Research

As with many writers of Regency-era historicals, I love to research.  I find the time, its mores, and double standards fascinating.  So much so that I can often procrastinate,...um, waste time, searching for obscure facts I'll never use.

Which may lead you to ask, is all that extensive research necessary?

Well, yes and no.  Readers of Regency are extremely knowledgable about the period, and they expect a well-written, well-researched book.  And they have every right to do so.

But, at some point it time, an author actually has to begin putting words on the page.

The method I've found to work best for me is to:

1)  Read enough about the time period and location you're writing about to get a general feel for it.  If you're well read in the sub-genre, such as Regency, you've probably gleaned a wealth of knowledge already.

2)  If you're lacking a specific fact that is is pivotal to your work-in-progress, then you should probably take the time to find it before you go on.  Otherwise, mark it and keep writing.  You don't want to lose hours or days searching the internet for some obscure piece of information that really isn't all that important to the development of your plot, or worse yet, ends up getting edited out.

3) Obviously you'll want to sprinkle in bits of research to flavor your novel.  But, as with any seasoning, too much of a good thing doesn't make it better.  As tempting as it might be, avoid the urge to use a fascinating fact/description/whatever if it doesn't fit.  Like a subtle perfume, research shouldn't overwhelm the reader.

Thanks to the books I've purchased and the wealth of information available on the internet, I do most of my research at home these days.

Which is probably a good thing since it would take forever to cross the Atlantic on an ocean liner (I don't like to fly) and my library really frowns on my work attire of jammie pants and fuzzy socks!

For more research advice, check out the links below:

Alexia Reed Angeleque Ford  Kristen Koster  Kimberly Farris

Books-A-Million

No, not the store, but rather what's on my bookshelves.

Well, maybe there aren't quite that many.

I keep a bookshelf in my office, filled with my reference materials and books on the craft of writing itself.  Not to mention the usual writerly fare of dictionaries and thesauruses.  Downstairs I have another bookshelf filled with even more research books.

Now for my confession.

I have stashes of fiction, much like a guilt-ridden dieter with a secret reserve of snack food.  In the end tables in my living room.  Under the couch.  In the basement,

And, yes, even in the bathroom.

Don't laugh!  One never knows when the opportunity for a Calgon-take-me-away moment will present itself.

And there are the ebooks on my Nook.

I resisted--even fought--the e-reader evolution.  Argued to anyone who recommended one that I like the feel of a "real" book in my hands. (I still do.)

But it only took a couple of page-turning swipes before I was hooked.  A great read is a great read, no matter what format it comes in.

And that's a good thing.

Since I'm running out of stashes!

Take a moment and check out these links:

Alexia Reed Angeleque Ford  Kristen Koster  Kimberly Farris

It Keeps Me in Stitches

This week my Accountability Groups is blogging about our hobbies. It goes without saying that reading is one of my hobbies. That's pretty much a given with any writer.

I blogged earlier about genealogy being one of my hobbies--one I have to be very careful of.  I find old records, newspapers, and the like fascinating.  It's like digging for clues to solve a mystery.  A little bit like plotting.

Another one of my hobbies is sewing.  I just finished a few baby quilts.

My latest project

Again, I can find the similarities to plotting a novel.  Putting scraps together to make a (hopefully!) cohesive finished product.  And, more often that not, these projects are deadline-driven.  Usually someone else's deadline.

Both of these creative outlets can be time sucks, if you allow them.  And, unfortunately, I all-too-often do!

Last--but not least--is my love of football.  I rush home from church, grab a bite to eat, and veg out on the couch for three hours, getting my weekly infusion.

Yes, I am a lifelong Steeler fan.

You're probably thinking my hubby is one lucky guy, finding a woman who loves to watch football with him.  Except that I've probably married to the one man in all of Steeler Country who doesn't watch football!

Take a minute and check out the hobbies of my Accountability Group.  The links are:

Alexia Reed Angeleque Ford  Kristen Koster  Kimberly Farris

Yes. No. Maybe so?

Does writer's block exist?  If so, how do you beat it?

This week I posed the questions to my Accountability Group.

Easy topic, right?  Ask any writer, and they'll give an immediate reply.

