Now that I’m completing the third novel in my mystery
series, I’ve come to realize just how much research a writer conducts. What’s funny is how that research might make a
writer look a little psycho to anyone who got a peek at their browsing history. Most of the details involved with our
research doesn’t actually make it into the books and that’s largely due to the
fact that many of those details would be too much information or just completely
unnecessary for the reader. My main
reason for research is to make sure what details I do include, even if minor,
aren’t totally off the mark so that the story is more believable. I may be writing fiction but that doesn’t
mean the dirt in the details shouldn’t have a ring of truth about it.
Today, as I was researching how long it takes a body to
begin to smell once someone has died…I know, gruesome…I was struck by the
thought that someone who didn’t know me as a writer might really wonder about
my frame of mind. But to write a story,
and to hopefully make it believable, although it’s completely fictional, is
really something a writer has to grasp and hang on to as the story unfolds.
My research has taken me from the mundane to the macabre,
which is good since I prefer a variety.
The most mundane was when I researched what might really be
involved with opening a small business, especially with regard to a bookstore. How much money would it take? How much inventory would you need? What’s involved when you offer coffee and food
to your customers? Can someone really survive
financially from a bookstore business? I’m
sure you know the answer to that. With the
many bookstores closing left and right, even the larger chains, it’s obviously
a difficult business to be in but since I wanted my recently unemployed character,
Jorja, to be the owner of a coffee shop bookstore, I decided I had to improvise. I did that by giving her access to other
funds, from a deceased family member and a side job, so that she didn’t have to
completely rely on the bookstore to pay the bills. I want this series to be about mysteries
involving crimes and characters, not about how to keep your head above water
with a failing business.
I’ve also
researched floor plans of Victorian homes because I wanted to find an actual
floor plan I could work with and visualize when I wrote about what Hillcrest
might actually look like. I have to
admit, researching various Victorian homes of all shapes and sizes was really
quite fun. And more recently, I’ve
researched the details about planning for a wedding, but while it’s fun to do
the research, I’m not sure how much detail about the wedding plans will or
should be used in the books.
But beyond the safe zone of business models, house plans and
wedding details, I’ve dug deep into what’s involved with other subjects I’ve
included in the first three books or which may be included in upcoming stories. Some of that research has related to missing
and unidentified persons, the medical necessity for inpatient mental health
treatment, patterns of serial killers, paternity testing, DNA relating to
humans as well as animals, weapons, poisonous plants, drugs, fibers, sentencing
guidelines, phobias, body decomposition and write-ups for obituaries and news
articles relating to vehicle accidents.
It’s quite the mixed bag, isn’t it? But just based on the above list, it’s
probably a good thing I finally came out as a writer…or my husband may have
come to the conclusion that it might benefit him to sleep with one eye open for
awhile. Read the list again, tell me you
don’t agree.
It’s true, then, that not only do writers need to be
interested in everything, they also need an understanding spouse!
I’ve conducted a lot of research over the past three years,
and I expect to have many more odd items pop up in my browsing history as I
continue to research details for future stories and books. It’s one of the things I love about writing,
besides the act itself, which is the knowledge I gain as I research and
continue to learn.
What’s not to love about that?
No comments:
Post a Comment