You may have heard this phrase before. In the retail and real estate trades, it is the key to success. If you don't have the right location, you may not be doomed to failure, but you're not going to get rich without a lot of luck and/or backbreaking work. Romance writing isn't real estate, but choice of location can still be a make-or-break factor on several different levels.

What is the location in the novel?
This is more commonly known as 'setting'. When deciding on a setting, the hope is the locale will enrich the storyline through the reader's expectations of the place. Take New Orleans, for example. What stereotypes or associations does the city invoke for you? Here's my short list: magic, cemeteries, voodoo, lust, sin, Creole food, jazz, pirates, riverboat gamblers in brocade waistcoats...

If I had a plot that included one or more of these elements, I might consider choosing this setting. If I were writing a story about intrigue in the cutthroat fashion world, though, I'm not going to help myself any by setting it on Bourbon Street. See what I mean?

So when you're picking a location for your story, consider carefully what your strongest themes are and the places that would serve to enhance them. Or conversely, if a country or city has captured your imagination, ask yourself what about it has you so interested. Build your story from there.

I'm not saying that contrasting the location and theme can't work. How many novels have juxtaposed conspiracy theories and steamy, passionate secrets with sleepy little towns? It can be done, but you're going to have to work a lot harder to draw your readers into the story once you've made this choice. Know what you're letting yourself in for.

On a marketing note, in any given genre there are always settings that are more popular than others. Some are even considered "hot". Choosing an unpopular setting is really a personal decision based on stamina: How long can you wait to find an editor who will take a chance on it? If you've all the time in the world, go for that less-than-popular locale. You may be the one to make it hot!

What locations will you use in the various scenes of the novel?
Let's say you've chosen to set your story in (my personal favorite) Scotland. Will your characters inhabit a fortress perched on a cliff? Will they be on the run through the moors and bens? Will they be in a teeming city? How about a simple village or even a monastery? Choosing the initial location is usually not a problem for an author, stemming as it does from the characters and setting of the story. No, what I want to discuss is what I call "novel claustrophobia."

This particular disease is usually found among newer authors who are feeling their way through the genre. Once the location - the fortress, for example - has been decided upon, the author may be reluctant to allow the characters to set so much as a toe outside of it. This disease is particularly heinous because it's the readers who feel the symptoms, not the writer. More than once I've been reluctant to pick up a book again after I've set it down because I just don't want to spend ANOTHER chapter stuck in the same room. Don't they want some fresh air? Wouldn't it be nice to have a picnic or take a long ride through the heather? Or at least go visit someone else's castle for awhile? Pul-eese!

Or conversely, I've been annoyed with some "on the run" novels where I think, "If I have to sleep next to one more campfire in the woods with these people...". Why don't they beg shelter at a monastery or inn just one night, for heaven's sakes? Or at least camp with some gypsies or drovers? I begin to feel more exhausted than the characters if there isn't some change in scene, some respite where I, the reader, can take a breather as well.

I don't know about other writers, but I'm very visual when I write. I can "see" the space I'm in, just as if I'm actually there. As a result I begin to get antsy when I've written too many indoor scenes. I find myself thinking, "OK, in the next scene I need to bring these two people closer emotionally, but I need to do it outdoors." I think multi-published authors do this unconsciously, but we newbies need to concentrate to keep from falling into the trap of repetitive scene locations and pulling our readers in after us.

Where in the scene is each character located?
This is known as 'staging,' taken from the theatrical term for the position of each actor or actress on the stage. When done right, staging goes unnoticed. But if you've ever found yourself wondering, "Hey, where'd the maid go?" then you, as a reader, have been pulled out of the story. Personally, I find these types of errors more jarring than historical inaccuracies - not everyone knows the year snuff boxes came into use, but knowing how many people are in the room is something everyone should have a handle on.

If you are a visual person, this task is fairly simple because you can "see" where each character is and what they're doing throughout the scene. But if this is difficult for you, I highly recommend drawing a little floor plan. Nothing fancy. Just the basic layout - window, door, fireplace, etc. Mark each character's place in the room with a symbol and arrows to indicate movement, much like a football play-by-play. This map of movement is especially helpful in scenes peopled by a large number of characters. It's a good way of ensuring that when your heroine faints the hero is indeed standing nearby to catch her.

The floor plan has an additional advantage of prompting your use of the five senses. If you're stuck for sensory details, check where your character is standing. Is she near the window? Would the sun be on her back or in her face? What sounds would be coming from outside? Which characters would she be looking at? Whose perfume would she smell?

Floor plans don't have to be limited to rooms or buildings. Map out the outdoor location (park/forest/glen) the scene takes place in. Where are the hills/streams/trees? Are the characters standing on a slope? Is the wind being funneled down the valley? Is the villian coming from the east or the south? Again, you can use the map to prompt those sights, sounds, tastes, textures and smells available to your characters.

Your favorite authors make these uses of location look effortless, but those of us still working toward our goal of being published romance authors cannot afford to overlook such basics. No one wants their readers thrown out of the story because of unsympathetic locations, overly repetitive scenes or disappearing maids. We'd all rather be on the keeper shelf, thank you very much.

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