August 16th, 2016 at 02:04am
I've used real towns and created my own. It is a bit easier to come up with your own place because then you don't have to do all the research to get the place right, but you have to make sure you're describing things the same way every time. Like if you say there's a lake off of Pearl street or whatever.
I tend to use real places though and incorporate some places/landmarks into the story but also give my characters their own place, such as street/hangouts/schools/etc.
For the parents, I think any of those ways would work. Some of my older stories are in third and I just rotate descriptions so I'm not using the same one again and again. If they're talking in your example, I say definitely use "his mother said" rather than "Mrs. Owens", because if it's a limited third, then you're going to want everyone to be based around than character's POV and experience.
That all makes sense! Thanks for your insight!