Comments on: Americaland: writing the US from beyond its borders

By: douglas

douglas — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 07:04:36 +0000

Write what you know- of course. but isn’t fiction something you know? Aren’t myth and hyperbole part of our world and consciousness? Of course! Just don’t take your self too seriously when you venture beyond that which you’re intimate with in the real world.

By: jon

jon — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:01:37 +0000

I’ve also started to see a few future-China settings in modern SF lately (which reminds me of the Japanese-name-dropping of the 80s and 90s) and I wonder how many of those writers have any grasp on the culture, let alone the place, about which they’re writing. At least most English-language writers can relate to North American culture somehow, even if it’s through movies and TV.

As for experience, I believe you should actually visit a place before trying to write about it. Unless, that is, you’re deliberately trying to create a netherworld with elements of several places.

By: Patrick H

Patrick H — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:30:00 +0000

“Americaland” dominates the popular imagination of the English-speaking world. We’re steeped in it, esp SF fans, so I don’t think it’s strange to be attracted to it as a setting.

As for whether it’s a good idea, well, execution is everything but trying to write about a place you only know secondhand puts you at an immediate disadvantage. I wouldn’t say “no” but I might ask why you were making it so hard on yourself.

By: Sarah Ennals

Sarah Ennals — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:36:12 +0000

Not actually American, but I agree with the Tom and the Abbot. I’ve seen the open road and the deserted diner, at least, in a lot of stuff produced in the US – my guess is that it’s such a useful, as well as archetypal, setting, one can very easily suspend disbelief (and indeed, Canada certainly has its truck-stops, so parts of the US probably do as well.) Something like a very 1930s-style NY neighbourhood in a story with a present-day setting might trip my “huh?” button, though.

By: Abbot of Unreason

Abbot of Unreason — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:09:37 +0000

Re: And to our American readers: what are the most egregious Americaland cliches you see in the writing of non-American authors, and how should they be corrected?

I haven’t tended to notice the problem in things I’ve read. I wonder if I’m alone in believing that we Americans tend to buy into the reality of Americaland? Or perhaps we just think of ourselves as such a big country that the setting exists somewhere?