three things
16 Dec 2009 10:36 am1. Contacts arrived on Monday, new glasses on Tuesday. WOAH. I can see!
2. When setting a story in actual geographical location, it helps to look farther than just a half-hour away to get an idea of the region. Hit point in story where I had to ask, are there bookstores? how big? how far away? and I went back to map to remind myself of nearest good-sized city, outside the town where the story's set. And then... ahem. Suddenly mental list shifted radically.
-- has large number of Ming-era homes. check!
-- has mountains nearby. check!
-- is within short distance of Yellow River. check!
-- has archaeological significance for pre-Qin dynasty. check!
-- has at least one big honking temple in/near town. check!
-- has historical significance going back to Liao Dynasty. check!
-- is within hour's drive of the most polluted city on earth. check!
...wait whut whut.
I can't even comprehend the notion of any one person living in a place that's so polluted it makes Los Angeles look like middle-of-nowhere in Montana on a gorgeous day, let alone a place so polluted that breathing its air for twelve hours is equivalent to smoking three packs of cigarettes. I certainly can't imagine putting four million people through that, and even if they are living with that as I write this, I'm not doing it to any fictional characters.
If I had more word-count and a broader picture, I might place a story there for the additional social commentary and critique (not to mention the issue of whether it's American privilege to demand a safe and healthy environment!) but this story has enough weight to juggle already, and I think it'd sink under such a massive thing... especially when, after watching two different documentaries about the area's coal-mining issues, I discovered the pall of smog is captured by the surrounding mountains, so one would be driving for nearly two hours along the valley before the smog dissipates. Since the original setting is on a mountain just north (and facing) the coal-mining valley, well, that explains one thing: those pictures of the temple and the town's architecture weren't all taken on foggy days. That's smog.
Gross.
( 3. There is a CAVE near my HOUSE. )
2. When setting a story in actual geographical location, it helps to look farther than just a half-hour away to get an idea of the region. Hit point in story where I had to ask, are there bookstores? how big? how far away? and I went back to map to remind myself of nearest good-sized city, outside the town where the story's set. And then... ahem. Suddenly mental list shifted radically.
-- has large number of Ming-era homes. check!
-- has mountains nearby. check!
-- is within short distance of Yellow River. check!
-- has archaeological significance for pre-Qin dynasty. check!
-- has at least one big honking temple in/near town. check!
-- has historical significance going back to Liao Dynasty. check!
-- is within hour's drive of the most polluted city on earth. check!
...wait whut whut.
I can't even comprehend the notion of any one person living in a place that's so polluted it makes Los Angeles look like middle-of-nowhere in Montana on a gorgeous day, let alone a place so polluted that breathing its air for twelve hours is equivalent to smoking three packs of cigarettes. I certainly can't imagine putting four million people through that, and even if they are living with that as I write this, I'm not doing it to any fictional characters.
If I had more word-count and a broader picture, I might place a story there for the additional social commentary and critique (not to mention the issue of whether it's American privilege to demand a safe and healthy environment!) but this story has enough weight to juggle already, and I think it'd sink under such a massive thing... especially when, after watching two different documentaries about the area's coal-mining issues, I discovered the pall of smog is captured by the surrounding mountains, so one would be driving for nearly two hours along the valley before the smog dissipates. Since the original setting is on a mountain just north (and facing) the coal-mining valley, well, that explains one thing: those pictures of the temple and the town's architecture weren't all taken on foggy days. That's smog.
Gross.
( 3. There is a CAVE near my HOUSE. )