#1 [url]

Jul 17 05 1:02 AM

I live in the shadow of New York, and I can tell you that you have to specify if you want that "big, dirty, dangerous" feel. Those parts exist, of course, but you have to know where.

Manhattan alone has so many neighborhoods and little areas that you can cross a dozen cultures from one end to the other. I've been through Harlem, the Upper East Side, Midtown, Downtown, Greenwich Village, Soho, Battery Park and probably others that I'm forgetting. Everything is different. There is no "New York." There are hundreds of "New York."

From personal experience, New York does not really feel dirty or dangerous to me. I once walked by myself from 10th Ave. and 22nd St. to 12th and 38th (took me about fifteen to twenty minutes) at dusk without so much as a second glance from other pedestrians or a real feeling of "Oh, my god, I might be mugged!" Then again, I was in Midtown. I'd think twice before doing that in Harlem.

If you don't want to use a real city, I would suggest knowing what state because every region of the country is different. If you know the region, you can pepper your story with enough details for it to ring true with your audience.

"I will eviscerate you in fiction. Every pimple, every character flaw. I was naked for a day; you will be naked for eternity." - Geoffrey Chaucer, A Knight's Tale