I've been sitting here trying to figure out the setting of my novel and where it's going to be. However, I feel that my town is a very good fit for the story line; but, I do not want to keep the town's name nor do I want to rename it. Would it be wrong to just describe the setting in the story and keep it nameless? Like, never tell the reader exactly where it is? Or could I just reveal the state that it's in, but never the town?
Or you could name it Springfield, and never name the state. How much or how little you specify the setting is up to you. But whether or not you intend it, you will inevitably leave clues about your geographical assumptions (climate and weather, plants trees an animals encountered, etc.)
I see nothing wrong with using a real place but not naming it. That's what I usually do, although I end up giving other clues about the major city that the town is near. You could probably guess from my screen name which city that is.
I would think this would depend on your audience - if this is for genre or Ya fiction it probably wouldn't matter - unless of course it's a mystery or crime thriller. Where the reader wants every detail to assess. And if it's general fiction - unless your description leaves no doubt that this is say southern Florida , or sierra Nevada , I would probably name it or allude to a name - like say our town was named after a dead general or Indian folklore.
Good options, but still I'd prefer having an actual name. Just go through a list of citys or a zip code registry and look for interesting names. Tweak it if you want, but even if you never need to use the actual name yourself, it is good to at least know it for your own purposes. It forms a kind of bond with the setting that is more important to the author for critical thinking rather then 'Generic Town'.
Having the town be without a name is perfectly fine. I don't even like to name the people in my stories. It's only not okay when you cause too many difficulties for yourself. One of the problems you'll encounter is if your story introduces multiple places, you will have difficulty being brief when trying to refer to your town. You may have to consider a different option if you expect to refer to places other than your town (especially if you don't want to name the other places as well)
