On The Topic Of Research-

Oh how I wish I could begin writing fantasy again. I've never had this problem until now- wanting things to be accurate!! Accurate! Whether something is accurate and the details legitimate has never been an issue until I began writing two realistic fiction stories. Now, though, I find myself wondering as I write, "Would this really happen? Is this the way it would play out? What if someone reads this and says it is obviously made up?" It was quite unsettling. So what did I do? I typed up lists of questions to ask professionals.

Unfortunately, I wrote that list on Saturday. Which of course, meant no one "professional" was going to be at a desk or office. So sadly, both my stories have been postponed until I can get my hands on more factual information. I now understand why there are so many "thank-you's" at the beginning of books. Authors have to pull on many resources to make their stories believable. Of course, I may be more of a perfectionist in this regard than I need to be. I mean, is anyone really going to care if my police officers pull their guns out before they enter a slightly open door? Do regular people really know protocol for answering 911 calls about houses that look broken into? I don't... but I feel like it might be just the tiniest bit silly to call the non-emergency police line to ask about it. Maybe it isn't- I will just have to decide that for myself.

On a different note, I watched a movie last night: Stranger Than Fiction, starring Will Ferrell, Dustin Hoffman and Maggie Gyllenhaal. I don't know the general public's response to that movie, but to me? To me it was absolutely wonderful. Having immersed myself in writing whenever possible lately, this movie about an author had a strong effect on me. I laughed at some parts, and cried like a baby in others. But after it was over, I had a new conviction. I need to feel about my characters like Karen Eiffel felt about hers. Whether they are real or not. She inspired me (though being fictional herself) to make my characters as real as possible. I want to cry when they cry, laugh when they laugh, feel pain when they are hurting, and feel joy when things look up for them.

Back to the original point, researching is proving far harder than I anticipated. I thought I could just look it up on the internet, like I do most everything else, but a dedication to having truly correct information (and several internet sites proving either fruitless or contradictory) has sent me on a journey thus far unsuccessful. I hope I will get the information I need soon, or instead be able to convince myself to continue writing without it.

"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing."
-Werner von Braun

"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose."
-Zora Neale Hurston

When To Write???

Well it's been a very busy week for me. I didn't think I had that much going on, but this week has just flown by, so I must have found something to do!! I started a new story on top of the two I was already writing, which may or may not have been a mistake since now when I sit down to write, I don't know what to start with. But I had some good ideas the other day, and I've found the best place for me to write and be inspired is not my room, like I thought, but the SURC, or Student Union and Recreation Center. It is always busy and full of people and when I am stuck, I can just watch the people walking around doing whatever it is they are doing, and some scene or line of dialogue will pop into my head and I connect it to the story and I am no longer stuck.

This technique has worked fairly well so far. Now I just need to find more time to write. I only have two classes a day, with lunch between them, and I only work 3-4 days out of the week, and I never do homework. With a schedule like that, you'd think I would have tons of time to write. Unfortunately though, I haven't found a single minute to write this week yet. I'm thinking I need to plan at least an hour a day, at the same time every day, to write. And give it the same importance as a class, so I don't just brush it aside and do something else instead. If only I worked the same time every day- that would be a lot easier.

Either way though, as someone once told me, you aren't a writer if you don't actually write. So this is going to be my goal for the week: write down everything I do during the day, and find a time when I can write without pushing other things aside, and schedule that as my writing time every day. I have a huge calendar, so when I find this hour or two, I will write it in so it has to happen. Weekends have relatively more freedom, so I should plan more than an hour on those days (though not necessarily consecutive).

That being said, and this being a Saturday.... I am going to go devote some time to writing!!

"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Hellen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein."
- H. Jackson Brown Jr.