- Create a city skyline. Check here and here and here for cityscape projects for kids. Here are some skyline photos to get you inspired.
- Make a map of a city. This could be a street map, a subway map, the floor plan of a skyscraper or a museum. We made subway maps last week, featuring fanciful names for stations. Our Red Line boasted names like Fire and Strawberry; the Purple Line had princessy names like Tiara and Sparkle; the Blue Line reveled in watery names such as Ripple and Wake; and the Green Line had nature and mineral names–Leaf, Tree, Emerald, Agate.
- Read some non-fiction about cities. These books about Hong Kong and Beijing on my to-read list.
- Write a couple of paragraphs describing a city, real or imaginary. Some aspects to think about and capture: the mood, the lighting, the architecture, the roads, the vehicles, the attitude of the people. Here’s one I did for my fantasy city, Blackburn.
- Pretend that you’re going on an all-expenses-paid week-long trip to the city of your choice. Plan your time there. Where will you go? What will you do? (Me, I’d go to either London and do as many of these walking tours as I could fit in, or Hong Kong. If I had to choose a city I haven’t already been to, I’d go to Sydney, Australia to visit Jo and have her show me around :D)
- Write a scene that takes place in a public area of a big city. It could be a chase through a crowded subway station; a quarrel at a major intersection; a reconciliation in the public gardens.
What a great post. Very inspiring. I can totally envision your Metro (er, subway….been in France too long) line and the kind of city/story that could be used in.
I think I’ll do n4 today, and if I’m feeling intrepid, n2.
They call the subway system in Boston Metro, too, or T, for short. Subway stations are fascinating places; dirty, seedy, with an edge of danger to them. Just as fascinating is the diversity of people who use them; subarban families with backpacks and maps, men and women in business suits, little Chinese ladies laden with shopping bags, roving gangs of teens.
Glad you enjoyed this. I so enjoy coming up these kinds of posts. 🙂
I keep trying, but I just can’t read that bit about Blackburn. The page cuts off right before the writing. :sighs: But this is fun. One of the things I had to shut my muse down on was the creation of this fascinating city called The Rue with every gate leading to another world. But seriously. I do NOT need another story to write.
Huh. How strange that you can’t see it. The link works fine for me. *puzzled*
Oh, The Rue sounds like a wonderful project. I’m thinking of working on a purely worldbuilding project for fun on the side. I do so love fantastic cities!