It's 4:10am and I can't sleep. Don't you hate it when you wake up too early? You know you'll be exhausted and a bit grumpy all day long...but you can't go back to sleep??? Ugh.
Anyway... on with Free Stuff Friday, hurray!
Today's contest has to do with my WIP.
I need the name of a fictional town.
The story is set in small town Idaho but I don't like to write using actual and real towns.
There are just too many constraints of where the Starbucks actually is or researching maps to get the street names and locations correct. I just finished a historical novel and am really looking forward to writing something with a tiny, teency bit less research.
SO -
Here's how to enter
Leave your vote for a fictional small town name in the comment box. I'll use my favorite in my current work in progress.
I'm all about fairness, however so the prize of
a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble
will be a random drawing of everyone who leaves a comment.
(drawing to be held Sunday night for Monday's post so feel free to comment until then)
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AND! Tell me...do you prefer fictional towns or do you incorporate real ones in your writing? How do you deal with the constraints of using a real town if you do?
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28 comments:
Small fictional town name: Hendalville. (Yes, I don't live in the states and I've totally made this up).
I prefer fictional towns - easier to plant what I'd like in them! Real towns...haven't used any yet. I might use the shape of a park, or layout, but I wouldn't use real names. It's not appropriate for my wips.
People though are a different matter :)
Personally, I prefer the very quaint small town of Scottville, Idaho. : )
Sorry, I'm horrible at making up town names too.
BTW, try 2:30 AM when my lovely dog Jesse began his first whine. I ignored him, but my cat Squeaky didn't, and decided to start squeaking at the dog . . . OMG, I've just become one of those bloggers Justus was talking about yesterday! ; )
S
I use fictional names for towns:
My three votes I pulled from somewhere in the far reaches of my brain:
Blakesville, Meanderville or Lincoln Town
:D
Happy Weekend!
~ Wendy
Maple Hills. It's my fictional town from an elaborate role-playing I did with a sixth grade class. It could be almost anywhere in America.
I go back and forth between real and fictional places. Sometimes I need the flavor of a real place, but other times a story could happen anywhere, and I don't want the setting to be too important.
I'm currently using some place names as last names for my characters. My MC's last name (Woodward) is the name of my father's high school, and his aunt's (Rose Lawn) is the name of the neighborhood my grandparents lived in.
How about...
Farm Hills, ID
Fletcher, ID
Smithton, ID
(I didn't check, but I don't think they're real) LOL
I prefer to make up town names, too. Mostly, because I'm too lazy to research actual towns. :)
I almost always use fictional names for my towns (mostly because of the research issue). The name for the town in my WIP right now is Serenity Falls.
I kind of like colors and landmarks or natural formations. How about? Clear River or Red Valley?
Hmmm, town names. Winston. Aspen Grove. Boxwood.
I've mostly used real places, but I like research. I also take artistic license on a place. Like one of my books takes place in San Francisco, but I made up the school they go to.
Glenn's Ford, Idaho. Will you be coming to Idaho to do some research? I hope?
I use real towns that I know, but give them fictional names. That way, I have a clear image of what the town is like, but I don't have to get every detail right.
Sorry you couldn't sleep! Maybe you can get a nap in.
Oh, you guys are good! Some real possiblities here....
Yunaleska - my curiosity is boiling over about where you might be from???
Scott - Scottsville...hmmmm...
I'll have to pop over and see that blog you referred to... And, you are right. 4am is way better than 2am!
Wendy - 'far reaches' .. like that line!
Michelle - wow, some great ideas! I like the idea of using names from people and places mixed.
Jennifer - not lazy - lol! It's just that we want to use our creative time more wisely. Yes, that sounds much better :D
Cindy - Serenity falls is a great one and I can see how it would fit right into your work. Nice. I like colors and formations, too...great idea
Natalie - very cool..a story in SF! Have you lived there or just visited?
Amy - we will be passing through on our way to Yellowstone - staying one night in Rexburg and I plan on taking lots of photos. We spent too much time there last year going to three different family funerals *sad sigh*
Hmmm. Wow, I'm not good at making up town names. Maybe Hunter's Grove. Lol, I'm actually from, Idaho. :D I miss it! And I wrote fantasy for a long time, so I'm totally cool with made up stuff.
