How long do you do research?

[Carol Rose]

Fine-tuning your writing and making it the best you can be isn't going to keep people from trashing your story. Go to Amazon or Goodreads and look up any book by well-known authors. They have their share of bad reviews, too.

 

[Carol Rose]

That struck me too. As well as the comment on the rigorous route traditionally published authors have to go through that allows them to cultivate their professionalism?

The arguments did turn into a self-published author versus the rest of the world, but the reason I posted it was because the author went bat-crap crazy on this reviewer, and then lashed out at everyone who defended him. It was only to illustrate the fact that arguing with a reviewer - no matter who published your book - is just never a good idea.

I've seen traditionally published authors act like a donkey on review sites as well.

 

[Carol Rose]

Wow did we stray from the original question! LOL!! Sorry, Meerkat!!!

 

[Emurelda]

The arguments did turn into a self-published author versus the rest of the world, but the reason I posted it was because the author went bat-crap crazy on this reviewer, and then lashed out at everyone who defended him. It was only to illustrate the fact that arguing with a reviewer - no matter who published your book - is just never a good idea.

It is good practice to stay diplomatic on the outset...just to form good habit from now. You know just incase the ego finds itself on fertile ground to lash out one day...the good habit may kick in.

 

[Emurelda]

Wow did we stray from the original question! LOL!! Sorry, Meerkat!!!

Another thread another diversion.

 

[Carol Rose]

It is good practice to stay diplomatic on the outset...just to form good habit from now. You know just incase the ego finds itself on fertile ground to lash out one day...the good habit may kick in.

Yes, I have to sit on my hands every time I go to Goodreads and read my latest reviews … *SIGH* …

 

[Nicole Wilson]

Yes, I have to sit on my hands every time I go to Goodreads and read my latest reviews … *SIGH* …

I've been told by a lot of authors, big and small names, that they don't even look at their reviews. Not sure if that will be my approach, but maybe I need to be sure my husband is right next to me so he can slap my hands when I start to respond.

 

[Emurelda]

Oh it's all clicked in place now. So reviews for authors are like gossip in paper for celebrities...so if someone is talking about your book...just remember it's always better than not right?

I love drawing parallels to familiar situs.

 

[Bernard Stacey]

When Ian Fleming wrote his Bond books he was meticulous on details, especially as he loved finding out about all the gadgety details. He was however mortified when he referred to Bond's new gun as a Biretta and a reviewer pointed out that it was spelled Beretta. He corrected it in the second edition, though I doubt more than one in ten thousand readers knew or cared.

 

[1408]

I research some before I start writing but I don't let myself get too distracted by it. Later, as I'm writing, if I'm unsure, I research that point until I'm comfortable writing about it. I don't really have any set routine for it. I'm sure people will find mistakes in what I write, but I care more about the story than when the clothes peg was actually invented *chortle chortle, snide remark, I told that author!*. I'll do my best, but it's like Carol said, some reviewers are wanting to find mistakes. That's their business. Meanwhile, I'm gonna be over here writing about how cats, dogs, and children born on a Tuesday caused the plague.

Oh, but I think it's important to say that I write fantasy. It is usually set in our world, so I do still need to research settings, but it's nothing like I think a lot of you need to do. I respect the amount of work you do to make things as accurate as possible!

 

[Carol Rose]

I've been told by a lot of authors, big and small names, that they don't even look at their reviews. Not sure if that will be my approach, but maybe I need to be sure my husband is right next to me so he can slap my hands when I start to respond.

I'm always told by my author friends they never look at them but we all do in secret. LOL!!

 

[Carol Rose]

Oh it's all clicked in place now. So reviews for authors are like gossip in paper for celebrities...so if someone is talking about your book...just remember it's always better than not right?

I love drawing parallels to familiar situs.

It certainly is a lesson in humility.

 

[Carol Rose]

When Ian Fleming wrote his Bond books he was meticulous on details, especially as he loved finding out about all the gadgety details. He was however mortified when he referred to Bond's new gun as a Biretta and a reviewer pointed out that it was spelled Beretta. He corrected it in the second edition, though I doubt more than one in ten thousand readers knew or cared.

Clearly you don't know any romance readers. LOL!! They're vicious.

 

[Carol Rose]

I research some before I start writing but I don't let myself get too distracted by it. Later, as I'm writing, if I'm unsure, I research that point until I'm comfortable writing about it. I don't really have any set routine for it. I'm sure people will find mistakes in what I write, but I care more about the story than when the clothes peg was actually invented *chortle chortle, snide remark, I told that author!*. I'll do my best, but it's like Carol said, some reviewers are wanting to find mistakes. That's their business. Meanwhile, I'm gonna be over here writing about how cats, dogs, and children born on a Tuesday caused the plague.

Oh, but I think it's important to say that I write fantasy. It is usually set in our world, so I do still need to research settings, but it's nothing like I think a lot of you need to do. I respect the amount of work you do to make things as accurate as possible!

I would think in writing fantasy you have to do even more work in order to make sure the details of your world stay consistent, especially the further you get from how things work in the world we know. I have such respect for fantasy writers.

 

[Jason Byrne]

I would think in writing fantasy you have to do even more work in order to make sure the details of your world stay consistent, especially the further you get from how things work in the world we know. I have such respect for fantasy writers.

