The Horrors of Location Scouting (Implementation)

Posted On October 31, 2020

Happy Halloween and NaNo Eve! Let’s chat about location scouting.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my road trips and location scouting. I consider it an essential part of my writing and a luxury I do not take for granted.

The horror comes when tasked with culling my experience and and transferring said experience into a work of fiction.

Full disclosure; I love writing…

“No sh**?” you ask.

I love writing dialogue, crazy scenes, blood, guts, and humor. But I struggle with other elements; sustaining mood, themes, and immersion.

This doesn’t mean I just toss them out. I can’t. These elements need to be just as strong as the blood and guts and dialogue, and I need to put in the extra effort to ensure this.

I strive for continual (not continuous, because I take many breaks) improvement. Check out my series on location scouting for Opposable.

NaNoWriMo and HămBōCrăMō

“Why are you telling us this? Are you crazy? It’s Halloween. Go eat some candy,” You chide.

Well, I’m glad I projected you asked. Firstly, it’s NaNoWriMo and HămBōCrăMō eve. By the way, HămBōCrăMō is just a silly NaNo knockoff I can deploy at any time, but don’t.

Secondly, I committed to completing a working draft of Spire, the second entry in The Halteres Chronicles after Opposable, by the end of November.

Now, last NaNo, I cranked out 69+k words glorious words for Spire. But not surprisingly, they consisting largely of scenes, dialogue, blood, guts, humor, and a few unmentionables.

But this year, I must pull that sh** together and cultivate an immersive beginning to end story around it. It probably won’t be as much fun, and I doubt I’ll add 69+k more words, but it’s just as important, and if accomplished, far more rewarding.

• Red numbers- 2019 road trip
• Yellow numbers- 2020 raod trip
• Blue arrows- proposed route for Spire
• Red Stars- locations correlating to scenes in the novel

So, I’ve organized 32 hours of dictated notes, a couple thousand pictures, and several map builds.

Spire will not be another full-on road trip novel, but people must get to different places, and I want to ensure accuracy. We’ll be traveling to Halteres as well, but it’s already built and scouted, prepared for action.

Thanks for reading! NaNo awaits, and I’m ready. Are you?

You can also check out the latest on Opposable, Spire, and Halteres.

Until next time, don’t bother me. I’m finishing another book.