Tess, I'm using real towns from NC where I'm living because I think it gives it that extra punch. Kids that read it can say, "there's our town." I just think it adds authenticity to my story. But adding fictional towns is also good. I have done that, too. Just since my book is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, I wanted to have it be as real as possible. :)
Hmm, Harper's point? UGH, it's a good thing I'm using real towns isn't it? :)
I make them up for the same reason as you. Besides, this gives me the freedom to add a Starbucks where there isn't really one or whatever. You could always use the name of a real town that isn't situated in the state you choose. Good luck!
Lynnette Labelle
http://lynnettelabelle.blogspot.com
I'm a lousy maker-upper (and I'm writing fiction - WHAT?) but here are my thoughts:
Kingsburg, ID
Eagle Pass, ID
Palouse Falls, ID (after one of the original indian tribes to inhabit the area)
Like Amy, I prefer real towns with fictional names. It's harder to offend that way :o)
*looks at map of Idaho*
You realize there's, like, ten whole towns in that state?
Okay, adjusting names slightly to keep with the states naming conventions and the area:
- Greenview
- Bingham
- Bluff
- Balance (after one of the state parks)
- Atoms (they have Atomic City already)
- Oakley
- Polarin (they have Polaris)
- Buffalo
- Ellens
- Fairdig (there's a Ferdig)
- Peaks (to match Pinnacle)
- Crossroads
- North Way
- Tollins Ferry (there are a couple of Ferry's)
- Hill Falls
- Gold Creek
- Prairie
- St. Christopher (there's a St. Marie already)
- Providence
- Armageddon (I think that's actually a town in Montana)
- Coyote
- Pilgrim Falls
- Pioneers Rest (there's a Happys Inn)
- Portia (there's an Othello)
- William
- White Water
- Trout Run (there's a Trout Lake and a White Salmon)
There.... is that a good start? For preference I muddle names or use historical names that have since been changed :o)
Holy cow Liana! That is a really brilliant idea!
We set The Haunting of Pemberly Brown in Shaker Heights which is very close to where we live. Totally cheating!
As for small town names, River Bend, ID or maybe London, ID (so many small town names are big city names. I always sort of love that).
Liana -- we have way more than ten towns. I'm seriously offended!! ;)
Idaho is a beautiful state.
Here are my fictional possibilities:
Orwell
Cedarbrae
North Fork
I like how they sound, and think the suit the area.
Good luck!
Okay, Tess, here are some I came up with:
-Windsor Hills
-Ardsley
-Breakneck
-Thundering Falls
-Widow's Peak
-Round-the-Bend
Hope they help!
Thanks so much for posting on the AICW blog! I'm really happy to find your blog, I don't have that many MG writers!! :)
(Congrats on being on submission, I'm right there with you.)
And of course I have osme ideas for your town:
- Mulheim
- Kaisersville
- Dorf
HTH! Thanks again!
Tremont, Idaho has a decent ring to it.
I like to use fictional names of towns, depending on the overall world I'm writing in.
I'm terrible at fictional "real" towns. I write fantasy so everything's a fictional town but luckily, I'm usually the only one who has ever really been there. (Sometimes the hubby gets dragged along.)
Boulder Falls?
My stories aren't generally set on earth, so they're probably fictitious. ;-)
Wow, lots of people entering. I don't stand a chance, LOL. Yunaleska is from England, by the way. :)
I'll go with: Trim. I love that for a town name. I know I'm weird.
I started thinking about it and am really struggling for a town idea.
Hmmm....tortilla flats, black creek, fremont, reiland.
I like making up towns too. I am using my home town, Eagar for one part of my novel so that made it easier. But I'm also using Rome and a fictional town in Brazil.
How about RED BLISS, ID? (Red bliss is a kind of potato. Idaho=potatoes. Get it? :)
TGIF. My brain needs a break.
Fake town name...hmmmm...a number of towns are named after the people that founded them or a local landmark.
How about Rubberneck, if only because you have to have a 'rubberneck' to see everything locally. This, of course, could have become corrupted over time to 'Rubneck'
For my writing, I sometimes use an anagram of a local village or point at a map and change a letter or two.
Very interestin post Tess. I'm all for fictional towns; the novel I finished last year and the one I'm in the process of starting are set in completely fictional places.
A town name with an American slant. Hmmm. All the good ones seem have been taken (x creek and y falls). What about Reservoir Hollow?
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