resource for anyone writing fic set in LA

[sinensis]

Hi all--thefourthvine and I have collaborated on a DIY Guide for Fic Set In LA, and thought we should post a link to it here. (That link goes to AO3--the document is public, and anon commenting is on, so you don't need an account to leave a comment or ask a question.) We're doing our best to give fic writers a sense of LA/Southern California flavor with the kind of details that you might want to know and possibly add to a story to round out the sense of place.

Our categories are an overview of the Southern California area: cities, climate and weather, geography, a brief mention of politics, demographics, real estate, how people live, culture! (including things like food, sports, languages), getting around (spoiler alert--driving is a big deal); attractions, and being gay in LA.

We are two people who live here and whose knowledge covers a significant chunk of the territory, but by no means all of it. However, we'll do our best to answer any questions that you have.

Comments

[out_there]

Oh, that's a fantastic idea.

[sinensis]

💜

[pauraque]

I hope you will accept my kind thanks for this resource even though I'm from San Francisco! (I'm afraid you are right that Northern Californians want nothing to do with you, but I live in Vermont now so my primary focus has shifted to wanting nothing to do with New Hampshire.)

[sinensis]

:) I actually like San Francisco, no matter how it feels about my town. Did not know about the Vermont-New Hampshire divide, though!

[larissa]

I don't live anywhere near California and don't even have any reason to write fic there anytime soon, but this was such a fascinating read, thank you for writing and sharing it! All sorts of little details that I never would have thought about. (The fridge thing rocked me though, what do you mean a fridge isn't included.)

[sinensis]

I'm glad you enjoyed. The fridge thing is WILD.

[yhlee]

Oh, huzzah and thank you, this was fun to look over! I lived in Pasadena for several years about 15 years ago, although I was there for two weeks last month and a surprising amount of stuff hadn't changed. (We literally lived in an apartment on the street the Rose Bowl parade goes down, but could not be bothered to actually step outside to see the parade lol.)

Signed, someone who spent all of Big Bang Theory DESPERATELY hoping they'd feature the turtle pond at CalTech with its UNHINGED turtle population. (My husband was a post-doc there at the time.)

[sinensis]

Oooh, I may add the turtle pond to that section. :)

[fitz_y]

Wow, thank you! What an amazing resource! I'm writing a novel set in L.A. This is so helpful!

[sinensis]

I'm so glad--check the comments, too, other locals are weighing in with even more specifics that we didn't include or had no experience of.

[full_metal_ox]

This sort of thing, along with all the local anecdata you’re accruing, stands as evidence that even Southern California isn’t spared Hollywood disregard and Flanderization.

[sinensis]

Oh, definitely not.

[fitz_y]

Awesome, great tip, thanks!

[quailfence]

Thank you for making this! My current main fandom is set in LA, so I'll probably end up using this at some point

[sinensis]

Yay! that was our hope. I'd also advise looking over the comments people have left, because more local folks have weighed in with good information.