What's the most bizarre thing you've ever researched for a book? Trying to figure out what the weather was like on a certain day in history? Or maybe you wanted to know hypothetically what would happen to someone who traveled faster than the speed of light?
The list is really endless, and I'm sure many of you have spent hours online or in libraries researching background information on many of your manuscripts. I typically write historical fiction, so I'm usually concerned with everyday life in earlier periods, i.e. what people ate, how they spoke, and what society was like. But whether you're researching data for Fantasy or SciFi or Romance, it can certainly lead an author to some strange places.
So what's the weirdest thing you've ever researched? Did it involve you physically going to a distant place or eating an unusual food item? What crazy extremes have you driven yourself to in order to obtain that rare insight into your work-in-progress?
I love doing research, especially away from the internet. I once drove two hours to get a tour at a military base so I could get the setting right for one of my books. It was amazing!
ReplyDeleteWriting historicals I do lots of research, but usually I can find what I need on the Internet or by e-mailing people.
ReplyDeleteI think the coolest thing I stumbled onto was a 1919 survey of the township I needed!
Most people would say my hours and hours of science fiction movie watching is weird, but it is research! I've looked into the cockpit of a fighter jet before as well. Now that was cool.
ReplyDeleteI spent afternoon guest DJing for a high school radio station. So fun and so crazy. I felt like the dinosaur who used to spin vinyls when I DJ'd in high school.
ReplyDeleteI reseached what happens inside an Egyptian temple of Anubis (the statue that looks like a dog). The process they went through to make a mummy...amazing. I used the info to write a rather naughty section of my fantasy novel. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat question! For my present WIP, I did spend hours researching phases of the moon during March and April, 1919. I was fixated on the idea that I really had to be accurate about what the nights were like when,y characters looked out the window. Likewise a rainy day in the same book. For an earlier mystery, shortly after moving into a new house, I spent about an hour climbing in and out of my back window to see how my MC would escape from a kidnapping -- praying that my new neighbors would not see me and call the police. What we do for art!
ReplyDeleteEveryone is so cool, I feel like my research is nada in comparison. But I would say the craziest thing I've ever done (and am still doing) is trying to understand the real feeling of the ground under bare feet. What does it really feel like in grass, dirt, or gravel. What about when it's raining, what about when it burns your soles? Yup, we do some funny things for our books!
ReplyDeleteIt’s always so nice to “meet” another historical fiction writer, Mark; I’m glad to be a new follower! Let’s see … for the book I’m currently shopping, which is set during the early days of the American Civil War, I had to research how to pack a hoop skirt into a travel satchel; you just twist it into a figure eight. :)
ReplyDeleteI had to research how to make rifles using water-powered machines, and last week I had the unpleasant experience of learning how to dress a deer after it has been shot. BUT the deer research gave me a great little conclusion for a scene I wouldn't have thought of if not for the step-by-step instructions I read.
ReplyDeleteOne of the strangest things I ever researched was the White Lotus Cult for a story I was writing set in Asia. I also ended up doing a bit of research into fighter planes for my last SF WIP . . . which is something I knew absolutely nothing about, and didn't have much interest in. :P
ReplyDeleteGood question! I wouldn't say they are weird, but some interesting things I've had to research for two WIPs include: the breakdown in buildings/towns over time when abandoned, vaccination in the womb and NORAD. I found a tour by R. Lee Ermy, but I'm really hoping to find someone with connections so I can get IN to NORAD. I also need to go learn how to shoot so I can somewhat knowledgeably write about firing guns in my merc novel.
ReplyDeleteShallee – Wow, military base...did you have to get special clearance or anything? Sounds cool:)
ReplyDeleteStacy – Ooo, what kind of historical pieces do you write? I'd be curious as to how you go about your particular brand of research.
Alex – Hey, movies count:) Especially if they're applicable to what you write;)
Christa – DJing for research, very cool! That's a new one on me:)
Laila – Alright, I totally dig Anubis (strange, but true, I like Egypt stuff). Neat!
Elizabeth – Wow, now that's dedicated. Weather, phases of the moon, it all certainly adds to the depth of your writing I'm sure:)
J.A. - Anything counts, especially practical experience, so I think they way feet feel is certainly applicable. I heard a philosopher once state that if you only walk around in shoes, all the world feels like rubber. Food for thought.
