Tandoori and Tikkas
Exotic settings in literature. You don’t have to have been there.
So, you’re setting your fiction in an exotic place, a place that perhaps you’ve always dreamed of going to one day. Maybe you’ve already been. With travel so widespread these days and technology that allows you to feel like you’re there it is easy to start writing about that place that has captured your imagination. However, just because you throw in a few Biryanis and Butter Chickens doesn’t mean your setting is instantly believable.
If you are writing about a place you’ve never been to make sure you do your research. Even writers need pulling up sometimes. My own uber editor had to point out to me that a particular plant I had mentioned in my novel didn’t grow that far north. Mea culpa. Check for details about the weather as well. If your novel is set in winter, then will plant xyz be around? Read up on the area, talk to people that have lived there, google it to death, YouTube it, and use any other method you can to get it right. Be aware of not allowing your characters to become stereotypes just because they’re in a foreign setting. They are still individuals with different personality traits, likes, loves, quirks and flaws. With post-colonial countries there is the important aspect of colonial rule that has influenced many elements of the culture, history, and the psyche of the nation, so explore this as well. If you’re setting your novel in Kenya then you can’t just mention Ugali nyama choma na kachumbari and not explore every other aspect of life in modern Kenya. The national dish, as delicious as it is, does not a country make. Independence for many countries has only existed for less than half a century so you need to examine what impact colonialism has had on the culture, language, daily life and political events. Some people leave out theses details. Readers want a sense of place and time. It would be difficult to write a novel set in New York in 2001 and not make reference to 9/11.
If you need to go into specific detail about flora and fauna in Australia for descriptive purposes, I’ve found the State Libraries have excellent resources. Also, local historical societies sometimes have fabulous stuff. Local historical societies don’t have the same copyright restrictions as big libraries. I’ve been fortunate to find incredible documentation in the local societies. Please give them a donation if you use them. They are staffed by volunteers and passionate local historians.
So, while your character is devouring his gulab jamon and drinking his mango lassi make sure that all the other variables that go to make up good fiction are in place.