The Girl Who Draws with Words
  • Blog
  • About Me
  • My Books
    • The Christmas Lights
    • Nicholas
    • Monet Evanesce
  • Read the First Chapter
    • Christmas Lights First Chapter
    • Nicholas First Chapter
  • Interviews/Chats
    • Nicholas
    • The Christmas Lights

March Round Robin: Setting the Stage with a Bit of Knowledge

3/22/2015

10 Comments

 
Picture
Bine ai venit, prieteni! 

Translation: Here's some strong espresso and really gooey brownies, because we're getting a bit technical today. 

I'm lying; it actually means: Welcome, friends! Don’t click away; that’s all the Romanian I’ll be typing this Saturday, cross my heart. WHY I typed Romanian is because this is my March Round Robin post! (See silly drawing by yours truly in the corner. Makes sense now?) 

If you’re new to this—every month a bunch of MuseItUp Publishing authors write on a topic thought up by Rhobin Courtright. Nothing complex. Backstory on March’s topic (cue hazy pipe music and gusting wind to signify flashback dialogue, probably by a well-spoken British individual like 99.6% of existing narrations): 

All story genres take some research for establishing details in the setting. What type of research have you had to do? Does it bother you when you read something happening in a story that is inaccurate historically, socially, scientifically, etc.?

This hits home for me right now because I’m transitioning into finding a new story. Before opening a new Word Doc, someone should install a pop-up with blaring letters saying: RESEARCH IS STRONGLY ENCOURAGED. Because someone once told me to “WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW.” No idea who said it, and I actually probably read it somewhere, but it’s the best advice I’ve ever been given. And if you’re burning to write about, say, 18th century circuses and you know diddly squat about them—then sniff up some Nasonex, head to a library, and get your research on. I’ve done everything from skulking the reference sections and shoving quarters to make copies of pages to squinting at Wikipedia and favoriting page after page. True, Wikipedia is not the most Grade A of sources but it’s great for general sleuthing around. The internet is a treasure trove; in the last month I’ve done searches on Arthurian mythology, the Blarney Stone, the Culinary Institute of America, and all kinds of Romanian folklore. 

You might think, Uh, yeah that’s great but that’s a lot of work and I don’t wanna do it. Well—too bad. You want a good story? Either gets your facts right…or learn a broad stroke of it all and fake it. There’s that other phrase about every lie containing a kernel of truth, right? Gather up a sprinkling of true historical facts or semantics and then just weave the rest around if you want. If you write fiction like I do, all you need to do is write like you know what’s going on. For The Christmas Lights, a novella I wrote that takes place in middle/late 1800s England, United States, Switzerland, and France, basically the only things I looked up were when lightbulbs became the norm and the style of men’s clothing, then went off from that. I was a big cheater for that one. Well—don’t write about Abe Lincoln using Skype to contact Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War and expect people to bow down to your intellect, but you get what I mean. 

As for reading, I don’t think I’ve picked up any glaringly incorrect books history/scientifically-wise. I just finished The Princess Bride and THAT bundle of words was the biggest middle finger to history’s timeline that I’ve ever seen (at least in the beginning, when Goldman was trying really hard to pretend that Morgenstern was a real and at time cloying person), but the it does to let you know that it is, indeed, a story and not to be taken as fact. And it was kind of funny. Other than that, I think writers know the code that, even if you’re fabricating 90% of the story, you do need some semblance of normalcy. It’s got to make sense. 

