All those telling details

All those telling details:

 

What do many writers have in common? A diversity of knowledge? Lots of research books? "How to" pamphlets and magazines and books crammed into shelves and crevices and piled high near walls? Did you say, "all of above?" I bet you did.

 

 

The amount of research we writers accumulate could earn us several degrees. I often say my favorite books are the dictionary and the thesaurus, basic details for the beginning and advanced writer. But really, for each individual we introduce, each career, we do our own background checks and bios. For my last short story  I read two books, part of another, and a few articles as references: Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain, Remote Viewing manual, Are you Psychic? (I'm not), and some here and  there articles about telepathy.

 

For the characters in my novel, I'm back at accumulating details-- have a lawyer, Ronnie, who studied at NYU. I looked up the civil law in NY and CA. I read about landmark cases in women's rights. Sam, another character, is savant-like. So I read David Tammet's stories, two books about being a savant: Born on a Blue Day and Embracing the Wild Sky. Actually, the second book says a lot about our evaluation of intelligence. So I have Sam just retired from a very lucrative business of alternate intelligence and trade testing for corporations and schools. That's just the beginning.

Anyway, you get the picture. We are a well-learned lot. Details are our business, learning them, picking out the best to choose for the story, not giving away or weighing down our work with them, and, most importantly, unfolding them into interesting reads that keep the eyes wandering along our many pages.

 

Comments

[Ann]

Hi Pat!
You're so right about all those reference guides! We should each share photos of our "reference libraries" at home (although so much is on the Internet these days... I've found Google books a wonderful gateway to finding books published in 1800s so I can get details "straight from the horse's mouth," so to speak. :-) A lawyer and a savant? Sounds like an interesting novel! Keep us posted!

[Mysti Berry]

How do you know when to let go of the research materials? I thought I'd given up on my Mongolian adventure story years ago, but still have a shelf of research books. I love them more than the book I wrote on some days :)

Thanks for the photo and the teaser for your novel. Looking forward to more!!!!

[Pat Morin]

Thanks Ann. My shelves are packed with material. I even have how-to books for the 1850-1870's by A.E. Youman. She has a "House and Home";"Spells and Incantation of Yesteryear";"Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies";"Healthy Living". But they're all from 1850-1870. I was doing research on the use of medical herbs during that time for my herbal certification, met her at a book fair, liked her, and bought her books. Isn't that the way? Thanks for the Google reference!

[Pat Morin]

Luckily Mysti, I usually write short stories, so my research isn't as extensive as it is getting for my novel. When I hook into some research I love, like the "psychic" story, then I get lost. It's incredible what human beings can do psychically!

Mongolian adventure? Sounds so interesting! I bet we've all had those half-written novels we abandoned with their shelved reference books.
Thanks Mysti.

[Susan Shea]

Pat, My immediate thought in seeing that photo is, "Hmmm, think how many books you could fit into that space being taken up by the ship model." And I think every book I read is in some way research. I whimper if I have to cull any of my thousands of books for lack of space. That's the kind of book freak I am!

[Pat Morin]

Wow! How cool to have that much space! The picture is from a museum in Fremont. My space, like yours, is full of books. :) Ah, the book freak in all of us. I understand what you mean.

[Ann]

What museum??? Looks interesting! :-)

[Pat Morin]

The formal name is The Patterson House at Ardenwood Historic Farm in Fremont. A wonderful adventure for all.