Over the weekend, I started creating a new world. Well, maybe not a whole world. But a town. I started creating a town.
But there’s still a lot to consider when you create a town.
I was working at Rock the Coast on behalf of Baker Book House, running the booth, selling CDs, books, and jewelry. But in between customers, I was dreaming up people and places, names, jobs, and small histories. I asked my coworkers for help in figuring out the businesses that must be represented within any small town. We came up with quite a list:
Grocer, Police, Volunteer Fire Dept., Gas Station/Convenience Store, School, Plumber/Handyman, Construction, Pastor, Bookstore (maybe you don’t think this is necessary, but I do), Mechanic, Electronics Repairman, Barber/Beautician, Doctor, and so on.
It goes on and on.
And the thing about creating is that everyone needs a story, a place to live, something to do for money, something to spend money on, hobbies, loves, flaws. And every person, business and building needs a name.
It takes a lot of creative energy.
I can understand why God needed a rest after six days of non-stop creation. And he wasn’t just working on a small town. He was doing it all.
Perhaps I have a god complex, but I really enjoy the creation process. I always have. As a child, I made stories with my Lego people, created places for them to live, jobs for them to have, and reasons for them to do what they did. In college, I was hooked on The Sims, starting characters, building houses, and the rest. And I recently posted how much I enjoy creating new characters for another computer game (Diablo II).
Creating something from nothing but thought is intoxicating!
And so I am creating my small town. Moose Lake, Michigan. And I can’t wait to fill it with stories.
Josh Mosey 
that seems like a lot of work to create a town!
Maybe your town & characters will even become a series like “The cat who….” By Lillian Braun. Probably not your style though when you think of creating a believable town with a group of created characters – it is quite fun. The books are what I would call easy reading. You can down one in a hour. It’s important in the series to read in order or some of the event references & character situations do not make sense. I read them when I was sick for 5 months. If you are serious about your town creation & characters be sure to think about what holds them together. This does sound like a fun & long term endeavor.