Un mil gracias for stopping by (that's Spanish, and means "a thousand thanks")! What kind of research have you had to do? Are you hardcore on it or just consult ol’ Wiki now and again? Or do you avoid research like the plague, or jury duty, or those channels that only show infomercials?:)

X, Rachael 

P.S. I just Googled it and apparently "X" stands for "kiss" and not "hug"? I'm just trying something out. Let's make it a stand in for "Cheers," "Yours," or "Sincerely." :)


Follow along and be mentored by the setting secrets of other Muse writers(!):

Margaret Fieland 
Beverley Bateman 
Skye Taylor  
Heidi M. Thomas 
Marci Baun  
Anne Stenhouse  
Helena Fairfax  
Connie Vines 
Kay Sisk 
Fiona McGier 
A.J. Maguire  
Judith Copek 
Lynn Crain  
Rhobin Courtright 

10 Comments
anne stenhouse link
3/20/2015 10:05:17 pm

Rachel, Lightbulbs? I spend hours worrying about where the light was coming from and how much of it there was. Moonlight is so important in Regency type novels. then there are candles, oil, rushes, tallow wax.... Good post. Anne

Reply
Rhobin link
3/21/2015 01:17:04 am

You made me laugh, and at this time in the morning, that's an achievement! Enjoyed your post.

Reply
Judith Copek link
3/21/2015 03:42:51 am

Rachel. I love your energy and your humor. What a fun post to read.

Reply
Lynn Crain link
3/21/2015 10:19:36 pm

Rachael, I so wish I had the same energy as you do. If I were half as together as you are at that age, I would be a many-times-over bestseller by now. Yes, kid, you have what it takes and you do it so well. Thanks for sharing.

Reply
Rachael Kosinski link
3/23/2015 04:33:59 am

Wow, Lynn! Thank you! :D

Reply
Beverley Bateman link
3/22/2015 10:36:54 am

Loved your 'multi-lingual' post, Rachel.

Reply
Skye Taylor link
3/22/2015 12:09:13 pm

Fun blog - humorous approach to insisting on homework (which if you'll note is a combination of two four letter words.) I actually love the research part. Sometimes I'm eager to get going on the book, but the research has to get done, either before or during or both.

Reply
Marci Baun link
3/22/2015 06:01:26 pm

I don't necessarily trust Wikipedia. Some of the information is accurate. Some of it is not. I do love research, but I have a few WIPs that may never be written because of the amount of research they will require. LOL One is set in medieval times. It'll take some time. I might eventually get around to it. Of course, it will depend on if the muse decides she wants to go there or not, or if there are other, more pressing, stories.

Reply
Fiona McGier link
3/23/2015 02:00:43 pm

I don't particularly love doing research, but even writing contemporaries, as I do, I need to be sure my facts are accurate so I don't lose readers who toss my book across the room in disgust.

And 2 quick corrections: we're not all MuseItUp authors. I know Rhobin from another publisher we share. And "hug" is a capital O. So when I end my texts to my kids, I sign, "Love, Mom. XO"
(See how inaccuracies can make your reader want to jump in and say something, which is impossible to do to a book. :-D)

Reply
Rachael Kosinski link
3/24/2015 03:36:52 pm

Fiona,
A pox upon me for a clumsy lout! I'll be sure not to presume everyone on the Round Robin list is a Muser again. Though, for your second correction--I never did say X was "hug," I merely expressed my surprise that it didn't mean "hug." ;)

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    ​Official website of Rachael Kosinski, 23. ​

    Pen for hire. 
    Coffee aficionada. 
    Wanderlust sufferer.
    Growing artist. 
    Museum professional.

    Categories

    All
    College
    Current Issues
    Grad School
    Guest Post
    Having To Be An Author In Public
    Holiday
    Kung Fu
    London
    Monet Evanesce
    Nicholas
    Personal
    #RomanticIdea
    Round Robin
    Serpents And Flame
    Shubiao's Girls
    The Christmas Lights
    Travel
    TWIP
    Writing Style

    Archives

    December 2018
    November 2018
    August 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from adeleblancsec2015, thebarrowboy, Sergey Galyonkin, Phil Roeder
  • Blog
  • About Me
  • My Books
    • The Christmas Lights
    • Nicholas
    • Monet Evanesce
  • Read the First Chapter
    • Christmas Lights First Chapter
    • Nicholas First Chapter
  • Interviews/Chats
    • Nicholas
    • The Christmas Lights