Real cities in fiction book

One new home owner bought a book with the climactic scene. If you decide to set your novel in a real place, consider using a few fictional elements an imaginary street in a real town, an imaginary hotel in a real street, and so on. But if your book is set in a real life high school, you probably should change the name so as to not risk offending any students or teachers who think you are writing about them and take offense at the characterization. Ilium kurt vonnegut, various works, considered a standin for the actual cities of schenectady and troy, new york. Is it okay to use fictional cities in real us states. Correspondingly in literature, there are numerous examples of fictional citystates. Libel in fiction is an infrequent problem and one that can be readily avoided with some advance thought about how you are using reallife models for your fictional characters. Before borders and barnes and noble, before the coming of the kindle, there was the independent bookstore. I live in a nonfictional suburb of philadelphia, so its real easy for me to match the fictional setting to the real ones around me.

If you plan to write a love story set in a city, say, it would work just as well in new york as it would in. For your realistic imagination power you can write about real places or persons but also personify them to some other names. If its more along the lines of realistic fiction, it might be a good idea to use a real place. The book involves real places such as entertainment areas, different baseball stadiums, different universities.

Writing about real places in fiction rocky mountain. Can i use real street nam es a nd a city in a fiction book. You have to tell a story it should have a clear beginning, middle and an ending. Green label the 10 fictional locations we want to visit in real life. Real life fiction book one kindle edition by flaharty. What if i were introduce a bad situation within that venue, specifically a shootout within it or blowing the place up killing thousands and being very. In the best fiction, writers convey a kind of truth about cities that cant solely be captured in true stories. Many books use real life towns and cities as their setting. What is the difference between fiction and nonfiction. Teach kids about life in the big city with these 10 great.

With the noise, crowds and buildings that scrape the sky, big cities can be frightening. The answer is yes, provided that you take some common sense precautions. Using names of real places in fiction society of childrens book. Dream cities is a field guide to seven of those visions, each given a oneword title. If you want to create your own town, you can do that after all, it certainly is more of a challenge to use real cities and towns, where you need to make sure you have certain things accurate when writing. There is a hot cowboy love interest, a strange but lovable gay best friend, and a private eyes. If youre going to write what you know, setting seems a good place to start. Can anyone tell me if you can use real names of towns and schools when writing a fictional book. For example, the great pyramids name is used, but they are not real world pyramids, and the. See more ideas about urban fiction books, fiction books and books. A citystate is a sovereign state that consists of a city and its dependent territories. How to design a fictional town or city pen and the pad.

It is the home of donald duck, scrooge mcduck, huey, dewey and louie duck, daisy duck, and most of their supporting cast. On the flipside, some authors use real places and products in their fiction and actually land advertising deals for doing so. If not, as i suspect there is a new york city in the dc universe, is there a canonical answer for what real world cities inspired. It is destroyed in the second book, slaves of the mastery when ortiz and his raiding company attack and take. Mysteries, science fiction, romance, fantasy, chick lit, crime thrillers are all fiction genres. Writers frequently ask whether they can mention brand name products and services in their fiction. Fiction refers to literature created from the imagination. The thing is, if you use a place city you have to be super accurate or the folks there will call you out. If you dont acknowledge trademarks, you can open yourself to lawsuits from businesses who are trying to protect their trademarks. I would not use the real name of a school, for example.

List of fictional citystates in literature wikipedia. Miamis heady optimism has always been matched by dangerous reality, a fissure that runs through its literature. What if you use names of actual ancient locations for a fictional world, even though the actual realworld location has nothing to do with the fictional one. Urban fiction storyline now that weve gone over the details of what makes up an urban fiction tale the most important part of the story is its storyline.

For some novels, only a real setting or a fictional setting will do. But i never hesitate to create a fictional location in my books as needed. This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and if not signed in for advertising. Usually there is not a problem using real names of states, cities, parks, streets, etc. When is it wrong to use real place names in fiction. While typically i wouldnt expect that to be an issue. The book looks at all the aspects good and bad of what having freedom really means. Print friendlyper last weeks issue of writersweekly, quote the. We may live in the age of the ebook, but were taking things back to basics. If i use a real location for the setting of my book do i have to use. I want to use a real city and real streets in my next novel so when my readers drive around the city and town they will feels like they are. The owners will probably love having their place in a book. Accardibythesea small coastal village which is the home of the guild of enchanters in zork computer games.

