: Re: Is it Ok to make up places if I want the reader to think it’s set in the real world? What I’m doing is making a story in the medieval times and I wanted to make up a village and

@Bryan361

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A quick google search for Bernice castle came up with a bunch of females with last name of Castle. Searching for Bernice Stronghold also came up blank. So if google can't find that castle with all its modern powers, it is forgivable that your characters might miss it as well.

Just leave the exact name and location of your village obscure. Give your readers nothing to search on, and they will not be tempted to search for discrepancies like a missing castle.

So instead of referring to the village by it's name, call it "our village" or "our home". Refer to the next town over as "that small hamlet where cousin Mary lives". You can even have your character's give the neighboring town a disparaging nick-name and use that in place of its real name.

Also, humor can also be used to justify missing details. If the narrator sarcastically points out the idea that nobody ever mentions the name of this particular town, then everyone's efforts to avoid disclosing it can become a great point of humor. Think obscurity through absurdity.

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