’t know a lot about Georgia at that time, even less Atlanta! Sorry. 🙁 I hope the pictures can help at least a little… 🙂 (but @gracie-j is from Georgia, so…maybe she’ll know something way better than me, lol, XD)
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Also…find books! The internet can only get you so far! Books have given me more information than anything else! (like how the types of shoes US soldiers/pilots wore, just the SHOES, could tell the Nazi’s that someone was American! XD)
@lrose5 As Freedom Writer said, find books. I recommend if you have a college near you, go to the college library. They will likely have more research material than a regular public library would. You probably won’t be able to check out the books (Unless you’re a student), but you can read them there.
You will love what you spend time with.
@lrose5 Oof, good question. Like everyone’s said, BOOKS. And pictures can be really helpful. Especially try looking for biographies/autobiographies of people who lived in that time. In the case of street names, I wouldn’t make those up. But businesses like restaurants and churches, you can fictionalize. And just searching 1960s Atlanta or Atlanta during the Civil Rights movement could bring up a few things!
(Just gonna throw this out there: if you wanna try Albany, GA, you may find a WHOLE lot more info. Albany was THE place during that time.)
And, y’know, actually visiting your setting helps too. 😉
Anyway, that’s the best I can. Sorry. I typically work with cities that are (1) currently buried under miles of ocean (*coughs* Port Royal), (2) are completely fictional, (3) are wayyy too old to even have street names XD, or (4) I just use vague terminology.
OH. AND A NO-DUH MOMENT HERE. Maybe try and get in touch with someone who lived/lives in Atlanta, especially at that time. The 60s weren’t that long ago, so I’m sure you could find someone still alive!
And Power mentioned college…an old college in Atlanta itself will probably have a ton of info!
the resident romance ghost; last seen within the pages of a gothic novel
@freedomwriter76 @power
Thanks y’all! I would go visit a college but visiting something three hours away with 7 people is hard. lol and I doubt my parents would let me do that just for research if I have the internet as an option. lol Maybe. XD
@gracie-j
Gracie. I started researching Albany GA and what did you do to me?? XD Now I have like 50 hours of information and my storyline is jumbled up in my head now. XD *rethinks everything* Well, not everything, but the basic storyline is going to be rethought.So thanks!!
You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.
C.S. Lewis
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@lrose5. You’re Very Welcome! I hoped I helped! 😀
@freedomwriter76
You did!! Wait, have you written a story on WWII or are you just researching for fun? lolYou can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.
C.S. Lewis
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@lrose5. I am CURRENTLY writing a book(pfft, more like books!) on WWII, but…I also research for fun too, lol. XD XD XD
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Great question! For me, what I usually prefer to do is just set my stories in a fictional town. That way I don’t have to worry about messing up specific town/city details, especially since it’s often hard to find information on that.
I do, however, make sure that my fictional town is realistic. For example, in my book Where Faith Remains, the main character lives in a fictional town called Milford (in Louisiana). Although Milford is fictional, I make sure it aligns with the way small towns in Louisiana were at the time, and I make sure all historical details are accurate. Like, I keep in mind that in 1975, schools were no longer segregated (school segregation had been abolished after the Brown v. Board of Education); therefore, my main character Eliza would not be attending an all-black elementary. However, it was still common for black children in schools to be treated unfairly, even if “segregation” technically no longer existed. So I wouldn’t have Eliza go to school and experience zero discrimination, you know? She’d definitely be faced with something. That’s what I mean by keeping the details historically accurate, so although the school Eliza attends is fictional, it’s also realistic. I don’t have to worry about keeping up with the details of an actual school that existed back then, but I can create a fictional school that is historically realistic. Same thing goes for towns. If any of this made any sense… sorry if my explaining is terrible. XD
For you, you don’t have to use a real town or city; you can make up something fictional and just be sure it’s historically accurate. For example, you’d definitely need to make it clear that there are black neighborhoods and white neighborhoods in your fictional town, but you don’t have to try and keep track of real street names and restaurant names and such. Making your own town just makes things easier on you. XD Or at least it’s been easier on me.
Fun fact: Harper Lee actually did this with her famous work, To Kill a Mockingbird! (If you haven’t read Mockingbird, I highly recommend that you do so, as it’s set in Jim Crow South in Alabama, right after the Great Depression. It has greatly influenced my writing in general, and my book is greatly influenced by it.) Lee created a fictional town called Maycomb, based on the town of Monroeville where she grew up.
@freedomwriter76
XDD Nice! I feel like I’ve seen stuff about one of your books on here. lol
@joy-caroline
Ahh, ok! Yeah that makes sense! I think I’m going to stick with Albany GA because I’m kinda relying on events in history and i don’t think i’m creative enough to twist that stuff around in made up towns, but i’m definitely going to be making up other places. XDOh yes! I haven’t read that (my parents keep telling me to) but I really need to! (classics scare me. sorry! lol)
You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.
C.S. Lewis
- Rank: Chosen One
- Total Posts: 8156
@lrose5. Yeah…I’ve shared a lot of scenes on here. XD I’ve talked about it a lot, all those things, lol. XDXDXD
@freedomwriter76
I was kinda stalking this website before joining so i wasn’t really caught up on all that, but if you don’t mind, can you summarize your novel (or novels, or favorite novel.. XD) for me? lolYou can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.
C.S. Lewis
- Rank: Chosen One
- Total Posts: 8156
@lrose5. Haha. I did the same thing before joining. For like, months, lol. XD XD XD XD
Alrighty! I’m gonna do my favorite and main WIP novel, Freedom’s Fire. 😉
It takes place from 1944-1945 mainly, and even into 1946. It’s about Leon Wagner and Riker Schind(MY BABY!!!! XD). Leon Wagner is a Jewish young man, husband, and father. He is thrown into the Holocaust along with his wife and deals with a lot of grief and hate. (especially after something happens…but I’ll only tell ya if you want spoilers, XD) And then Riker Schind is also a young man, husband and father, who is an SS Lieutenant that learns about the Holocaust. He begins helping Jews, but struggles with a lot, and I mean, A LOT, of guilt. The book has many messages. Grief and healing, abandonment and acceptance, faith, regret, guilt and grace, mercy, hatred, love and loss, but the main message is Forgiveness. Different types of forgiveness, too. God’s forgiveness, forgiving others, and, as it is so often overlooked, the importance of forgiving ourselves. 🙂
@freedomwriter76
XDOh wow. I LOVE ITTTT. What stage are you in? Writing, editing, etc? Because I need to read a copy of that as soon as possible. If you have beta readers, sign me up first, if you don’t, i need a copy. XDD Sorry but that just sounds SO GOOD! 🙂
You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.
C.S. Lewis
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