If you have some need to either decide on a plausible setting for your story or make it sound plausible, check out all the statistical data available on www.census.gov/qfd/states .
And if you've never been to an area but want to use it as a location, you can get a decent look at many places (in the US anyhow) by using google maps. Just look up a place, then scroll in as far as you're able. That should drop you into street level view, where you can click an click/drag your way about the streets of a distant locality. That's so cool!
Other ways you can tell the flavor of a town is to look up chain retail establishments and see where they are or aren't. If having a hipster wannabe disgruntled with her home of record, you likely wouldn't find too many places like Hot Topix (sp), Starbucks, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, S&M clubs or even legal prostitution.
I'm just sayin'. Besides, it can be pretty funny seeing what comes up on weird searches. (Fair warning, though: I recall one time I looked up a fact to answer a debate at work, and it involved the wrestler China. Let me just say that some NSFW pages do not appear to be NSFW on google page.)
Also, a link to a site with resources for writers on the internet.
So use that writerly, idea-creating brain of yours to let your fingers do the clicking through the interwebs.
Additionally, just a reminder about my currently running flash fiction blog contest. Please see here for the details.
there are canuck sites, too, but not as many... yet
thx for the links
Posted by: laughingwolf | August 12, 2010 at 08:42 AM