Research matters.

Interesting comments lately. Thanks for posting your ideas. When I started this I had some hopes of being able to respond to comments, but the reality of my life is not supporting that possibility, so instead I’m hoping that sometimes I can use the comments to inspire a new post.

So here goes…

My current manuscript is set in Wyoming. I got the idea a few years ago while traveling through, not surprisingly, Wyoming. On the off chance that the idea I had while cruising down I-80 would turn into something I took about 500 landscape pictures – landmarks, trees, houses, communities, interesting road signs, etc because you never know what kind of detail you will need in a story until you get into the story.

When I got home the idea really took root in my head and next thing I knew I was sketching out a storyline. But hold up – other than driving through and taking 500 pictures I didn’t know all that much about Wyoming. So leveraging the good work of writers before me, I went to my local library and checked out every book I could find. I read them all. The good ones I bought a copy, so I could reread and mark up.

Then I went looking for memoirs. People famous and not so famous who lived, worked, grew up in, shaped the history of, were shaped by – Wyoming. Then I had people’s experiences to lay against my heavily travel book based understanding of Wyoming. And reading all of that suddenly gave my pictures new life. Static shots of scenery now had color and experience from real people and their lives.

I was in Wyoming again last week, confirming location details on settings I’ve chosen in the book, because even though I’m in the final stages of the manuscript the research is never really finished.

2 years of research, probably 30 some books, handful of documentaries, hours on reading websites and 2 trips – all research.

Research matters. You might have an idea. It might be a great idea, so if you don’t know much about a topic then you need to learn. You need to read everything you can get your hands on. Take lots of research notes. Interview people. Watch documentaries. Ask questions. Don’t rely on one source or one person.Don’t read one book at call it a day. Then you only have one perspective. Dig in. Be thorough. Read 50 books and develop as complete a picture of something as you can.

It doesn’t matter what kind of book you are writing, you have to know the topic cold. You have to know it inside out, upside down and sideways. There’s no way to do that except to research.

An idea is great – it’s the spark. Now go to the library, dig in and start to learn all the details you’ll need to actually write the story.

My daughter’s 4th grade class is doing a big county project. She’s been assigned a remote county, a square a desert in the southern most corner of the map. “I don’t know anything about that county, mom. I think we are going to have to go down there and check it out. Take pictures, look at stuff, you know, see what we can learn.”

Even 4th graders have to research.