Creating your Location - Writers Forum

S1E9A8N5 · 07-17-2006, 01:33 PM

I'm sure all of you are familar with Resident evil and "Racoon City", or Half Life naming there city's by number and other tv shows, movies, and books that do that etc. I'm trying to think of a creative name for a city but I really dont know what to look for. I'm thinking about using the number thing. Aka - City 17 type thing. I would like to make up a city name but I dont know what would sound good. Do you have any advice on creating your own location?

Sean

Janeka · 07-17-2006, 02:08 PM

Most cities and towns are named based on some aspect of their history and location. Oxford was named as it was originally the site of a shallow point across the river Ox. (Town names ending in Ford are often similar in that respect). Other towns are named because of their trade or because of things nearby. Beverley (near Hull in the East Ridings of Yorkshire) was named after a clearing inhabited by beavers (Beaver lee). Cities like New York were named after towns and cities that their settlers knew and simply prefixed with new.

Don't know if that's at all helpful...

Deathwishboy · 07-17-2006, 03:05 PM

It all depends on the location genre I guess. After all you aren't going to call a gritty victorian London city "Happyville" are you. That much was probably obvious....

I'm no good with names, took me 4 times to remember my dad's first name so its no good asking me

. But I wouldn't go for the number city escape route, I never much cared for that....just made be think LAZY! WRITER!

Mb a family name or re arranged family name could work out.

imrhati · 07-17-2006, 03:42 PM

actually raccoon city is a real place (Canada). the place you see in the movie is mostly hamilton though.

janeka explained it well i guess.

S1E9A8N5 · 07-17-2006, 04:09 PM

Thanks for the replys.

Quote:

But I wouldn't go for the number city escape route, I never much cared for that....just made be think LAZY! WRITER!

Well I guess it depends on whats behind the meaning of naming a city a number.

In the video game, Half Life. . . they name one of there citys "city 17". Theres also reference to another city "city 14". Based on the game, naming the cities as they are is in reference to the Soviet practice of numbering secret closed cities...rather than naming them which fits the story they are telling.

My story kind of falls in that direction. I like the naming it "city #" etc. but if I can come up with a real name then I will use that. I can't think of anything right now though. Didn't know Racoon City was a real city though. That's cool.

Thanks for the replys again.

Sean

Dookie · 07-17-2006, 06:23 PM

Nah not a number. Imagine the location and make a name.

FrankBlissett · 07-17-2006, 11:15 PM

Quote:

After all you aren't going to call a gritty victorian London city "Happyville" are you.

I beg to differ. While the example you gave may be extreme, it's not totally out of place. For instance:

A you can make a ghost town inhabited by a few dirt farmers and die-hard prospectors, and call it "Bounty".

Make a depression-era story centered around a city whose main industry has laid everyone off and call it "Prosperity".

You can create a bar called the "Happy Hideaway", whose patrons are all down-on-their-luck cases.

Historicly, we have the evils of the which hunts occuring in Salem - a varient of Jerusalem, the "Holy City".

In all these cases, the very conflict between the name and the reality can be used to create a sense of lost times or hypocricy.

-Frank

Kelhanion · 07-18-2006, 06:56 AM

This is my favourite subject. I like making up names for cities and even for people. I do this all the time, even if my story takes place in the real world. I actually think that most of my protagonists and "main cities" have made-up last names. It makes writing a lot easier as I'm not any particularly good with history of foreign cities.

Janeka had good points, that's the way everyone should think when making up names. However, for some reason, I don't. I find it more satisfying to use credible-sounding gibberish. I just take some element that goes with the language (what last names or city names usually sound like) and then improvice. I thank the fact that there are so many dialects and obscure words in the world. No one will ever catch me "cheating"

cacafire · 07-18-2006, 05:41 PM

They will if you tell them you do.

Just name it veilspark. It's perfect!

S1E9A8N5 · 07-25-2006, 01:07 AM

I've been trying to come up with a city name for a while now and I don't know if anyone said it was easy but I'm finding it extremely hard. I'm trying to find something that has meaning behind it and I can't come up with anything lol.

Sean

Janeka · 07-25-2006, 03:26 AM

Try answering some of these questions to see if they help your thought processes

Where is it?
What country is it in?
What is near it?
What is the surrounding countryside like?
How long has the city been there?
Who founded it?
What makes it famous?
What is its current trade?
What made people settle here?
How many incarnations has the city had? (Has it been destroyed and rebuilt?)
What civilisation has had the most profound effect on it?
What was there before the city?
Has it ever fallen in battle?
Have conquering armies changed its name?

Personally, I find it easier to make decisions about names and so forth when I know more about a place or person... Alternatively, you could post the answers to the questions and see what suggestions we can come up with

S1E9A8N5 · 07-25-2006, 10:32 AM

I'm going to try and answer them the best I can.

The City is in the U.S. The story takes place in the year 2056. The surrounding countryside is quiet full of grass, trees, lake and ponds...where houses may have once stood but were destroyed in a war around the year 2012. The city was built on top of an existing city. Possibly Rockville Maryland. So I don't know if I want to use "Rockville" or make a new name. There was a war that destroyed not only part of "Rockville" but other cities as well. A possible Third World War. I was plaining on making just a new city in a new area so I'm not sure. Rockville is just an example. The city has the main building for the FDA there and my story is about the FDA etc.

Sean