Worm got away with this big time. No one questioned the fictional huge city in the northeast US, even as the story branched out to places like Las Vegas and Chicago.
Yes, but their jerseys never have the team name, just stuff like Emirates, SEGA, Honda, Blackwater, etc. Of course, in Japan, the companies actually own the teams, so you get results like "Nippon Ham beat Rakuten 3-1 today". All the Japanese baseball teams have names, but they're usually referred to by the name of the company that owns them, which has got to make looking up results when they change hands quite difficult.
EDIT: I realized I used "New York" when I returned to the post, when I meant to say "Maine," explaining why I used the term "coast." I apologize. I thank you all for your help in understanding the... acceptability of this choice. I'm glad to know I can feel a little more comfortable setting my story in Doveport, Maine now. And for the educational conversation regarding foreign sports team names.
To answer OP's question, yes it is okay. I have one word for you: Batman. Gotham City isn't real, but we know it's in the US. It does depend on how much realism you want to bring to your story. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's semi important to make it fairly obvious the city isn't real, easiest way to do so is through the name itself. That being said, if it's not obvious, then anyone who is familiar with the area it's in will know at least, and those who aren't won't care unless the research. If that happens, then worst case scenario is someone is fascinated by the fact that it isn't real and you chose to make that decision.
To be honest, with all of the unincorporated territory up here, Maine is a pretty awesome location to create fictional towns. Lots of places where you might be able to fit one in on a map.
Absolutely it's all right to make up fictional cities in real-world countries, why would it not be? Just research the geography and climate of the area and you should be fine. As for the football naming, yeah we make up whatever the hell we want so go for it.
Count yourself lucky that your story is set in the US...my novel is set primarily in England, so I can't exactly create a city from nothing in a country that's smaller than some states without readers having an aneurysm. I honestly had no idea that Derry wasn't an actual city, despite having read IT. The US is massive, so unless you're dealing with a geography enthusiast, most people either won't realise or care too much that your city isn't one they can visit. It also means you can shape the city exactly how you like, which gives you a ton of creative options. It certainly wouldn't put me off a book. I'm not hugely looking forward to extensively researching London, but you'll be able to do what you like with your creation with no restraints.
You called it right. A little village out on the moors terrorised by a serial killer or a tiny cider festival in the west country...but anyone who paid attention in school will know my city for the falsehood it is. Perhaps America is my true calling. Certainly you can base a fictional city on your experiences of real ones, that will give it a real edge in authenticity. I'd imagine it's tough to just write one from scratch.
Rubbish! ANYBODY who's lived there will know everything that you've got wrong...Including that Billy "The Goat" Danniels DIDN'T have it off with Jennie from the Waggoner's Arms; it was Janey from the Coachman's Rest...
True enough, but you can't deny that getting those details wrong in a village limits the fallout. Even if 100% of the village doesn't read your work because of it, you're out like 10 readers.
Haha, my mum's side of the family all live in that county and they don't mind me taking a bit of land to put 100 or so houses on (or opening a theatre a couple of years earlier).
In case anyone at all is curious about Doveport, in what very unpolished words I've written its description out in so far: " It didn’t at all surprise Ernis that when he was given the home address, it was a town in Maine with the word “port”, a term expressive of water, in its name -- a nice little peculiarity he and a friend jokingly associated with the state when the aforementioned friend moved to the area. But unlike the towns of Waterville, Portland, Eastport or Kennebunkport, you wouldn’t find this water-evocative town of Doveport anywhere on most maps. And while the near familial closeness exhibited by the nigh-whole of Maine is present, in an isolated form within the town itself, what surprised him is that the rest of the state was barely aware of its existence. The southeastern coast raggedly jut out into the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf and Maine, much like the teeth of a saw slicing into wood; Doveport was placed perfectly at the tip of one of the teeth, about the median distance between Portland and Rockland."
Unpolished words, okay, so no critique there, but I wouldn't bother saying that you wouldn't find it on most maps. For one, that's pretty unlikely in today's world, and two, I think most readers are accepting enough of the idea of fictional small towns (especially in Maine, thank you Mr. King) that it needn't be mentioned. I'm not familiar with the map of Maine, but I think the final sentence's description of the town's location is just about what you need.
I like the method of fictionalising towns/suburbs the way you fictionalise people: taking bits and pieces of realistic detail, and mixing and matching them with invented details in ways that make sense and feel familiar. You don't have create setting that way, but it's a valid approach that can work really well. Myself, I like to take the challenge further. In my head I'm kind of building an invented contemporary country that's analogous with/a blend of a few western countries, mostly by focusing on what the cities would be like based on my understanding of how places develop geographically and historically. But this is just a world-building game for me and I'm not sure how it would pan out in an actual story. (I like the idea of creating a setting like this for a "contemporary fantasy" which feels both truly contemporary and truly fantastical, though.)
Oh my christ this is just horrible. If you start inventing towns in US states, you risk getting sued for unfair advertising... somone will try to sell a house in the invented town, and then you are liable to pay the mortgage times 911. Put those worms back in the can.
I took what you noted into account. " It didn’t at all surprise Ernis that when he was given the home address, it was a town in Maine with the word “port”, a term expressive of water, in its name -- a nice little peculiarity he and a friend jokingly associated with the state when the aforementioned friend moved to the area. This water-evocative town was located on one of the sawlike teeth of Maine’s southeastern coast that raggedly jut into the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf and Maine." It still, er, needs a bit of polish.
I've not only invented a small town, I've also invented a river and a small mountain range! I decided this after doing LOTS of research and checking that these names don't actually exist in that state. It gave me the freedom to write without having to contend with the annoyance of people who actually live there and who 'know better.' I've tried to envision these locations so they fit into what IS actually real, so readers get a flavour of what actually exists. And if I do mention a real town or city, I make sure to get the details right. I think you can get away with any of this, as long as you're upfront with your readers. If you publish your book, include an 'author's note' to admit what parts of the setting you've fictionalised, and I reckon you'll be okay. I'm always happy when authors include one of these notes, either at the start or the end of the book.
Let's be honest here: next to no one will check that the town actually exists. I think it would be a bigger threat to the reader's suspension of disbelief if the town seemed not to fit in with the culture of the state it's supposed to be in. But as long as it fits, it works.