Thanks. Worst of both worlds here — historical fantasy. I should just take up cutting, and have done with it.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

I would think in writing fantasy you have to do even more work in order to make sure the details of your world stay consistent, especially the further you get from how things work in the world we know. I have such respect for fantasy writers.

Science fiction author Iain M Banks, who also wrote as Iain Banks for mainstream fiction, said that 'The trouble with writing fiction is that it has to make sense, whereas real life doesn't.'

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Yes, I have to sit on my hands every time I go to Goodreads and read my latest reviews … *SIGH* …

Just remember what they say about critics - they're the eunuchs at an orgy.

 

[1408]

If I've already posted something similar to this I'm sorry, my cat jumped on the keyboard.

Yep, trying to keep track of the mythology can become a headache and I end up with a stack of notes that I sooner or later lose track of. I worry about being asked questions or having inconsistencies pointed out to me from my own creation. At the same time, because I'm impatient, I hate sitting down and writing out family trees and back stories that are never going to be seen by anyone but me. It's a lot of work to keep a small detail on track in the story (it can be as insignificant as who wears which weapon and why - but I guess if I'm ever fortunate enough to have readers it may matter to them). Also, because I like to set my fantasy in our world, I like to take parts of history and have them related to something one of my characters has done. I guess at times it feels like I'm not only researching the real world but also my own playground! That being said, the research I enjoy most is going to the actual setting and imagining my characters acting out scenes there. Kidnapping Death's Daughter is set in York, and when I went to visit the particular places I've used for certain scenes it is was pretty sweet!

 

[Karen Gray]

Clearly you don't know any romance readers. LOL!! They're vicious.

 

[1408]

@Karen Gray Who is that? That is one glorious bitch face!

 

[Karen Gray]

The great Vivian Leigh

 

[Carol Rose]

If I've already posted something similar to this I'm sorry, my cat jumped on the keyboard.

Yep, trying to keep track of the mythology can become a headache and I end up with a stack of notes that I sooner or later lose track of. I worry about being asked questions or having inconsistencies pointed out to me from my own creation. At the same time, because I'm impatient, I hate sitting down and writing out family trees and back stories that are never going to be seen by anyone but me. It's a lot of work to keep a small detail on track in the story (it can be as insignificant as who wears which weapon and why - but I guess if I'm ever fortunate enough to have readers it may matter to them). Also, because I like to set my fantasy in our world, I like to take parts of history and have them related to something one of my characters has done. I guess at times it feels like I'm not only researching the real world but also my own playground! That being said, the research I enjoy most is going to the actual setting and imagining my characters acting out scenes there. Kidnapping Death's Daughter is set in York, and when I went to visit the particular places I've used for certain scenes it is was pretty sweet!

That sounds awesome!

 

[Carol Rose]

I love this!!!

 

[Carol Rose]

Just remember what they say about critics - they're the eunuchs at an orgy.

LOL!!!

 

[Jason Byrne]

If I've already posted something similar to this I'm sorry, my cat jumped on the keyboard.

Yep, trying to keep track of the mythology can become a headache and I end up with a stack of notes that I sooner or later lose track of. I worry about being asked questions or having inconsistencies pointed out to me from my own creation. At the same time, because I'm impatient, I hate sitting down and writing out family trees and back stories that are never going to be seen by anyone but me. It's a lot of work to keep a small detail on track in the story (it can be as insignificant as who wears which weapon and why - but I guess if I'm ever fortunate enough to have readers it may matter to them). Also, because I like to set my fantasy in our world, I like to take parts of history and have them related to something one of my characters has done. I guess at times it feels like I'm not only researching the real world but also my own playground! That being said, the research I enjoy most is going to the actual setting and imagining my characters acting out scenes there. Kidnapping Death's Daughter is set in York, and when I went to visit the particular places I've used for certain scenes it is was pretty sweet!

Try reconciling the genealogy of the Tuatha dé Danann. Four different sources say the same person has four different fathers. It's not so much a "family tree" as a "family swarm of bees." Also means that no matter how you lay it out, someone will tell you you're wrong.

Geoffrey Keating has it here, but it's incomplete, and he rather did the same thing I did — just picked one.

 

[Meerkat]

The book I'm planning does require research--not sure if I'd call it sci-fi or mere dystopian future, but it definitely has details I can't make up.

I started to make a list of all the books I thought I'd need to read for it and stopped at 25 . . . ugh! I'm quite sure I'm diverting myself from actually writing by doing research . . . which is why I asked the original question.

 

[Meerkat]

I think I mentioned in my OP that I used to set six weeks of research for short stories. (Again, because creating the background was more interesting than writing!) I stopped doing so much research when I realized that 95% of what I'd researched didn't even come up in the story.

But one reason I'm into doing all this research for the book is because I only have a mosquito of an idea, and I'm hoping reading about the subject will generate better ideas for it.

 

[Jason Byrne]

I think I mentioned in my OP that I used to set six weeks of research for short stories. (Again, because creating the background was more interesting than writing!) I stopped doing so much research when I realized that 95% of what I'd researched didn't even come up in the story.

But one reason I'm into doing all this research for the book is because I only have a mosquito of an idea, and I'm hoping reading about the subject will generate better ideas for it.

I did that. I had an idea for a sci-fi story about time travel and free will, with all sorts of exotic technologies, and I researched all of it first to make sure I was correct in my theories, and to see if any new ideas sprung from the research. I think that should be the purpose of your preliminary research, at least — to flesh out the plot.