Guest post by Peter Manley (click to check website)
Sure, having interesting characters and a compelling storyline are extremely important, but the setting where your story takes place is equally important, or even more important in some cases. Think about it: if your story takes place in a middle-class home in Virginia with no interesting details about it, your book will more than likely be a drag from the start. Even if you do manage to make the story intriguing and entertaining, it will take a great deal of work just for you to make that happen. Indeed, when you decide on a great setting for your novel, a lot of your work will be already done since you have the foundation of where your story will take place.
A unique and interest setting will give your entire story more attention-grabbing appeal and depth, which will make it an easy and relatable read for your audience. To help you as you brainstorm on setting ideas, here are 7 cool destinations for your next novel. These destinations are truly unique and interesting in their own way. Feel free to tweak the setting or the storyline as you please!
#1: Jal Mahal Palace, India
Also known as the Water Palace, the Jal Mahal Palace is a very serene and naturally beautiful piece of work. The palace, a low-rise symmetrical palace that was once used as a shooting lodge for the Maharajah, looks like it is floating smack-dab in the middle of Man Sagar Lake. A causeway is the only means of getting to the palace. As you could imagine, the Jal Mahal would make for a magical and mystical setting for your novel.
#2: Badlands, South Dakota, U.S.
As a well-known and very popular fossil hunting ground, this is the perfect destination for any novel that relates to prehistoric times, dinosaurs, or anything along those lines. Rather than being a boring fossil excavation site, the Badlands is a series of intense landscapes that include large rock formations, steep and dark canyons, and impressive spires. It looks lifeless for the most part, but bison and bighorn sheep do live in its grasslands.
#3: Antarctica
As the southernmost continent of the world and a virtually uninhabited region, Antartica is the perfect destination for your novel, whether you’re writing science fiction or a story about the power of human will. Imagine if Antartica had abundant life hidden underneath the white landscape after all?
#4: In a Submarine, Underwater
The story starts out seemingly normal. The main character awakens, brushes her teeth, puts on some clothes, and walks out of her room. After some details in the stories that make it seem as if the character is simply waking up to a normal morning, the reader soon learns that she is trapped underwater in a submarine that has crashed, has lost its communications system, and is quickly losing oxygen. Time is ticking…
#5: Burning Man Festival, Nevada, U.S.
If you haven’t heard of the Burning Man Festival, it is truly a wonder of mankind’s imagination. The Burning Man Festival is a “pop-up” civilization in the middle of the Nevada Desert that is filled with unique structures and buildings, great music, amazing art, and more. People dress in rave or wasteland-ish attire, further adding to the unique setting. The storyline possibilities are virtually endless!
#6: Abandoned Water Park, Florida, U.S.
In River County, Orlando, there lies the Abandoned Water Park, which is Disney World’s first-ever water park. As the name implies, this water park is abandoned and is designated as off-limits to explorers and tourists. As a rather aged park, the abandoned water park looks like a post-apocalyptic wasteland. It comes complete with mossy bridges, overgrown buildings (that still have ripped documents and even office desks and chairs), eerie signs, and much more.
Imagine if the water park had secrets within, buried away by Walt Disney himself? Another great novel story idea for this abandoned water park is describing it as a secret test site for a government agency that creates new disease epidemics.
#7: Body Farm, Tennesee, U.S. (Knoxville, Tennessee)
If you’re a bit squeamish, you might want to pass on this one. However, it makes for an amazing setting for murder mysteries or scary novels. The Body Farm in Knoxville, Tennessee is exactly what it sounds like – a “farm” land that is literally littered with decaying (human) bodies. A decomposition research facility for the University of Tennessee, the Body Farm is the perfect setting for twisted stories that demand an eerie and dark destination.
What is your destination for the next novel?..
Next Post – Left Hand Clara
The coolest destination is your head.
😂 love it 😉 the best destination 👍👍
These are great locations. So much atmosphere. We were at a Roman fort on Hadrians Wall in northern England. That place had just so much atmosphere – you can see where Game of Thrones came from.
Looks wow… I never been but I googled it now 🙂 perfect for historical fiction …or maybe a dark poem? ;))
The water park is my favorite.
If we could move Linda’s ‘couch’ there – it would be absolute dreamland 🙂
There you go. Velvet couch and decadence.
Body farm???
I don’t know…I googled but couldn’t find it 🙂 but maybe the author of this guest post knows…something we don’t:)