Photo Credit: John Stoke, 2014, Green Bank Observatory Flickr
Setting in any story is, or should be, just as important as any character. It may not have motivations and goals like a character (or maybe it can?), but it can help convey themes, act as an obstacle, or represent something to a character that could impact the plot or their journey. It took me a few drafts to realize this when writing HOST. I had locations for characters and the plot to pass through, but didn’t really give them the attention they needed until later drafts. And it really didn’t click with me until I found the Green Bank Observatory, which plays a major role in the story.
Green Bank Observatory (GBO for short) is a wild place, to put it simply. Not just because it has the largest fully-steerable telescope in the world, is a historic site with some of the most fundamental discoveries in astrophysics and astronomy, but where it’s located is in a 13,000 square mile radio quiet zone known as the National Radio Quiet Zone in West Virginia. Basically, there’s various radius zones for allowed radio or electromagnetic interference (RFI Mitigation) to, pretty much, keep things quiet so the telescopes can listen to the depths of space. This radio silence has an impact on the surrounding town of Green Bank and is where some flock to get away from the rest of the connected world. What a perfect place for a story about surveillance, hacking, and technology, to take place.
I stumbled upon GBO while doing research for HOST, originally the story was going to kick off in Sunspot, NM but logistics of the location didn’t work for characters to move around. GBO was perfect not only because of it’s significance in the scientific world, or that it sat on a radio quiet zone (which, was perfect for connecting to the theme), but it’s proximity to Washington, D.C., which is another important setting. It’s where the climax of the story takes place and fit nicely as this juxtaposition to GBO. Going from this completely unconnected space in the woods, to a highly connected and center of government in less than a five hour drive, couldn’t have been better in terms of theme, and character logistics. It also put my characters right in the middle of the “shit” so to speak as the country was being thrown into darkness just a few hours south of them. It’s a Chef’s kiss moment, if I don’t say so myself.
Thinking about setting to help build tension (while be logistically sound), connect to themes, is so important to the strength of a story, it’s now something I’ll think about before starting to write. It’s also fun to research locations, and now, hopefully visit in person. While I was writing HOST I relied on Google Maps, Google Earth, and photos of the locations to get me by (ahem pandemic). Some day I plan to visit GBO (maybe drop off a book) and look forward to visiting new locations as I get into new stories. Knowing how important it is to describe a place so those that are from there don’t get distracted by the inaccuracies go far in connecting a reader.
Photo Credit: John Stoke, 2014, Green Bank Observatory Flickr
