#WritersCoffeeClub Feb 12: How unique is the setting of your current WIP?
-
#WritersCoffeeClub Feb 12: How unique is the setting of your current WIP?
Others have used the setting of German folk tales before, but they usually use the fairy tales, and versions that have been repeatedly altered from the source material.
I, on the other hand, focus on local legend. There is a nontrivial market for those in Germany, but they are almost unknown in the wider English-speaking world - which is what I am writing for.
-
#WritersCoffeeClub Feb 12: How unique is the setting of your current WIP?
Others have used the setting of German folk tales before, but they usually use the fairy tales, and versions that have been repeatedly altered from the source material.
I, on the other hand, focus on local legend. There is a nontrivial market for those in Germany, but they are almost unknown in the wider English-speaking world - which is what I am writing for.
It's interesting (to me, anyway) that many myths/ fairytales have non-specific locations, whereas some (many?) of your tales have very local connections.
I was reading an article yesterday about the importance of setting in fiction and conveying that 'world' to the reader.
-
It's interesting (to me, anyway) that many myths/ fairytales have non-specific locations, whereas some (many?) of your tales have very local connections.
I was reading an article yesterday about the importance of setting in fiction and conveying that 'world' to the reader.
Fairy tales and myths with unspecified locations have a wider appeal, since the reader doesn't need to know anything about the local context. Which is why the Brothers Grimm published seven editions of their fairy tale collection during their lifetimes, but only one of their collections of local legends.
However, I estimate that German local legends outnumbered German fairy tales by at least two orders of magnitude. And personally I find them more interesting precisely because they feature locations you can actually visit.
-
Fairy tales and myths with unspecified locations have a wider appeal, since the reader doesn't need to know anything about the local context. Which is why the Brothers Grimm published seven editions of their fairy tale collection during their lifetimes, but only one of their collections of local legends.
However, I estimate that German local legends outnumbered German fairy tales by at least two orders of magnitude. And personally I find them more interesting precisely because they feature locations you can actually visit.
@juergen_hubert
Here's the article - I hope it's useful in your context
Rebecca Makkai on the Most Underutilized Tool in Fiction: Setting
The following first appeared in Lit Hub’s The Craft of Writing newsletter—sign up here. Lord knows who issued it first, this plastic party favor of a compliment, doled out to any writer who’s made …
Literary Hub (lithub.com)
-
J Jürgen Hubert shared this topic
