I recently was looking for a location to stage my next project. I was going to do the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach--but decided against it as I'm not actually close enough to visit and the last time I was there was in grade school. So after much poking around, I found a "haunted" hotel in a local town that I thought would be a great location. However, to be sure that it would be alright to use this specific location, I sent an email to the owners.
Buildings occasionally have a "brand" that they are trying to sell, so I made some considerations on how to compromise with the owners if this was the case. With that in mind, I wrote the following:
The director of marketing and communications responded once the email was forwarded to them. This is the response:Greetings,
I will be writing an interactive fiction/novel soon and when I came across information online about [location name], I thought it might be the perfect location to set my story.
I wanted to make sure I had permission first, but I was not sure who to contact on the matter. If I could be pointed in the direction of an authority who might be able to help me, I would be much obliged.
It is my hope to visit the premise to take some photos and notes so that I may do the location justice. If name changes are necessary for legal reasons, I completely understand. I just want to do this right, as [location name] seems so perfect.
Thank you for your consideration,
[name here]
Now with those rules in place, I'm going to save up to stay a few nights to research, photograph, and write. I am hoping to go on some tours and grab some local history that I can work into the story.thank you for your interest in our hotel. since your story will be fiction, we would appreciate you clearly stating that fact in the prologue or opening pages of your book as well as utilizing that disclaimer of "All incidents and characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.". regarding your photography of our hotel... we do not mind guests of our hotel randomly shooting photographs of and around our property, but they must be overnight guests in our hotel. it is requested that you schedule that shoot on a weekday, monday thru thursday. we do demand that no other guest and/or event be disturbed by the shooting of this photography in any way. you will only have access to public areas of the hotel. guest room wings are not considered public areas. any kind of disturbance or complaint from a guest will cause us to disallow your photo privileges. also, we would need to know when you will be staying with us and taking your photos so we can alert the hotel staff of your presence and your project. we appreciate your adherence to these simple policies. look forward to hearing back from you.
I am glad that this location is so conveniently close to me, though I understand that some writers might be far away from wherever they are writing about. However, I feel that as writers/entertainers, we should try to do our settings justice and present some truths despite the fiction we weave. I encourage people to make use of their local landmarks. However, if you are unable to make it to a location, as long as you perform adequate research, it should be acceptable as well. This goes for parodied locations as well.
It's really important, I think, to respect location owners, staff, and guests, so keep this in mind when taking photos and notes. Don't be afraid to ask questions or base little details off of reality. I plan on talking to staff and writing down their uniform descriptions so I can use a similar design. The important thing is to also make sure you write the "fiction-coincidence" proclamation.
The main reason I am posting this is so that other writers can have a place to pool together resources and ideas about real-life settings and how to do them justice. I hope this helps some of you. If you have anything you want to contribute or ask, please post here.