Many writers use actual towns and cities in their fiction, but there are some writers who opt to create their own towns and cities. The scenes that illustrate this book are all about us. A reallife setting for your story anchors your fiction in reality, and adds another dimension to your story. The washington post book worldone of the most spohisticated fictional treatments of the enduring themes of class, color, and freedom. Real life fiction book two kindle edition by flaharty. Heres your allaccess pass into the ultimate historical fiction guide. The lake the book is named after is in nearby kalkaska county, and mentions its location in northern michigan. I used a real city as my setting and included several specific locations within that city, but i changed all. The main characters in the books are all fictional, but could i reference the court making a decision and refer to.

If you really cant decide, you could use a real place, like iowa for example, and make up a town or school thats located in it. There are various reasons a writer might choose to create a fictional town or city rather than use a real location. These fiction and nonfiction works help readers better understand sustainable development goals such as climate change, poverty and education. Look at how many novels set in new york city mention rockefeller center. Tar beach is a caldecott honor book and winner of the coretta scott king award. This list of the best cities for book lovers has your name written all over it. In fiction writing, it is common place to use real life businesses and location.

Do the cities in the dc universe correspond to real world. Top 10 megacities in fiction the creativity and energy coming out of these vast human jostles is a challenge for writers. Find out which cities we picked and what makes them great book cities. When writing a fiction novel, do you use real city names.

Amazon dominates both ecommerce and the book market. Some businesses within the city may have issues, but the cities, their streets, and physical features michigan avenue, the loop, soldiers field are all ok. Writing a book set in a real town makes research easy, and it gives you an interesting marketing hook. Some cities are inspired to what the setting looks like. Personally, i prefer reading stories that are based in real places. This is a list of fictional citystates in literature. Colin dexters inspector morse books are set in oxford, for example. But make the heart of your setting fictional, such as an imaginary district or street within a real city. Writing about real places in fiction rocky mountain fiction writers. A guide to the fictional cities of the dc universe. From dickens to anita desai, here are some who meet it.

Its also becoming common place to include a section in books that tells the reader who owns the trademark to those businesses. Adlynn flaharty is one of my favorite new authors new to me real life fiction 1 is a cross between romance and whats shaping up to be a good old fashioned who done it. Using real people, places, and corporations in your fiction how. This list gets beyond the usual suspects the jungle, dubliners and shines a spotlight on 10 riveting novels and story collections that the urban enthusiast may have missed. Of course, you can bet they put those placesproducts in a very good light. Real place names in fiction books my writers circle. In my mind, it allows me a sense of worldbuilding, even in. Academia one setting within the webcartoon general knowledge. But in order to create a fictional city and use it in a story, you will need to access your imagination and focus on the details on the city to get it right. Examples of classic fiction include to kill a mockingbird by harper lee, a tale of two cities by charles dickens, 1984 by george orwell and pride and prejudice by.

Writing a book set in a real town makes research easy, and it gives. Im not sure why youd want to use the real name of a school in the town concerned if its fiction, why not make one up. This gives you the best of both worlds youll benefit from the glamor of setting your novel in a famous place that people know. In addition to the meat of the book, buried in its first pages is jacobs curious aside about illustration, alluding to the creative mediums role as a sensemaking mechanism for the world.

As for towns i think fictional is best then you can make it all up and no one is comparing it to a real city. Stephen king is known for the fictional maine towns he creates in his fiction. In a booknovel, names can be fine but what is more important is the characters and roles every entity has and relate to. Can i use a real town or city name in a fiction book. The trouble of using real cities or states is that you need to research that location and maybe visit it and take pictures so you will know the history and culture of. Ed mcbain aka evan hunter likes to take real cities like new york isola and sarasota calusa and change the names, but keep the physical features. The vast majority of my stories take place in fictional suburbs of philadelphia. Can i use real street names and a city in a fiction book. With ferocity, humor and intelligence, these books. In twelve graceful, sensual stories, william henry lewis traces the line between the real and the imaginary, acknowledging the painful ghosts of the. What if one of your readers were from that city, and become annoyed at inaccuracies. Far more challenging and more common is the problem of reducing the risks of a defamation action arising from a tellall memoir a subject that i will return to in a.

Little elliot pictured as a tiny white elephant with blue and pink polka dots has quiet. A young blind girl flees paris carrying a precious jewel while an orphan joins the hitler youth. Writing about a fictional city can be a difficult challenge. Books by the worlds most original writers were picked by unescos cities of literature to align to the uns blueprint for a better future. For many others, either choice could work equally well. To me, it makes the whole thing so much more realistic. This was also seen in the 2012 computeranimated film adaptation. They have been an important aspect of human society, and historically included famous cities like athens, carthage, rome, and the italian citystates of the renaissance. Then the reader can connect with the story line and main character, which is what you want the reader to do.