I have a confession to make – when it comes to writing, I hate doing research. I hate having to worry about whether or not my antagonist would have been able to wear a polyester dress as early as 1948, or whether it is realistic or not for her daughter to have a porcelain doll.In fact, I hate doing research so much I will often change course and write something altogether different rather than do the work of sussing out the truth. In the given examples, for instance, the girl’s baby becomes a rag doll, and I simply opt not to discuss the fabric composition of anyone’s clothing in any given scene.
But, really, what is my problem? Why am I so resistant to doing even a little bit of research for the sake of my work? It’s not like it’s as hard to do research as it used to be. I remember – and by sharing this memory, I realize I am dating myself – the only way you could research something was to go to a building and look for something physically written down in a book or an article. Now, we have the world at our fingertips, and still I find research “not something I care to be bothered with.”
Sigh.
Fortunately, most of what I write is in the realm of aliens disguised as raccoons, so nobody is expecting much accuracy from my writing. But I know I’m not going to be able to ‘fake my way through’ for long – especially as more and more of what I write is grounded in reality.
Eventually, I’m going to have to do some research!
So, let’s you and I learn together this week the “do’s” and “don’ts” of such research, and how important it is to get your facts straight, even when you are writing fiction.
See you there,
Jamie