Michelle – I love meeting other historical authors! I'm working on a Civil War manuscript myself right now. What else do you write?
L.G. - Now I have to ask what the book is about. Rifles and deer...I'm intrigued.
Eagle – White Lotus Cult, now I have to know what kind of a story you worked it into:)
Shannon – Gosh, I'm blown away (no pun intended) by your eclectic mix of research for your novel. Do tell more:)
Oh, my! That picture was a real gasper. Because I write a number of genres, I've got quite an interesting array of things I've researched from how to shred coconut to how the brain works and FTL travel.
ReplyDeleteRecently, I researched why it's impossible for humans to breathe underwater. Then I made it possible in my story "Breathe".
ReplyDeleteSounds like something I should do, and do it regularly.
ReplyDeleteBut alas, i have not done any cool research things.
For awhile, the libarians at my local library thought I had a depressed teenage daughter (none of my kids are teens yet), one of my kids had leukemia, my huband beat me, and I was raped. And on top of that, I was taking up Latin dance.
ReplyDeleteI recently wanted to know what it felt like to be shot in the arm (but the bullet doesn't enter). I asked a blogging friend who is an ex-cop. :D
I really, really, really wanted to go to Sweden when I started my research on the Vikings, but books and the Internet had to do ;) I haven't had the chance to do anything crazy or particularly intersting as far as research goes. I will someday though. I was planning on sailing with the re-enacting crew of Columbus' ships the Nina and the Pinta after I graduate college - but my wearing contacts ruled me out. One of these days I'm going to find a way to do on-hand research and I'm going to love every second of it.
ReplyDeleteCan't think of anything too weird, but then I only paint pictures and write poems. I did climb down a cliff for a photograph, but that's about it - I don't expect accolades for that!
ReplyDeleteI have researched the details of military structure – operational structure and administrative structure — for a WIP. I realize it's important to "pay attention to details," as a writing instructor taught me when I took my training as a broadcaster.
ReplyDeleteBut paying attention to details takes on down some strange roads, admittedly.
Good question. I've threads by people who are sure they would be a suspicious character if their google searches were revealed. Funny stuff :)
ReplyDeleteFor my present WIP, I spent hours researching schools where troubled teens go. I thought that it would be boring, but it was fun and interesting.
ReplyDeleteResearch is the name of the game. And I love it. Of course, I've mostly researched science theories and historical things for fantasy. Soon I'll venture into an area that I've never been. Modern day middle school! *shivers*
ReplyDeleteGood luck to all your progress!
Donna – Glad you liked the pics. FTLs sound pretty interesting, is that in reference to SciFi or am I way off?
ReplyDeleteMilo – Nice! That’s a great way to approach research, make the impossible possible:)
Jeff – Yup, research definitely helps, and it’s a great way to learn.
Stina – Lol! That’s great. You could write a story just about researching odd subjects and what people mistakenly thought:)
Caitilin – Yes, traveling is def the best way to learn things, but not always feasible, but it’s important to recall that even if you went to Sweden today it still wouldn’t be the Sweden of the Viking era…that only lives on in stories:)
Dave – It all depend…how big a cliff was it?
Rob-bear – I too have researched military structure, and it’s surprising how much it varies from era to era. I do Civil War Reenacting on the side, so I’ve tried to experience it as much as I can first hand without actually joining any army.
Kelley – Indeed. You comment kind of reminds me of what Stina mentioned with regards to the library.
Rachna – Very neat. Always cool to learn new things and build new interests.
David – Shiver indeed:) Although the cool thing at least about research for SciFi is that you can really use anything, whether historical or scientific it has a place on the broad kaleidoscope of SciFi writing.
Oh that's a good question. I need to think on that one.
ReplyDeletewww.rebeccabany.com
Mark, it's two different novels, which may help a teeny bit. One is a mercenary novel, so that's the NORAD and gun usage part of the research, and the other is post-apocalyptic except for a protected few, which is where the weathering and DNA vaccination comes in. It's all been interesting, so far. I've always enjoyed a bit of research, though.
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