So, it's April. How is it April already??? I know a lot of you are participating in the A to Z Challenge, but I've decided to skip this year. I have a GIANT list of reasons for that (some I'd rather not get into) but the main thing is that I really need to focus on editing my novel and I know doing the Challenge will take away an entire month from that. It is rather relaxing, though, not having to worry about getting posts done and visiting others. Now I just actually have to make good use of the free time.
Recently I was doing some setting research that led me to a heartbreaking realization (ok, I'm exaggerating a little). It really just started out in Chapter 7 with the narrator mentioning a ten minute subway ride to get to another character's apartment. I just wanted to make sure it actually would be ten minutes--turns out, yes, I had that right all along--depending on which station my MC lives closest to, I'm flexible with that. But at least it was believable enough to work.
But for some reason I went into research mode and turned into some kind of psychopath. I've always had a vague idea of what neighborhoods my characters lived in, but I wanted to make sure it was realistic for them to live there. So this leads me to browsing actual apartments and wondering if a character could afford an apartment on the Upper East Side and...well, probably, but said apartment would be a lot smaller than how I pictured it in my brain. But that's not a big deal. Easy fix.
The devastation came because I've always kind of wondered if a certain detail about said character's apartment would actually be realistic. I don't even know why I haven't done the proper research before, but I decided I needed to settle the matter.
So all this nonsense is about windows. I've always had this character's bedroom not have any windows. This was for some pretty heavy symbolism. It was just one of those things that worked and made sense but I wasn't bashing the reader over the head with it too much. I'm pretty sure I only mentioned it twice. But if they're able to read between the lines, it was saying a lot.
The problem? It's actually illegal for a bedroom in an apartment to not have any windows. In New York, at least, and I assume most other places. I know what some of you might say--so what, do it anyway! I'm just not sure it's an important enough plot point to do something that would never happen in the real world. Was it a cool bit of symbolism? Yes! But am I willing to have the reader question if the story is realistic over it? Uhhh...not really.
So, farewell symbolism! You were cool while you lasted. I guess I'll just have to put up curtains.
Maybe your character can get some of those really good light-blocking shades? Or maybe they're just breaking the law?
ReplyDeleteI've had to lose some symbolism in stories in the past (as well as explain to others that what they thought was symbolism was...well, not.), and in my case I think the stories were better for it. May you find that to be true for you, too.
Happy writing/editing!
Sorry you had to choose between the symbolism and realistic in your story. Maybe in place of windows, use color symbolism. Like the color(s) of the bedroom walls or color motif of the room and how it's different from the rest of the apartment. Or the color of the curtains.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's a sublet that's not on the up-and-up? Or a room being rented that's not really classified as a bedroom? Could the windows be high up in the wall so the character can't see out of them? Or have bars on them?
ReplyDeleteLOL! There's also so much history in NYC that you could totally build a "closet" into a "room." =)
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing what you learn when researching a scene? Sounds like it caused your mental gerbil to run in circles, LOL.
ReplyDeleteThat's so strange to me that it's illegal. What the heck?? I guess because of a fire hazard? Anyway I'm sorry you discovered this. How frustrating!!
ReplyDeleteWhat if there was a giant, walk-in closet? That wouldn't have any windows. They could set up the bedroom there.
ReplyDeleteInstead of curtains, how about boards? I suspect those would still be illegal, but that wouldn't stop people from doing it anyway. And the boards might stand out more than just not having windows in the first place.
ReplyDeletePerhaps a goth could have painted the windows black before the MC lived there, or the MC herself?
ReplyDeleteI recently did the exact same thing regarding searching for apartments my MC might live. I had to switch my character from owner/main renter to lodger though, because her salary would not have covered the rent at all! Glad I checked.
"It's actually illegal for a bedroom in an apartment to not have any windows." Really? That's fascinating. I never actually thought about it, but there were always windows in my bedrooms in all of the apartments I've lived in. It's probably for safety reasons, such as a fire. A window is a way out.
ReplyDeleteIt's a law here too, but as far as I know there aren't any "which room is your bed in police". I believe it means you can't claim a windowless room as a bedroom in real estate ads, or rent it out as a bedroom. However, I know lots of people who use windowless rooms like dens and basement rooms as bedrooms. Talk to a handful of students who share apartments - you'll find lots of windowless room dwellers. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat about room darkening curtains or shades? That would keep the bedroom cave-like, if that's what you're going for. It's the law in Michigan, too, for a bedroom to have an egress window. So basement bedrooms with those tiny windows are not legal. Good luck with your story. I've fallen into the "black hole of research" many times. I'm so fascinated by what I learn that I keep clicking on those pesky side links. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is why I make up cities for my characters to live in. =P
ReplyDeleteI hate it when fact get in the way of my fiction. I'm with Patricia about making up a place, but you may have your heart set on NY for a reason that's more important than the windowless apartment.
ReplyDeleteI'm with those that suggested dark shades. Yet, though it is against the law, I had an apartment downtown in a really old building when I went to college where the bedroom did not have a window. There was a window directly outside its door, but not in the room itself. So maybe some sneaky building owner got away with it!
ReplyDeleteWhen walking along the path and it splits into two, best take out a machete, and carve out a third path.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the room itself was not designed to be a room, but was made into one. Like a walk in pantry or a closet? Mayhaps the character covers the window in some way? Or, the window faces a brick wall, so you can't see anything through it, except the same thing day in, and day out.
It's good to go for realism, kudos to you on that.
Sounds like a smart move, Sarah. Better to take it out than have readers pick that up.
ReplyDeleteI shouldn't be doing the A-Z, but I've always been a little bit crazy.
Wow! I didn't know it was illegal, but it makes sense. I suggest really heavy curtains. :)
ReplyDeleteOr ... I really like Chris Voety's idea about a room made into a bedroom that wasn't originally one. I stayed in a "brownstone" in NYC with my family which was a single home converted into three leased apartments (week length vacation places) and one of the "room" spaces didn't have much for natural light since it was a lost bed built above a kitchen space. Would something like that work - something different than expected?
I'm not doing A to Z this year, because I realized that my life "to do" list has way too many priority level items on it after so much time dealing with health issues.
Did not know that about windows. I like Ken's idea of boarding it up. The window is still there unless there is law about that--but it would still have a strong symbolism in it. Interesting post about researching. Never thought to really research that small a detail, but makes sense.
ReplyDelete' Juneta @ Writer's Gambit
Yeah, a room can't legally be called a bedroom without a window in most places. BUT that doesn't mean your character can't claim a "bedroom" out of another type of room. If you wanted to keep the symbolism, all you'd have to do is add a line about how the room was such and such, but the character used it as a bedroom.
ReplyDeleteSounds like there are lots of good ways out of your dilemma if you want to keep the symbolism!
ReplyDeleteAnd A to Z...yeah, it uses up time I probably shouldn't be sparing. And I'm not wild about the way it's organized this year; I think I'm getting fewer visits because of it. I may not bother next year--but I'll decide that when I see if my marketing efforts pay off at all.
Rebecca's AtoZ A to Z and IWSG
You know, that's a tidbit that would've never cross my mind. But glad you got the research in early and made the decision to cut the symbolism yourself. It would've been rough had an editor or someone else told you to change it, and you were forced into removing the symbolism late in the game.
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