Use Real Town Names?

[Word Jedi]

Is there a rule of thumb on this?

Is it okay to use the real names of cities and towns?

I have found the perfect setting here in Northern New Jersey for my novel, or at least part of my novel, and was wondering if I can use the real town name(s).

[icerose]

Real towns are used all the time. Think of how many movies involve the big cities like New York, Miami, San Fransico.

As long as you aren't making it a bad thing, especially in small towns, then you should be fine.

Twilight used a real town.

[jodiodi]

I use major large towns where people would recognize the name, but I usually set my stories in a fictional town. I use the real cities as reference points.

Ex: My female main character in one piece starts off in Atlanta in a vaguely identified neighborhood. When she goes home to south Georgia, it's a fictional town.

[Lost World]

Best to use a phony name for a small town. If you use a real one and one of your characters has some bad traits he might be mistaken for an actual person, which could certainly cause trouble.

[Word Jedi]

Best to use a phony name for a small town. If you use a real one and one of your characters has some bad traits he might be mistaken for an actual person, which could certainly cause trouble.

This is exactly what will happen in the story. A bunch of ghost hunters decide to investigate an abandoned mining tunnel and they unleash a gateway to hell by mistake. The town is engulfed in evil and, well, it's time to make up a name, that's all.

Thanks, folks!

[Libbie]

You should see what Twilight did for Forks. It's a real place, just not nearly as charming or interesting as Meyer made it out to be. Now it's even less interesting, because every second shop along its one-stoplight main drag is selling nothing but Twilight merchandise.

Using real towns is just fine.

[The Lonely One]

Using real town names is completely fine. The dilemma you face is whether or not things are geographically and historically accurate, as you might get a call from the local historical society chairman bitching you out over the placement of a road or a made up restaurant. By all means, use real towns and make up restaurants. But do it intentionally so when you get that call you can have something to bitch back about. KNOW the town if you're using a real one. Then manipulate it to the will of your story.

[Clair Dickson]

Best to use a phony name for a small town. If you use a real one and one of your characters has some bad traits he might be mistaken for an actual person, which could certainly cause trouble.

Unless the character really does match up with someone in that small town, I don't think this is much of concern, really. The allegedly slighted person would have to prove a great many things-- that the author knew of this person, that there's reason to think the fictional character was based off the real person, that the intention was to malign as opposed to being merely a fictional tale.

Both Hell and Paradise, Michigan (both small towns) have been featured as the main location in separate crime stories. You know, which bad people killing and doing other bad things. (And honestly, you don't get towns much smaller than Hell or Paradise!)

The only caution I would use, is that if you're using a small town, don't just swipe the name and make it all up. If you've never been there, I think it'd be better to make up a fake name. Otherwise, what's the point of using the name, if the town is all made up? The name is attached to the locale-- including major roads, hang outs, and quirks.

[Hittman]

Using a real town makes life easier, as long as you know the town well. It also makes it more real for the readers familiar with the place.

[Word Jedi]

Using a real town makes life easier, as long as you know the town well. It also makes it more real for the readers familiar with the place.

I live in the town I'm using.

[maestrowork]

Read.


Do you find real places/towns/cities/countries in the stuff you read?

I think you'll know the answer, then.

[Project nachonaco]

I used Washington D.C.

Then again, my novel is not only thirty years into the future, but also in an alternate reality.

Which means, if I was born in that alternate reality, I would be an old lady. :P

[Rhoda Nightingale]

I use both. I've used London, Las Vegas, Poughkeepsie, Salisbury Plain, and a handful of fictional coastal cities and alternate reality villages.

[Topaz044]

Stephen King does it all the time. Maine has suffered a lot of hardship over the years. :D

[LuckyH]

I’ve always used real places for my fiction, usually cities that I know. Inevitably, even though I’ve changed the names, real people can sometimes recognise themselves from my description of the fictional character.

It hasn’t happened often, but I’ve lost a close friend because of it. He recognised himself and wasn’t impressed, even though my description was truthful. I hadn’t intended the consequences when I wrote the character, it never entered my head.

