Giving a city a personality

[Feo Takahari]

Truth be told, this isn't entirely a concept I understand--I vaguely know that some people say that an author has "captured the personality of New York", or "conveyed the personality of San Francisco", but I don't really know how to tell an author who's given those cities a personality from one who's just written about them. Still, I've been having some trouble writing a story that's set in a specific (fictional) town, and I've been thinking that this "personality" idea might be a way around this. How does an author convey a city's personality? What techniques can be used to draw it out?

(To explain my specific case, it takes place in a relatively small town--"Small enough to have only one church, but big enough to have two Starbucks", as one character puts it. It's surrounded by farmland, and many of its inhabitants are low-income, but it has its share of non-subsistence services, including a psychologist, a veterinarian, and even a watch repairman. As currently written, its disparate elements feel like a bit of a mishmash.)

 

[ThinkerX]

Ok...is it in the midwest? (flyover country?)

From your info:

The people here are devout christians - of the fundi variety. Scripture turns up in everyday conversation. 'Blue Laws' might be in effect - no booze sold on Sunday, and quite possibly almost the whole town shuts down when during Sunday services.

People are well mannered and polite. Think 'Norman Rockwell' paintings brought to life. The sort of place where a complete stranger would stop to help a person swap out a flat tire.

Friendly, but morally rigid. Politically conservative (Republican or `Red State').

The Starbucks don't fit in too well with this image - unless they are patronized by new arrivals working at some giant office complex or factory outside of town. In that case, there might be a bit of a clash between old and new.

 

[Feo Takahari]

I was hoping to make the location of the city a little ambiguous, but if I have to pin it down in order to characterize it, I'll put it in a rural, highly conservative county somewhere in the Southwest. (I forgot to mention in my first post that it has a moderately sized population of Latin American immigrants, some of them undocumented. It also has at least one apple farm, though, so it's not out in the middle of the Texas desert--maybe eastern California, away from the hippies on the coast?)

In one outline (which I may discard), there's a military research base several miles outside town, used for classified experiments due to its distance from any major population centers. I could definitely play up the culture clash between the scientists and the people of the town (although I guess I'll have to cut the "Starbucks" line--it's not that big a base.)

There'll definitely be a strong Christian presence, but if I can, I'd like to have it be the love-and-repentance sort of Christianity rather than the torment-and-damnation sort of Christianity. (One of the characters is a priestess of a religion that worships the sun. She has six followers, half of whom don't even understand her creed, and the story begins with her admitting that the town's Christianity is too strong for her to really make any headway. There'll be a much more interesting dynamic if the other locals think she's amusingly crazy rather than hating her and wanting her to burn in Hell.)

See what I mean about a mishmash? I guess I can fit everyone into four factions, though--the local Christians, the Latin Americans (who probably won't be the same denomination), the scientists, and the few sun-worshipers.

 

[ThinkerX]

If memory serves (and it might not) eastern california is largely desert. Apple farm...northern california, maybe oregon - which clashes with the conservative christian deal. Gulf coast (somewhere east of Texas) might be a better fit.

Latino's...most likely catholic.

Sun Worshippers - not enough to matter. Corner of the country I live in (Alaska) is heavily fundi christian, and there are a few pagan types found even here.

Fundi christians, while intolorant theologically, are often very nice and helpful people otherwise. Unless a preacher or group is deliberately spreading havoc, they could probably coexist with the catholic latinos.

The researchers at the old base are not likely to mix.

But, given the situation in your OP and subsequent post, the towns character will most likely be determined by the fundi christians.

 

[Penpilot]

To instil a place with personality, IMHO you have to instil it with a past, what ever that may be. There has to be a sense of history for your most important parts of your setting. For example, you say it the town has two Starbuck. Is there a funny or unique story behind why there are two Starbucks? What were the Starbucks before they were Starbucks?

A Starbucks that used to be a hardware store may have a different feel or look than a a Starbucks that's been built from the ground up. Even then, the lot may have a story behind it. Say the lot used to be the Old Chicken Fry Diner before Mr. Wilkes went nuts after his wife died from cancer and burned the place down along with himself.

Imbuing the place with a history that's familiar yet unique will give it a personality. What that personality is will depend on the history you lay out for the reader and how it links up with the present. A darker history could imbue the place with a darker personality, depending on how you play this up. The reverse is true too. A place with a vibrant happy history can imbue it with a lively personality. But a dark history doesn't absolutely mean a dark personality. You can contrast that with a very happy present to indicate a change, from a dark past to a happy future. And again the reverse can be true too, a happy past and a dark present.

Any way I'm rambling a bit. The history of the town is key.

 

[MadMadys]

I recently undertook a character study that takes place in a nondescript super-city in the future. I never give a location, date or anything of that sort but the descriptions I use clearly place it in a futuristic megalopolis. The story is rather dark and brooding so I wanted the setting to sort of both reflect that tone but also enhance it.

I never directly characterize the city like you would with a typical introduction of a character. I drop little descriptions in here and there that give it an almost creature-like presence. Steam coming from the grates on the sidewalk is spewed from the city's 'heaving', towers of concrete and glass 'loom' rather than stand, and miscreants 'spawn' from darkened alleyways rather than emerge. Words that make the city less of a place or series of objects and more of a living being.

Our settings certainly clash as yours appears more humble but the methods of description to give that town character can remain the same. I would never outwardly describe a place as a living thing, unless that's a part of your plot, but giving it a presence , something you can't quite put your finger on, is a good touch for the right kind of story.

 

[Saigonnus]

I think a city's personality is directly linked to not only the type of people that live there, but the buildings and monuments that make up the city itself... who is that statue of in the main square? what does the civic center look like? why are the buildings made of adobe or brick? Why do they have archways and long hallways along the front of the house? Why does each house have their own little walled patio in the front? farmer's market? strip mall? Why do they use fitted stone for the road instead of leaving it dirt? Why do they use elevated walkways?

I think it was already suggested to drop hints about what the city look like, how it's laid out and what sort of people live there.

 

[Xaysai]

Try thinking of somebody you know who reminds you of the city (seedy, noble, gritty, mean, etc) and envision that person while describing the city so that you infuse the city with their personality.