Create a Fictional Town Your Readers Can Relate To

by Ane Mulligan @AneMulligan

I'm a visual writer. I have a cork board in my office where I post photos of my characters and a map of the town where the story is set. Being a writer of more than cough-cough years, I've entered that forgetful stage of life, where I forget what I came into a room to get—or where I left my cup of coffee … usually found in the linen closet or a cupboard.

 

One of the most important items for me is the map. I can't have a character going down the wrong street. Readers catch things like that. Besides, I want them to feel like it's a real town, so if I have a map, where I can add bits of description to help them in the suspension of disbelief.

 

Recently, I was informed my publisher had negotiated the translation of In High Cotton into German. Yes, I was very excited. This is the second of my Georgia Magnolias series to be translated (the first was On Sugar Hill). My publisher asked about the map and getting permission to reprint it. How did I find it, and where did I get it?

 

That was simple to answer. I made it on my computer with a publishing software I own. He was delighted, since that meant no other permissions were needed. 

 

With only a few exceptions of placing stories in Sugar Hill where I live, all of my novels are set in fictional towns. It frees me to place homes and shops where I want them. I have the fictional towns near real ones, so readers get a sense of place. I love comments from readers saying they loved seeing a certain city in a story or they'd been to that town.

 

I've been asked how I create a town. For my Chapel Springs series, I hand drew the small village. I patterned it after two real towns for ambiance: Dahlonega, GA and Black Mountain, NC. I drew the lakeshore, a road running alongside it, and then added houses and businesses where I wanted them. 

 

As new characters popped up into sequels, I added their homes to the map. My only problem was getting it to look really good. I paid a high school student studying graphic arts to hand copy it on a 11x17 sheet of thick artists' paper. I loved the final drawing and it hangs on my office wall. You can see it here on my website. 

 

I no longer hand draw a map. I use a software program to create Rivers End, the town in which I set In High Cotton. While the map isn't quite as charming as the Chapel Springs one, it is more readable. You can see the result here, just scroll down to the map. 

 

Because I write most of the story by the seat of my pants, things can change. If I decide character 'A' needs to live on 23^rdAvenue instead of High Street, I can easily move it in my software and reprint the map. 

 

Most of all, for me it's fun to create the town. It also helps me dive deep into the setting, which in my books is a character. If my character grew up in that town, it has shaped his or her worldview. 

 

Right now, I'm working on a Christmas novella and decided to place it in Chapel Springs (after receiving permission from my publisher). The last book in that series came out in 2017, so it's been quite a while since I've "visited" the town. Thankfully, I have the map. I can refer to the placement of buildings, not to mention it helps me remember who owns what store and other such trivia. 

 

If you want to place your novel in a fictional town, make a map. It's a fun exercise for any creative. What special helps do you create to write your stories?

 

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Create a Fictional Town Your Readers Can Relate To, tips from author @AneMulligan on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Ane Mulligan lives life from a director’s chair, both in theatre and at her desk creating novels. Entranced with story by age three, at five, she saw PETER PAN onstage and was struck with a fever from which she never recovered—stage fever. One day, her passions collided, and an award-winning, bestselling novelist immerged. She believes chocolate and coffee are two of the four major food groups and lives in Sugar Hill, GA, with her artist husband and a rascally Rottweiler. Find Ane on her website, Amazon Author page, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, The Write Conversation, and Blue Ridge Conference Blog.