But how can you guard against something like that? If you follow the old adage ‘write what you know’ in its strictest sense, it can happen that you sometimes offend people without meaning to. Isn’t that better than hiding behind a completely false landscape, pussyfooting around like some politically correct, demented appeaser?

I’m still sorry my former pal doesn’t speak to me any more. And, for a certain book, I wouldn‘t dream of attending a book signing in a part of London. And I avoid a certain part of Glasgow, just in case.

[PeterL]

There's nothing wrong woith using real town names, street names, etc. If you set a story in a real place, make sure that the street layout is similar to the real one. It is annoying to read about a real place with wrong directions. As long as you don't use the actual location of someone's house, then no one will complain. Actual businesses can also be used and locations given, as long as there is nothing derogatory.

[JeanneTGC]

I use both real and fictional locations, many times in the same book. When I have a fictional town "stand in" for a real place it's usually because I want to move things around (I like my courthouses and airports where *I* want them, thank you, not where those city planners put them) and you can't do that with a real town.

But it's called fiction for a reason, so even if you're using a real town, it's not a problem to say "Los Angeles stinks" and worry about the civic leaders getting their knickers in a twist over it.

[Word Jedi]

As posted in my research thread, I did some reading today about the town I live in, and found that a church about a mile from where I live was used as a triage during the Revolutionary War. George Washington visited the troops, too.
This has added an entirely new plot element to my story. This might also require a fictional name for the town in my story, because the inciting incident takes place in another town not far from where I live.
I used to get frustrated when things like this happened in the past, but now I'm thrilled.
Very awesome.

[Hittman]

I’ve always used real places for my fiction, usually cities that I know. Inevitably, even though I’ve changed the names, real people can sometimes recognise themselves from my description of the fictional character.

It hasn’t happened often, but I’ve lost a close friend because of it. He recognised himself and wasn’t impressed, even though my description was truthful. I hadn’t intended the consequences when I wrote the character, it never entered my head.

This sounds like a potential lawsuit.

My WIP happens in Saratoga, which I'm very familiar with, and the characters go to real places in the town. However, there are two fictional bars where some of the action takes place. One is a real dive, a mix of a couple of real places, where some nasty people do nasty things. The other is an upscale place where one of the main characters works. In the first case I didn't want to insult a real place, in the second I didn't want someone when the same name as the character to say "That's me! Lawyer time!"

Both places are the kinds of bars you'd find in that part of town, though, so it should ring true.

[maestrowork]

To me, bars, restaurants, etc. -- just make up a name. It's okay. But if it's a city or landmark, there's no reason not to use it unless you're going to say something really bad about them (e.g. "The McDonalds Big Mac gave me E.Coli" or "the owner of Bill Smith's Auto is an asshole.")

The more obscure the place is, the less important it is to give it a real name since most of your readers won't get the reference anyway. But if your story is set in Boston, make it Boston instead of Bosstown, MA.

[Jamesaritchie]

Don't worry about it. Real town names are perfectly fine, large city or tiny hamlet. If you work proves popular, in fact, the small town will benefit one heck of a lot more than would a large city. Readers actually love travelling to places in stories they read, and when they travel, they spend money.

I've used my hometown, Millville, Indiana, population 100, and "famous" as the birthplace of Wilbur Wright, who was actually born a mile outside of town, many, many times.

You can't write about a town this small without using the names of the real businesses, all three of them, a grain mill that dominates the landscape, a small general store, and a small service fire department, because they make teh town what it is.

Innumerable other writers have done the same.

If you do choose to use a fake town, I strongly suggest just changing all teh names of a real town. Towns are where they are for a reason, and when no town is located on a given site, there's a reason for this, as well.

[LetaSwearengin]

One of my scripts is set in the small Kansas town that my maternal family lived in at one time. Of course the population as of 2000 was sixty, yes that's 6-0. ;)

[Khimera9]

You can definately use town and city names, but in my opinion I don't like using them. It makes you kinda have to follow the rules and layout of the city/town to make it more believable and it just kills me.

