Research – The Cat's Cradle : On Hiatus!

This entry is part of the “Spoiled By Supplements” blog series.

Today I want to talk about the first issue that pops up regarding supplemental material, one that plagues pretty much every writer: research.

Unless you are a personal expert at a particular craft or profession, chances are that if you write anything, you’ll have to do some research. Whether that takes the form of interviewing those who do have that knowledge, spending hours following the rabbit hole of Wikipedia links, combing through physical books, or actually going out and doing the thing the characters are doing… it all counts as research. And it can be pretty interesting, although many times it’s a hard slog through reams of material, searching for that one fact that will make your story ring with authenticity.

But there are two traps within the larger trap:

a) Procrastination, and
b) Oversharing what you learned.

Continue reading “The Research Trap: How Much Is Too Much?” →

What is the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear the word “research?”

“Ugh.”
“Oh man…really?”
“I thought I left that all behind when I graduated.”
“Do I have to?”

There are a few anomalous individuals who relish the thought of research, but, let’s face it, most of us don’t enjoy it. For me, it depends on what I’m researching. If it’s about weapons or animals I’m usually very interested and enthusiastic, but many other subjects seem like a tedious way to spend my afternoon.

Some of you might be wondering, “Why do you have to do research, Kat? You write fantasy! You just make everything up! That doesn’t require research.”

WRONG!

Continue reading “Revels in Research” →