My writing drug of choice is…

Research…who’d have thunk it?

First, let me say that I LOVE research. Digging and hunting and finding that little nugget of information is just…exhilarating. I love it and can often spend hours just looking and reading. Which can lead to problems. I get easily distracted and this can be an issue if I have a deadline. One thing leads to another and I’m off on another track, completely somewhere else. I often have to tell myself to stop and get back on track.

So, how do I do my research? What magic do I perform that pulls all my little details together? I start with what I know, branching off from there. Usually I’m just looking for a little information, perhaps something to round off a scene or back up something that I’ve said. Sometimes though, especially when world building, I need more. I start with the internet, since it’s right there. I use google search, going to trustworthy sites for my information. I do use Wikipedia, but only if it has been verified. If the information is not enough, I want to go deeper, its off to the library with me. Now, this is dangerous territory for me, since books are my love. Reading, getting engrossed in a story…mmmmmmmmm…nothing like it. If this is the case, I gotta come prepared with a list of what I need and a deadline. Can’t spend the day dawdling.

I know some people are like why research if you are world building? Just put what you want. For me, I need a basis, something to work away from. If you don’t know something, how can you build away from it? Maybe what you think is new…isn’t. That’s why you research, so at least you know what it is you are railing against.

Sometimes, I may do an interview. I find somebody in the field that I’m writing about, maybe my character is a police officer and I find someone willing to answer a few questions. I usually do this if I want to add that personal touch or if I’m basing the character I’m writing about on the person I’m interviewing. Makes things a lot more personal.

Okay, so it’s not really magic, but it is satisfying to find some tidbit that maybe I didn’t know and perhaps my reader doesn’t know either.

All in the name of writing.

Next week, we are going to talk about my character inspiration for the novel I talked about earlier, “Perfect Planning”