[Jamesaritchie]

You can definately use town and city names, but in my opinion I don't like using them. It makes you kinda have to follow the rules and layout of the city/town to make it more believable and it just kills me.

You shuold probably use teh layout and rules of a real town, even when you create your own fake town. As I said in another post, real towns are where they are for a solid reason, and layout and rules are also there for a reason. Even fake towns had better have a reason, usuall a geographical reason, for their existance, and even fake towns should have a layout and rules just like a real town.

[DavidZahir]

Here's a thought...

Model your town on a real one, and give it the name of some other town from far away. Case in point -- Half Moon Bay is a seaside suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area. You could write a story set there but change the name of the town to Whitby, which is a seaside city in Yorkshire, England.

[Hittman]

You can definately use town and city names, but in my opinion I don't like using them. It makes you kinda have to follow the rules and layout of the city/town to make it more believable and it just kills me.

I'm doing it with my WIP, and find it liberating. I don't have to create the whole town. When I need my characters to go to a place, it's right there for them. And if I need a place that's not in the town, I can create one that could be there, and know which neighborhood I should put it in.

[DrZoidberg]

Fictional books typically portray a subjective view over whatever it is they're describing. I'd say, yes you can use a real place and you can also lie about it. How much you piss people off is a function of how popular you are. The more popular you are the more people will bend over backwards to be offended. It's just the way the world works. If I were you I'd focus on making the story good, and worry about who you'll offend once it's finished. I'd say chances are pretty good, that by that time, you won't care.

[bearilou]

and they unleash a gateway to hell by mistake.

I hate when I do that. :D

I struggle with this question myself. If I set my novel in a real town, there are going to be readers out there who will catch any inconsistencies I have and that worries me. I hate when I lose suspension of disbelief when an author gets something wrong that I know about and so I don't want to do that to my readers.

[Hittman]

I hate when I lose suspension of disbelief when an author gets something wrong that I know about and so I don't want to do that to my readers.

It's got to be a place you know really well. Getting the facts wrong will ruin the story for anyone who knows the place. (For instance, in my WIP one of my characters eats breakfast in a diner that, I remembered later, closed several years ago. I'll have to fix that in the next draft.)

The beauty of getting it right hit me a while ago when reading a John D. McDonald novel. (I was on a JDM kick and reading every book of his I could get my hands on. It's an obsession I'd recommend to anyone – that man could write.) In once scene Travis McGee and his sidekick go to Utica. They stay at a Howard Johnson's outside of town, decide they want to eat in the city, open up a phone book and say "looks like Italian," pick a restaurant, go there and comment on the weird paint job of the housing project across the street.

Then they continue their adventure by visiting another town a half hour away from Utica. That town doesn't really exist, but could.

His story takes place in the sixties. Today that Howard Johnson's is boarded up, but it's there, exactly where he said it was. I've had dinner at the restaurant he mentioned, and the housing project across the street still suffers from the weird paint job. And yes, Utica has a strong Italian influence.

Not only was I impressed by the accuracy of his descriptions, but when he wrote about places I've never been, the memory of his descriptions of Utica made those descriptions ring true.

[Jamesaritchie]

Fictional books typically portray a subjective view over whatever it is they're describing. I'd say, yes you can use a real place and you can also lie about it. How much you piss people off is a function of how popular you are. The more popular you are the more people will bend over backwards to be offended. It's just the way the world works. If I were you I'd focus on making the story good, and worry about who you'll offend once it's finished. I'd say chances are pretty good, that by that time, you won't care.

Why lie about it when you can get it right with only a little research? I don't care if the writer is popular or not, shoddy research always makes me wonder whether the wirter has anything right, and I lose faith in everything he has to say.

[DrZoidberg]

Why lie about it when you can get it right with only a little research? I don't care if the writer is popular or not, shoddy research always makes me wonder whether the wirter has anything right, and I lose faith in everything he has to say.

