Saturday, November 27, 2010

Shopping? Hah!

Nope.  Writing.  And researching. 

I've got a couple layers of what I call texturing that I'd like to add to my new ms and I want to make sure they have the ring of authenticity.  So, after a couple of hours of writing, I hit the books.  Yeah, I know I write fiction but research is still critical to make sure the world I am writing about feels as real as it can be--that every reference, metaphor, allusion made by my characters is done in the vocabulary of their environment, informed by their interests.

In the last couple of years, I feel that my understanding of and process for revision has really evolved.  And research has been a part of this development.  The more I feel that I know what my characters know (not just about feelings or backstory, but about actual things--sports, hobbies, foods, television shows, whatever), the better I feel I can represent them on the page.

It's a time consuming step, but sometimes research can really shake a creative knot loose, too.

How do you fit research into your creative writing and/or revision process?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I do research for the littlest of things, especially if it concerns a place I've never been to. But I rarely do anything like that beforehand; research for me is done as I go along and I try not to get carried away... :p

storyqueen said...

I am a bit backwards sometimes, where I will write the scene, then research it to see if how I imagined things REALLY could have happened that way.

Shelley

Stasia said...

Thanks, Amanda & Shelley. Research is always an interesting topic for fiction writers. Interesting that you both like to research somewhat later on. Thanks for sharing! - Stasia

Michèle Griskey said...

I love research. Some of my best memories include spending entire days at the library in college. Fast forward--my day job and family duties require me to do research in shorter blocks of time. I do try to balance both writing and research, but I do see a strong relationship between the two. My research has allowed me to find a much richer story.

Stasia said...

Totally agree with you, Michele. Good research adds such depth to fiction. Thanks for your thoughts. - Stasia