Researching your work Friday, November 10, 2006

I was wondering who does what for research. Kind of vague, but let me see if I can do this...

One of my first completed manuscripts is about an artist who was born in Africa, trained in Paris and is a world traveler. Let me tell you, I had a BALL researching the African National Parks where as an artist she found her inspirations. As well as the museums and artistic world as a whole to make her character complete. I got great information on the Louvre in Paris too! Made my heart go pitty-pat.

Another story that I had to do research on was September Heat. Luckily enough, I've been to Las Vegas, one of my all time favorite cities in the country and know many of the casinos first hand. Plus I use to watch the Las Vegas shows on the Travel Channel to keep those memories alive, where I learned about the security and how it works, which is a big point in the story.

Granted, I don't research everything. A lot of my writing is pure creative fantasy. I do research, but if the amount of therapy needed for a recovery isn't part of the story, and would only bog it down, well, then I don't use it.

Believability is important to me. So is not losing the reader because of Slot A and Tab B instructions. Hate that kind of instructional reading right smack dab in the middle of a good action scene.

So how much do you need to believe? How much do you research? How indepth do you feel you need to be to keep the reader interested? Do you need the eighteen letter medical name for a drug used once in the book, or are you happy with "tranquilizer"? Does the wall of a building have to be granite, or rose and marble hewn granite? Once detailed or many times? How much detail rips you out of the story? I know my preferances. So cough it up....