Indeed. But I think there's a limit to research. What about when you can't?

How about official or popular accounts of something, or when the historical accounts are incomplete? Every popular founding story of every country, nation, town, city, company is barely true. It's all, in the name of pride and propaganda a grossly simplified and polished story. The truth is forever gone in history. We can either stick to the official account... or simply invent a more believable one! If it will annoy the locals, I think is of a minor concern. This is pretty much standard procedure when writing historical fiction. There's only so much research that is possible.

And then there's the stuff that don't really matter in the grand scheme of things. Stuff like where a park bench is. Or if that type of bird is still around that town that time of year. Menu items in a café. If it helps the story, why not?

I've so far I've put my stories in fictional cities and countries. But even so, I do meticulous research so it follows "reality" and real locations, down to the tiniest detail. But that's not because I have to (because my setting is officially fictional), it's because the end result tends to be better.

My point is, that I think the rule is... whatever works works. Don't feel constricted by one format or rule, if another works better.

[mnboater]

I've read books that are set in real places, but create a new town name. As a reader, it was fun for me to try and guess the areas the author was describing. She used the name of a fort that was once located in the area.

Having said that though, I created a fictional town for the book I'm writing now to avoid any issues down the line.

[bonitakale]

Les Roberts has a series set in Cleveland, and if anyone objects that there isn't a drugstore on such and such a corner, he says, "It's my book, and in my book, there is." Period.

[~*Kate*~]

I made up a fictional town surrounded by real ones, because I thought it was effective in The Stand--Arnette, Texas and Shoyo, AR are fictional but surrounded by Boulder, Vegas, and Ogunquit.

[Wayne R.]

Is there a rule of thumb on this?
Is it okay to use the real names of cities and towns?
I have found the perfect setting here in Northern New Jersey for my novel, or at least part of my novel, and was wondering if I can use the real town name(s).

In early versions of my "Magnificent Octopus," I did use an alternative name, kind of an alter-ego of the town. A long time was spent agonised over the same thing, and Lost World's comment about real events and people was a major headache. In the end, I decided to tough it out and go ahead. A company I named even approved an early draft because it didn't portray them in a negative way. Any people I've used for inspiration aren't named, so there's no direct link to them. And local history was pillaged mercilessly, much to the interest of a published historical writer.
No doubt if it gets any further than my hard drive, I'll take advice from whoever's steering the boat.

[Hittman]

Les Roberts has a series set in Cleveland, and if anyone objects that there isn't a drugstore on such and such a corner, he says, "It's my book, and in my book, there is." Period.

As long as there could be a drugstore on that corner, that's fine.

My WIP is set in Saratoga NY, and most scenes happen in real places. But there are two places that don't exist – an upscale bar where one MC works as a barmaid, and a dive bar the other MC visits several times. The upscale place isn't all that important, but the characters name is a common one, and I don't want anyone to say "Hey, My name is Julie, and I once worked at {real place}, so that's me!" The dive bar is fictitious because it's full of nasty people doing nasty things.

But. . . both places are set in locations where they could exist, where you'll find similar real places. If I were to switch locations they'd both be horribly out of place.

[TKofG]

In doing research for a recent story, I found the perfect little town for my story. I was so excited, I dashed off an email to the mayor and chief of police, asking them if they would mind being in my story. They never wrote back. So I moved their city to another state, gave everyone a different name and used it anyway.

[Hip-Hop-a-potamus]

If I end up doing anything on my newest opus (born of frustration, as James once said), I'll be combining the sounds of a few towns around these areas.

The initial ideas in this were inspired by living with frustrating in-laws in Outer Mongolia, Alberta, where everything is named something from the Cree language.

In an effort to mollify possibly offended relatives and acquaintances from the town we're living near now, I could theoretically come up with an amalgam of syllables from names like Kapasiwin, Wetaskiwin, Wabamun, Nisku, Ponoka, etc and keep the peace.