Research

I can't imagine being a reporter or daily column writer. It is hard to find the time or topic for a daily report. Although I suppose if it's your job, you find the time and your editor gives you the topic.

Since I last wrote here, I completed my middle grade novel and sent it off to an agent who had commented on it favorably a few years back and had given me some advice. In the rewriting, I followed her advice, so I hope she will like the result.

And, yes, I said years. I don't know why people (non-writers) think all you have to do is sit down at the computer, put down your ideas and bingo! there is your book. They don't realize the research and rewriting, rewriting, and more rewriting that go on for fiction or nonfiction.

When I was writing my non-fiction books, I used to think that all the time I spent on research would end once I began writing fiction. Not so. In this novel I had to check for what is normal weather at various times of the year, what insects would be around at various times of the year, judicial appeals and how much time someone would spend in jail for embezzlement, asthma attacks, and dementia. The idea is that no matter what you write you have to have accurate information.

One of the members of my critique group did mention that some things will be taken on faith by the reader. So if I'm writing about a horse who saves a little girl's life, readers will accept that even if there is no written record of anything like that ever happening. Readers want to believe; if something isn't too far fetched, they will accept the concept. That said, it's good to know what the reality is before you expand on it to make sure you're not getting too far into the realm of the unbelievable.