Research – How much is too much?A Story by joanfling17The Lisa Shearin
Group Bestselling Author " Most writers (myself included) can’t look up a word
in the dictionary without stopping to read other nifty stuff along the way.
(Yeah, writers are probably some of the few people who find dictionaries cool.)
Sometimes I get so engrossed in reading other stuff that I forget the word I
was looking up in the first place. The same thing can happen with research. For certain genres, it’s
critical to do at least some research before you start writing. Say you’re
doing an urban fantasy, thriller, mystery, romance, or pretty much anything
that takes place in an actual non-make-believe place. You have to know about
the place where your story is set, pertinent details about your characters’
professions, and any items that your characters might either have or use"for
example a Prada bag or night vision goggles"or, even more intriguing,
both. When you’re dealing with actual
places and real things, it’s critical that you get the details right. Your
readers will know, and they’ll call you on it if you try to fake anything. But
at the same time, we writers can get so engrossed in digging out those fun
facts and details that before we know it, our deadlines are a heck of a lot
closer than they should be. So do the research you need to get it right, then
get back to work. You can always read more about Elizabethan country house
architecture later. Then there’s the question of
how much of your research to include. When it comes to weaving in authentic
details about your protagonist’s career, for instance, your readers don’t want
to know every aspect of a character’s daily work life. However, well-placed
details that pertain to your character’s personality or have a direct impact on
the plot will make the story more real and help draw your readers in. The
devil’s in the details, so never underestimate their importance for enriching
your story. However, research doesn’t
have to be dry fact finding. It can help you to differentiate your characters
and your work. It’s important to read what’s popular in your chosen genre, so
you know what’s been done to death. And since you’ll have plenty of competition
for readers’ attention, whatever you write has to be different, or take what
the readers expect and turn it on its head for a fun twist. It’s worked great
for me with my goblins. Most people think of goblins as gnarled, ugly, with
post-nasal drip, and either stupid or only moderately clever. I went with tall,
sexy, chiseled features, and a formidable intellect. It was different from any
other goblin out there, and it’s gotten me a lot of nice attention. Research can help you set
your work apart by enriching your book with details, inspiring you to strike
out in a different direction, and taking a character type that’s become a
cliché and spinning it into something fresh.
Something that is uniquely you. © 2014 joanfling17 |
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Added on May 31, 2014 Last Updated on May 31, 2014 Tags: The Lisa Shearin Group, Bestselling, Author |