Whether your novel takes place in a real place or an imaginary place, you need to give your reader a physical sense of where the action is taking happening. As you write, you should imagine your scenes so clearly that you know what a character might knock into if she ran across the room, where a street or path would take the character if she turned right or what a character would see if he looked out of a window.

In addition to a physical sense of place, try to ensure that your reader gets a social or cultural sense of place. Travelling on an underground train in London is very different from travelling on the Orient Express, not simply because of the geography, but because of the cultural atmosphere and the very different people one is likely to encounter in these two places. Pick one or two scenes in your novel and take a close look at the place where the action happens. Consider what makes the location different from other potential locations, if your action takes place in New York, think about what makes New York different from other major cities such as London, Paris, Lagos or Rio de Janeiro. If your action takes place in the countryside, think about how the experience of the characters is different to what it would be if the scene took place in the middle of a city.

The internet is actually a great place to find inspiration for creating a sense of place in your novel:

If you are writing about a somewhere other than the area you live in, why not use Google Maps to see exactly what the location you are writing about looks like.

Try using Flickr to get a visual image of a location you want to describe, for example, search: ‘cottage, ‘semi-detached house’ ‘schoolhouse’ ‘farmhouse’ ‘country lane’ ‘city street’, etc.

Happy writing!