NaNoWriMo Prep Project

2021 - Day 18: Setting: Cultural Setting

Oct. 18: - Setting: Cultural Setting ▼
Describe the cultural, political and/or religious setting in your novel, regardless of whether the cultural setting is fictional, historical, or modern.
(1) What do your societies believe?
Contemporary but I need to determine the year - I was thinking 1940, but maybe 1970 would be better?
If 1940s - it would have to be after the war... but at least 14 or 15 years later as Trace is born after the death of the golden boy son and brother of Lorraine - he was killed in during the war (WWII) - 1970s. - around 1975 or 1976. Because Trace is now 20. There that helped.
I have been looking at pictures of NYC in the 70s to get a feel for the place - even if I fictionalize it.

(2) In what practices do they engage?
Wicca and Witchcraft are components of Zayda's family. They are misunderstood and tend to hide their abilities unless in the company of other Witches. I am thinking they live quiet lives within the outcrust of 'normal' society (like Good Witch and Practical Magic). But threat of exposure can ruin a person's reputation - in a sense ostracizing them - Loranine threatens Zayda in this way until she is able to save someone that Loraine loves and that changes Loraine's mind. Grandfather is never told.

Grandfather's is more puritan - going to church on occasion - being seen as a respectable, Christian leader and businessman.

(3) What laws or rules of society are in place?
Witches could be prosecuted - Salem Witch trials of a sort. The threat of exposure could have social ramifications.... I am thinking being ostracized can have harmful effects in terms of exposure - the more respectable people avoid you and the crazies come out. Living a regular 'unseen' life is impossible even in a huge city.

(4) Who/what enforces the laws and rules and how successful are they?
Social decorum and expectation is highly prized. Witchcraft is seen as 'other' and has negative connotations to those who don't understand.

(5) What technologies are in use?
It's the 1970s. Computer technology is only in the early stages so only the rich may have anything and the phones are big honking things.
Writing is typewriters (Trace). Phones are landline. 8 track tapes and records,

(6) How does the setting impact your protagonist(s) in their pre-story lives?
Zayda grows up in a small, New England coastal town - away from crowds. This helps her regulate her touch/ contact connection to people. She gets a bit of a handle on it and it helps to keep her safe - knowing what love looks like versus those that want to use her and claim her as a prize. She knows of the green jealous of hateful girls and rivals.
Being a small town, she is a known entity. She is teased and bullied for her abilities - small town, small mindedness. She is told not to fight back with her abilities - to turn the other cheek. Witches do not harm others.
She seeks solace in nature - walks on the beach, in the forest, over the dunes. She loves to garden with the Aunts.

(7) How does the setting impact the plot of your story?
The touch/contact component is a big concern for Zayda as she considers going to the City - so many people and her open vulnerability scare her. How will she handle the excess of people? Will see be able to find spots of nature that can uplift and rejuvenate her? (Getting to the ocean and Central Park help).
She can only do the subway late at night when it is not so crowded - otherwise she feels faint from too much contact and sensing the emotions of others. Being a witch, she is able to protect herself alone at night in these situations.
She wears a leather coat and leather gloves to dull the excessive exposure and she usually sits at the front of a lecture hall right under the lecturer as most people are less inclined to sit there.
She also learns to block out and focus when she is studying and casting. It is important for her to practice self care and self love rituals to strengthen herself.

Zayda moves in with her cousins who live in a sweet place in Greenwich Village. Homey and quaint compared to Trace's upper crust family.

Upper East Side - expensive for Trace's Grandfather's estate: A penthouse place - moneyed.
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https://ny.curbed.com/2020/3/3/21162719/carhart-mansion-duplex-mehiel-for-sale-n...