Tag Archives: research

Strange New Directions: The Importance of Research

- June 24, 2013

If fiction is the doorway to new and exciting worlds, then research is the door frame. No one ever notices it. They concentrate on the brass handle, the polished hinges, and the flawless paint, such a deep midnight blue that you expect to see constellations of stars bursting from the glossy surface. No one notices […]

Books Are for Boring People, Not Ten Year Olds

- June 18, 2013

I’ve done research. I’ve spent hours in a library, flipping through books so dusty I couldn’t stop sneezing for weeks after touching them. I’ve gotten lost in the stacks of my University library, fearfully glancing over my shoulder every few seconds. The flickering lights and echoing silence of the building can’t help but make me […]

When I Do Research, I Try to Have Fun

- June 7, 2013

For many years, I didn’t write fiction that required a lot of research… on purpose. I wrote either short stories or fan fiction, and focused more on the characters and the situations than writing the sort of stories that needed research. I did the generic sort of stuff — checking Wikipedia for setting information, reading […]

The More Things Change

- May 23, 2013

I once got to spend a year reading 100-year old newspapers. Things haven’t changed as much as you think they have. Sure, now we’ve got the Internet and cable television and pictures of the Earth from the Moon, but as far as human nature goes, not to mention the things considered “newsworthy,” we’re pretty much […]

In Search Of…

- May 3, 2013

Investigations are part and parcel of being a creative person especially a fiction writer. Something triggers a thought and that leads to one thing, which leads to another and likely to another. But what’s the trigger? A piece of conversation. A throwaway line of dialogue in a film. A song lyric. The way a sunbeam […]