Write what you don't know

[3quency]

Vaguely worded question about writing.
Should people write about areas they've never been to? I don't mean like for fantasy or whatever, real world places.

For example, I write as a hobby, and one of my current projects is about a pack of defective werewolves living in Seattle.
I have never been there, and the last time I was in the States was when I was two years old.
How exactly should I approach this subject? There's a number of reasons I set it there in the first place and I'm in to a point in the project where changing the setting would be extremely awkward. Since this is only a side project I don't do a whole lot of research, just enough to confirm that the story could logically happen the way it does.

So escapists, what are your thoughts?

 

[HardkorSB]

What is a defective werewolf, exactly?
Is it a werewolf that only changes half way or something?

 

[3quency]

What is a defective werewolf, exactly?
Is it a werewolf that only changes half way or something?

Sorta, they change in ways that are considered kinda... off by other werewolves.
For instance, one of them can't change at all, he's just continuously trapped as a human that has just started changing. Which has ruined his dating prospects no end I can tell you.

 

[SckizoBoy]

There's a number of reasons I set it there in the first place and I'm in to a point in the project where changing the setting would be extremely awkward. Since this is only a side project I don't do a whole lot of research, just enough to confirm that the story could logically happen the way it does.

So escapists, what are your thoughts?

Well, I'm writing about something that happened in Italy, but I've never been there. But the point being I looked into it and balanced accuracy/realism with flow of the narrative.

Yeah, you should do your research, but it doesn't necessarily need to be in depth, just general geography and knowing roughly what's a rough neighbourhood/where the toffs live etc. For your own peace of mind as well as the reader's lack of 'what's the writer derping on about', the major one that comes to mind being that load-of-shite Olsen sisters film in which they reference 'Oxford University in London'... seriously, WTF?!

If you're writing purely for yourself though... does it really matter?

 

[Fappy]

It depends entirely on the medium and the depth of the details. You often hear, "write what you know" and this is entirely true. However, this doesn't stop you from researching and learning about things (like Seattle for instance) so that you can write with authority, nor does it prevent you from writing about things you know very little about. A character was born in Seattle but you know nothing about the city? That's fine so long as you don't need to make assumptions about the place. For comics, movies, video games it is much easier to cut corners than it is for prose media like novels.

 

[The Night Angel]

Well, as long as you don't actually claim anything that is completely ludicrous about the area, I don't see why not. Also, you can write about an area you've never been, but using dtails from places you have. Like particular types of houses or streets or whatever. You just need to make it plausible enough

 

[The Thinker]

I can help some, even thought I'm only "from Seattle".

It rains a lot. There's a space needle, a Pike Place Market and a troll under a bridge.

That's all I know. Try looking at Wikipedia and assuming Seattle is just like any other city.

 

[3quency]

If you're writing purely for yourself though... does it really matter?

Okay, this point interests me so I'm going to talk about that.
How important is caring about accuracy for personal projects? Or pacing? Or whatever?
A hell of a lot of people write purely for pleasure, how much work should be put into that before it seems like unwarranted effort?

I guess ultimately that depends on the person. But if you're writing for pleasure that would imply you find something lacking in what you are otherwise experiencing entertainment wise (this is however, only an assumption. There are clearly dozens of other reasons) and a big part of this is "caring" about building it up. Modellers look up correct painting techniques. Amateur cinematographers carefully examine the camera angles and other tricks their heroes use.

Even with your Italy thing, I've no idea if you're going to get paid for it or not, but you still want to balance accuracy and narrative.

So if it's just for myself, does it matter?
I think ultimately it can't help but matter.