How To Create a Fictional Town | Writing and World Building Hacks!
When we talk about world-building, we usually think of sci-fi or fantasy stories where we have to create languages and build magic systems that somehow explain why gravity is upside down or why the walls chant an ancient language that you can only decipher at the witching hour. But what if you just want to create a bizarre little town for your story to take place? I did it for Truth Weekend!
Here are 3 steps to creating your own town. Or if you’d rather watch my (extremely OLD) video on this, click here.
Step 1: Nail down an appropriate name.
Are you a writer aiming for premium chaos like Necromore or a deceitfully happy name like Sunnybrook, when really there’s sinister activity lurking below the surface? Consider the hero or villain that got to name the town.
For example, say there’s this neighborhood in sunny sleepy Florida called Champaign Lane that consists of middle/ lower middle income young people who are renting their first homes. Though it is in a part of town with minimal resources, all the little houses are a gorgeous pale pink, yellow, or turquoise with white roofs and immaculate yards. So while I find the name to be ironic, I also view it as a goal. The residents are hungry and ambitious youth, hustling to make their dreams come true so that they can get to a place in life where they’re popping champagne. This also poses an allegory for living behind a familiar façade of having lots of money and happiness when really we don’t. The juxtaposition adds an extra layer to your setting and you didn’t even have to do that much.
Step 2: What are all the secrets and sins of the town?
What are the legends of the lake? What streets are for daylight only? Who is the woman in the window you’re told to stay away from?
Recently, I was reading an idealistic romance set in a fake town in California with a scene in a grocery store where a character looks at a missing child flier and says, “It’s a shame this family can’t catch a break. Her sister literally drowned in Lake Eerie three months ago.” A small moment like that adds so much texture and validity to the scene and suddenly the thing on the page is alive again. How did Lake Eerie get its name? Who was the first child that got lured into the water? Is that why the houses surrounding it are so cheap?
As a writing exercise, write three myths or legends about the places and people of your town. Bonus points if there’s a story about the crooked family on the tallest hill.
Step 3: Define the details of what makes your town so special.
What are the oddities and marvels of this place that are so distinct that you couldn’t set your story in a real town or a real neighborhood? I like to separate this stage of planning into three parts: color, aesthetics, & monuments.
Color Theory
For me, a fun way to get the wheels turning when world-building is to create a color pallet. In the opening of Truth Weekend, the colors in Skye’s world are quite muted and grungy, but when we meet Rosie, her nemesis, there’s curiously a rush of blood with plums, burgundies, wine red, and amber and now the whole scene has a heartbeat. As they enter this new world together, the previous colors become more vibrant. Bold. It’s not just blue, it’s cobalt and if it’s red, it’s neon. It’s as if the saturation is cranked all the way to 100 to reflect the emotional intensity and how uncomfortable, yet cathartic this situation is. As their relationship changes, we then get into the lavenders, the magentas, and the concept of yellow which poses a fitting dichotomy in its dual meaning of rebirth and cowardice. Use color theory to your advantage! The symbolism writes itself.
The Aesthetic
Curating an aesthetic for your town lets you hone in on your unique style, voice, and vision while having a touchstone to come back to.
Are we going for a Florida Gothic aesthetic where we have an orange field on one side of the road and a marble cherub in front of a Waffle House on the other side? What about a motel sign with the tagline: stay for a while… stay forever? This creep-fest feeds into that well-meaning, but unhinged Midwestern Gothic of cornfields, dirt roads, and rumors of three-eyed blood deer.
Exercise: Look up aesthetic (regional, occupational, academic, etc.) photos or Pinterest boards that fit your story and make a list of interesting things that you could put in your town. Here’s mine: sunny-side-up wallpaper, the Oasis motel, conspiracy theory diner, rainbow slushies, cannabis cookie shop, a yellow house shaped like a boot, an iguana eating hydrangeas in a sunflower field, crop circle picnics, and a bookstore built for an acid trip. Don’t be afraid to include wildlife, nature, and peculiar architecture within this list. However, if your creative genius mind doesn’t jive with aesthetics, we still have monuments. You know… the best part of this whole thing.
Monuments
What are the key locations that are only in this town? Where do the old people hang out? Is the town covered in graffiti or is it posh? Maybe it is abnormally homogeneous. Is there a mansion next to a trailer park or a prison next to a school? Who’s on the murals? Who gets a marble statue? I’ve never been here. Don’t tell me you live on Grove Street. Tell me you live in front of the abandoned chapel with animal skulls hanging from the cross and you can hear screaming in the cornfields every night.
Exercise: Create 10 unique locations. Why ten? Because it’s a good number, but you can always expand it. Create 10 locations and watch your dream town that is so full of character and foreshadowing unfold in front of you.
If you’re a hands on learner and you want to create 3-dimensional characters, but you don’t know where to start, click here for The Character Backstory Workbook! It’s over 100 questions and gives you plenty of space to write and brainstorm.
Alright guys, that’s all that I have for you today. I hope this got the creative juices flowing. Comment down below and let me know any more hyper-specific topics you want me to hit on. Happy writing!
