What if the chapters never end? . . .

Imagine staying with a character (or plot arc) or just staying inside the world of the last book you read once the world is saved, the girl won and the villains dealt with. I could get utterly lost and not care, were I stuck on the same beautifully dystopian L.A streets as Rick Deckard in Philip K. Dick’s seminal novel long after the replicants are brought to heel, the story arc has run its course and all seems well enough for example.Setting, for me at least, is as interesting and worthwhile as great characters and stories.

To be fair, I really enjoyed Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (1968), but Blade Runner (1982) blew my mind!! It’s still my favourite movie of all time, so it’s not really difficult for me (also having read K.W Jeter’s later sequels to the Blade Runner story and universe – worth a look) to imagine myself in that world. Of course being a Blade Runner myself springs to mind immediately, living in the shadows of a grim cityscape where replicants could be hiding on any shady corner. But just exploring this neon-lit monstrosity would be enough; living amongst all the exotic trappings of a rain-swept future where there’s not much chance of sunburn being a problem – sign me up!!

So what if you could stay? Pick up the torch so to speak and carry on Deckard’s work? Wouldn’t that be really something?

The lurid, dark cityscape of Blade Runner 1982 [Dir. Ridley Scott]

Ah, but a peak into any of Raymond Chandler’s sleaze-grime noir worlds would also be irresistible, as would soaking up the engaging historical atmosphere of a Bernard Cornwell epic (particularly the Viking series for me).

There’s just so many damn worlds to choose from, but I am so grateful for having the imagination to take me there and hold me for, well, I haven’t ever come out of any of them just yet . . . They’re just too enjoyable.

Humphrey Bogart, the definitive Philip Marlowe, in The Big Sleep 1946 [Dir. Howard Hawks]

I suppose what I mean to say is that setting can be incredibly important; not just for the expansive fantasy worlds of Pratchett or George RR Martin (which are incredibly multilayered and well worth exploring!) but also for the extremely boxed-in, in-your-face drama of The Sunset Limited (a conversation that could continue well after the movie – and the play on which it is based – has ended).

All these places have something magical about them, and draw you in to read or watch on and imagine yourself in their places, in those worlds, conquering, exploring, fantasising and much more besides. I know the possibilities of droning on without realising I am alone in this madness are remote to say the least (there has to be at least one other, right?) But I always seem lost on my own, never really connected with others who may or may not share such thoughts once the curtain goes up or the page is closed.

The Sunset Limited 2011 [Dir. Tommy Lee Jones]

I would love to hear how other writers form their respective worlds, and how those environments might well play a part in the stories they birth. For me the chance of building new and interesting worlds (most likely terrifyingly brutish, stark land/cityscapes) is one I just can’t ignore. I guess what I try to do is build places I’d want to get lost in myself, and explore without having to worry about tearing myself out of such fantastical and fascinating places.

It is indeed one of the most fun parts of writing for me.