Just curious, hoping to spark a bit of conversation here maybe since the regional forum is pretty quiet. Is anyone setting their novel in Chicago this year?
I'm still pretty new to the city, but I've decided to set my novel here, since I love the city so much and I think it'll be great to be able to do hands-on research on places. I think I'm going to set my novel in the northern-ish part of the city, with cameos from a few of my favorite places in town. Maybe near Loyola, so if anyone lives up there and is willing to let me pick their brain for details, I'll love you forever!
Anyways, who else is setting their novel in the Windy City?
----------
Michelle
ML for Chicago, IL
ml-michelle@chiwrimo.org
50,042 / 50,000
Okt 12, 2008 - 16 58
Part of my novel will be set in Chicago. Part of it will be set in central Illinois, where I grew up.
I'm not exactly sure if the Chicago part will be set in the city, or if it'll be out in the burbs. Still working on those details in my head.
----------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Believe in me ... I know you've waited for so long
Believe in me ... sometimes the weak become the strong
Believe in me ... this life's not always what it seems
Believe in me ... 'cause I was made for chasi
2,384 / 50,000
Okt 12, 2008 - 17 59
I'm not exactly sure where it will be set, but I know my novel will be set in a suburb of Chicago. There will be scenes that take place there, but I was born and raised in Bolingbrook, Lisle, and went to college out in De Kalb. So, yeah, I'm a proud midwestern boy!
-wordrebel
www.wordrebel.com
----------Always viewable at www.wordrebel.com
50,034 / 50,000
Okt 12, 2008 - 20 12
Mine is in Chicago. I was thinking of putting some characters on a road trip, but i really don't know the settings. I will have to use my imagination.
8,979 / 50,000
Okt 12, 2008 - 22 20
I tend to write fanfiction, and that's what I'm planning for my Nano novel, so mine won't be set in Chicago (unless you consider Chicago to be hell, which I don't, lol). My story is going to be a Hellraiser/Severus Snape crossover.
Yeah, I tend to write on the dark side. I'm definitely not a fluffy, light-hearted romance person. I like seeing just how twisted and dark I can make something before pulling back and saying, "OK, that was fun, now let's see if I can make a happy ending." Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't. We'll see what happens with this story.
Plus, this story is going to be based upon a drawing someone I know did about a year or so ago. Really talented artist, and really cool drawing!
----------___________________________
Here's to hoping I don't flop at this!
51,548 / 50,000
Okt 13, 2008 - 19 49
My series is being set in Chicago cause there really aren't a whole lot of romance novels set in the city. So I got sick of it and I wanted to know a city like the back of my hand so I could pick places much easier to have major points of the stories. Plus the surround counties give me a lot of play room. Need to stick our area on the map more ^^
I've also had 2 rather lengthy fan fics set in the city and it was nice being able to do that. Stories became far more real when I knew the place where it was set.
----------~ Ri
NaNo 2007 ~ Untitled (lost :( )
NaNo 2008 ~ Darkness' Light (won!)
50,007 / 50,000
Okt 13, 2008 - 20 24
This is my first time doing the NaNo, but I plan on setting mine in Chicago! Yay for the Windy City.
I absolutely love the city, so it seems to make sense I would set it there... I need a big city anyway.
Well.... yeah, that's all I have to say...
7,803 / 50,000
Okt 13, 2008 - 21 51
I can finally decisively say that yes, my novel will be set in Chicago! I'm pretty excited--I just got an idea today.
1,234 / 50,000
Okt 14, 2008 - 10 19
Not only have all my novels been set in Chicago, they're usually "winter" timeframe--often November. It seems easier to describe weather and scenery when it's right in front of you. Plus, November's pretty.
Union Station figures prominently in my novel this year, and I pass through it every day. I write Urban Fantasy-so using all the gritty real details of Chicago helps set off the oddness of the rest of my novel's reality.
Meredith
----------"I'm getting out of this business." "And go into what?" "Anything. Insurance underwriting, like Garland was supposed to be doing. Or I’ll emigrate. Yes" he nodded. "I’ll go to Mars." Rick Deckard, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Philip K. Dick).
54,350 / 50,000
Okt 16, 2008 - 02 01
Most of what I write tends to take place in Chicago, so it's a safe bet I'll be doing the same for this year's novel.
----------8,979 / 50,000
Okt 16, 2008 - 15 43
Dead_end_moon_angel, where did you get your banner thing from? That's neat!
----------___________________________
Here's to hoping I don't flop at this!
2,376 / 50,000
Okt 16, 2008 - 18 19
I'm definitely setting mine in Chicago. Specifically, I'm thinking about Roger's Park because I'm a student at Loyola. I guess I'm following that whole "write what you know" tactic. Of course, I don't really know much about this area yet. I've only been living here a few months. So, this whole thing is definitely going to be a learning experience.
----------You have a story to tell, pull your novel out of that sock drawer!
52,710 / 50,000
Okt 16, 2008 - 22 14
Mine is going to be in Chicago, at the University of Chicago. The protagonist is an incoming first-year in 2001, and we follow him and his new best friend (also class of 2001) around as they get into some scrapes.
50,576 / 50,000
Okt 17, 2008 - 14 42
My novel starts out in Chicago but it's a road trip novel so it won't be staying here long.
----------"New York City, center of the universe. Times are s****y, but I'm pretty sure they can't get worse. It's a comfort to know when you're singing the hit the road blues; that anywhere else you could possibly go after New York...would be a pleasure cruise."
30,013 / 50,000
Okt 18, 2008 - 00 45
I have mine starting in Chicago and then she ends up in Wisconsin or maybe Northern Michigan? I love the city and the country..
