But Google Maps, especially the feature with the little yellow guy called Streetview lets me get right into the middle of things. I can look around and really get a feel for a place and imagine what it would have been like a hundred years ago.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHsslLbqtCAjyY8w2f3Wc9E0AiNENKrp3Qa3oVQlUksdj2bgFfORjwJ0tXkJ6q3nnnzvrTN3t6h9Dp81s1DlgoJNYMfCp7moEfEpPMDg6YAtk3DiP2fRkMihTtbfwjdP7F65rJsJ28cVs/s400/St.+James.png)
I'm sure that many authors before the age of the Internet just got things wrong. If you read Robinson Crusoe with a modern knowledge of geography you'll immediately spot some problems with the flora and fauna on his desert island. It seems more European in many ways than Caribbean. Not that I would ever criticise Defoe for his lack of research, it was a lot of work in those days, if you could find the information at all.
My story begins here.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfsoNp7D1vtI3ZcFmnPDElxGpcqCRafrJ1nAHMc1IORCAnwNJAuecGyfRa2JJzwhZW79gF_YrrrPqhoGzhhHuNUsH0__RiWWfIcfWspAzeIFegME6q01FX-GYQWWQfyNm1bvhhKhA5VNQ/s400/A-club.png)
It took me a few hours to find the appropriate location in London, but once I'd found it, and explored around a bit I knew it was the perfect location for Robert (our hero) to be stuck begging in the streets from the wealthy visitors to Pall Mall.
Recently he's been on a trip. From London to the docks at Southampton.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Tjaps8mzqYwosUsYzT9Gg1hiVAgN28W2FM0c4E5WM5xn_NHXq7hPlVED1vzianiZ8FkN99rFXSmsr72G6qX2U2dmdt8Z2-ay79no7c5sam4mBpfdIWyKR1qQOvEXjARt02XcPzvhhec/s400/Southampton.png)
Then off by ship to Freetown.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizoksYIfH6HyxCUwnuRm_EcrTX27Xzjmfq_NFdupjN27fYxp1EzV9qQCvKguU3cwKCTvEua_P9tWJKKJsD5lUSmHqaZxwqVdXILzUQF_kwLdMjiEV-H4UVdmJCOplbu_NR7_6uwoY8s4E/s400/Freetown.jpg)
Inland from the coast of South Africa.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip74SLurzpnCK66lU05y6ugyEI0dB29dGkiaor7juJYM1VizOtgC4pjiCdLrxm7aP99Zl0WQNUOQM2rp9600gdP1cOZa44M9TTb1b7lOykkxPM0Arsn34wndE5O6hbjZFwuC2CirK6JgY/s400/2294503.jpg)
Where he finally winds up in the middle of the desert.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT-fDes0uqQHpXDl47f0ekgvWOniNU6dIhUL8HYHp9cU95Y_n7ep8wj6-R34yKELs3tbTycm5bVg3c6nFiDWJEtFn68M_cyCxyvpsr8wWoieNyICPLZoIqY74IzgULYVDkyF0xe4GIPEw/s400/Desert.png)
Even there, in the middle of nowhere, I can find pictures and I can explore the roadways to get a feel for the surrounding landscape. If I didn't have a book to write I'd probably spend a lot more time exploring, but for now I have to get back to work.
2 comments:
Google maps is one of the modern writers best friends. I could not write without it.
I love the way you illustrate your character's travels in this post! :)
About research, though, there's nothing more infuriating than when a story you're reading takes place near your own home and gets the facts wrong. :)
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