Does the country matter in a story if it is set in a real one?
So far I've been setting my stories in the country I live: Taiwan. Not because I love my country. In fact, I'm not fond of patriotism. I just figured out it would be easier to describe surroundings that I'm familiar with. But I've been wondering lately whether I should set them in places that have to do with the story.
For instance, setting an earthquake story in Japan (a country famous for its earthquakes), a surfer's tale in Hawaii, or the chronicles of a rice farmer in China.
Usually my stories have nothing to do with the country's history or culture (though I make mention on them and use them to create a certain atmosphere).
If this is the case, does the country matter?
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Basically, Alex, the country matters if you want it to matter. Your story is what matters, and if your story is about something that pertains to the country, then the country matters to the story. Think about it: In Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi, does the country matter to the story? Well, guess what. Even if you haven't read it, I'm guessing you can figure out that since the Mississippi is in the United States, the country matters to the story. How about Doctor Zhivago? Well, I'm sure you know it's set in Russia. And I'm sure you know the setting is CRUCIAL to the story. Hm. Yes. I would say the country matters to the story. How about the movie The Matrix? Well, gee, no. Can you even think what country that was set in? Nope, I bet you can't. It didn't really make one tiny bit of difference what country it was set in, because, after all, it wasn't really even set in a country. Well, okay, it sort of kind of was, at least in part, but not really, and the part of it that was kind of in a country didn't really emphasize the country, did it? Nah.
The country matters... if you want it to matter.
By the way, most writers set most of their stories in their own country just because that's the easiest thing to do. It's perfectly natural, perfectly acceptable, and generally just fine. It's usually not a problem, and usually doesn't demand any particular thought on the part of the writer, because for the most part, unless you have a special, particular, compelling, plot-driven reason for taking the story OUT of your own country, why wouldn't you just leave it alone and let it live where you are giving it birth... in your own country?
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/8293. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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Everything in your story should serve your story. The setting, the geography, the era, the culture, the time of day, the weather, the characters, their gender, their names, their descriptions, their language(s), their histories.
If you've chosen a familiar setting because your story works best there, fine. If you want to set your story about ninjas fighting sharks in the American Old West, however, you'd better have a good in-universe reason for doing so. It has to make sense.
As long as the setting (Japan, Hawaii, Mars) works for the story, then no, it doesn't matter.
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