51,693 / 50,000
Okt 20, 2008 - 21 39
As a Rogers Parker & Loyola alum, let me say there are infinite nooks and crannies here to be explored & exploited for a novel set in Chicago.
Pratt Pier, with its stunning sunrise & Loop vista. Howard El. Heartland Cafe. Clark Street on a weekend. 35 languages spoken at Senn. Indian groceries on Devon. The eclectic vibe on Morse. Strolling Warren Park or the Lakefront. Jamaican meat pies. LU Rambler hoops. Dynamic politics. Panaderias.
anyone writing a Chicago novel might want to check out Algren's "Man With the Golden Arm"...his descriptions of rainy neon-lit streets are amazing. Also Bellow, Dybeck, Wright.
a novel i wrote in 2001 - "Currents of Power" - was set in an unnamed Midwestern city with resemblances to Wicker Park, the SW Side, Obama's Hyde Park, Logan Square & Albany Park. These hoods - and about 25 more - are just bloated with anecdotes, rich images and zany characters which can be mined by chiwrimos.
my maiden Nanowrimo effort is set in Florida & Mexico in the early 19th century, so i'll be making stuff up as i go along.
63,520 / 50,000
Okt 21, 2008 - 06 48
My trilogy takes place about a thousand years from now, but the book does have a "New Chicago" in it with a lot of familiar names and scenery built with current Chicago in mind...
----------Tim
Co-Municipal Liaison for
NaNoWriMo::Illinois::Chicago
0 / 50,000
Okt 22, 2008 - 07 19
I've decided to set my novel in and around my 'hood -- specifically, in and around the Rock and Roll Days Inn. My story has a bunch of up-and-coming musicians as characters, and the mere idea of a Rock and Roll Days Inn is way too amusing for me to not use. (Yes, I know that the particular Days Inn doesn't host nearly as many musicians as it used to, but I'm still using it.)
50,089 / 50,000
Okt 27, 2008 - 04 58
Hey, Limmenel: I live in RP about 5 blocks from the Loyola Red line station, so if I can help with setting details, I'll certainly try. Most of my days revolve around an unofficial dog park at Bosworth the Schreiber, actually a fenced-in field that belongs to Schreiber but contains no equipment. It is used by dog owners in the neighborhood (who are organized and seeded the grass last spring) and the football team from the high school up the street (whose cleats are hell on the grass). Schreiber park is the one next to the parking lot for Clark Devon Hardware.
tinygreyhound, I'm following your lead this year, setting my novel in Chicago in November! Last year, I set my first in the town where I grew up in southeast Louisiana. That was fun, but there was a lot I didn't know about the changed landscape after the storm.
Hey, maybe I'll host a write-in at a place where I want some scenes to take place. I'll ask to put one on the calendar when I pick a date.
50,005 / 50,000
Okt 28, 2008 - 12 32
This is my first attempt at a novel and I'm going to stick with my initial inspiration of my neighborhood (Wicker Park/East Village/UK Village/Bucktown). I like the idea of utilizing real places for fictional situations, and along those lines, a small community inside of a big city.
50,208 / 50,000
Okt 29, 2008 - 07 38
Mine's a historical fiction bit, set in 1893 Chicago - yes, around the World's Fair. Going to be writing about the seedy side of the city back then... :-)
2,686 / 50,000
Okt 29, 2008 - 22 06
One of the central events in my novel involves a friend of the MC taking her to Chicago to work for Bobby Kennedy's campaign in 1968...and he's shot and the riots happen at the DNC and whatnot. I'm excited about it. :)
----------I became a writer and worked on a lot of things that were almost incredibly successful, but, in fact, just failed to see the light of day. Other writers will know what I mean.
- Douglas Adams
2008: With a Saber and a Gun
50,053 / 50,000
Okt 30, 2008 - 07 50
The main actoin of my novel will be taking place in Chicago and it's surrounding 'burbs. I'm mainly doing this because it's easier to work with a landscape I'm familiar with than one I've never seen.
Last year's novel was a bit difficult because I had locations all over the states and most of them were places I'd never been so I fear that I may have messed up a bit on that part. The stuff that took place in another dimension turned out to be easier last year because that was all my imagination. However, fantasy worlds don't really work in this year's plot!
15,647 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2008 - 05 42
I'm setting mine (typically, a crime/mystery novel) in Chicago - I'm spreading it out all over various neighborhoods, but mostly because
1) I like having a variety of scenery;
2) I just moved back to Chicago after living in St. L for seven years, so I can do research; and
3) it just seems cooler.
Gordon
50,029 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2008 - 17 14
Hey,
----------I've lived in Edgewater/Rogers Park for a while, but I grew up in Long Beach, CA. My novel is set there for certain historical reasons. If you need to know something about Edgewater businesses, politics and oddball personalities, I can refer you to some great sources. Just ask a specific question.
J
Nanowrimo 2007: The Adventures of Wandering April and the Little Yellow Parasol
A story about a little girl that wanders off into someone else's fairy tale and the sun protection device that saves her.
Complete @ 50,000+ words, but sadly in need of
5,250 / 50,000
Nov 10, 2008 - 15 12
My series is set in the Chicagoland area. The suburb names I use are fictitous (or should be unless it consists of four square blocks in the middle of another suburb), but it definitely has a Midwest/Chicago flavor. The suburb names are changed since the main "Names have been changed to protect the supposedly innocent."
51,742 / 50,000
Nov 17, 2008 - 08 16
Four of my Mike Magee novels are set in Chicago. He resides in a ficitonal neighborhood between Roscoe Village and Wrigleyville. It's a lot of fun to walk through those neighborhoods to get the flavor and then write about them!
----------The longest word in the English language that doesn't repeat any letters is "uncopyrightable"