Writer's block exists for me.  Not in the literal sense where I can't find the words.  I can type fairly quickly or scribble down a jolt of inspiration (can't promise that it will be legible, though). 

I just can't find the right words.  

And if I do, per chance, find the right ones or ones I deem close enough, I'm hesitant to add more words--potentially wrong ones-- and ruin the near-perfection. 

Yes, I am the poster girl for only child perfectionism.  Not that I often achieve it, but I still insist upon it.

And effectively shackle my creativity in the process in doing so.

Now that I have that all figured out, you would assume there'd be a quick fix.

If there is, I haven't found it.  But I've come up with subterfuge--I mean a few strategies--that work for me.

• Switch it up! I have the luxury of having a desktop and a laptop computer.  Sometimes I'll switch to my laptop.  I know it sounds crazy, but I trick myself into thinking that I can't mess up the "good" version of my manuscript.  You can find a variation of this might work for you.  Use your word processor's track changes feature or change your font color.
• Chat challenges.   There's just something about the camaradarie of another writer who is banging her head against the wall, too.   Find a writing pal to check in with.  You'll be amazed how those words add up!
• BICHOK.  Butt In Chair Hands On Keyboard.  Sometimes I find it's just a matter of finding my rhythm.  Of priming the pump.  Of keeping my butt in the chair long enough for the words to start flowing.  (It doesn't help that , in addition to being a perfectionist, I'm an impatient one!)
• Read.  This almost always works for me!  My subconscious is working in the background to find a way over, under, around or through the block.  Sometimes it's just a phrase, a description, an unexpected plot twist that sends me back to the computer.
• When all else fails, do the dishes (or another equally mindless task).  Does this mean that my hubby is actually trying to help me when he snacks all evening and loads up the kitchen sink?  Who knew?

The bottom line is that whether writer's block truly does exist or it's mere myth doesn't really matter.  A writer has two choice:  press on or give up.

And, in addition to being a perfectionist and being impatient, I am also too stubborn to quit.

Which is a good thing!

Check out how my writing pals deal with writer's block.  ·       

Alexia Reed Angeleque Ford  Kristen Koster  Kimberly Farris

But We're Talking About Writing, Not Exercising... (Or What I've Learned From Writing)

I just got home from exercising the Wellness Program.  Did I want to go this morning?  An emphatic "no."  I have a cold.  You can literally write your name in the dust on my furniture.  There's Open House at school tonight.  The list goes on and on.  


Oh, and I would really like to get some writing done today.


Really?  Would I?


There are days I really enjoy exercising.  Okay, I'll fess up. Those days are few and far between.  But I like having exercised.  Past tense.

The same goes with my writing.  There are days when I love to write.  When the words are flowing fast and furious, and my fingers can hardly keep up.  I'm lost in another world, another time, and my characters actually do as I bid--well, at least, some of the time.


And then there are those days.  Days when I cannot seem to construct a sentence.  Days when it's a struggle just to form a cohesive thought.  When distractions of everyday life buzz around me like an annoying insect.  


Those are days when I like to have written much better than I like to write.


But...the most amazing thing is that when I go back and reread what I've written, I truly can't tell which pages were written on days that I loved writing them or on those all-too-frequent painstaking days when my Muse had to be coaxed, bribed--even threatened before she shows up.


What matters is that I show up.  Whether it be at the gym.


Or, more importantly, at the page....


This week the AC writers are blogging about what they've learned from writing.  Check out these links:

Alexia Reed Angeleque Ford  Kristen Koster  Kimberly Farris

My Great-Grandmother Did What?! (Or Where Do I Get My Ideas?)

From my local newspaper: (1891)

"Matrimonial Ties
--Scott C____, a well known glass worker, formerly a resident here, and Miss Nettie, daugheter of Andrew G. R____ of this city, were married in Streator, Illinois, Thursday,  Mr. C____ is working in a glass factory in Streator and, not wishing to lose any time in coming here to be married, sent for his bride who left here Tuesday to join her lover."

Aww, romance.  The stuff of fairy tales.

How can one NOT see the glimmer of an idea here?  I'm going to cast aside cynicism and believe this happy union had everything to do with a man and woman being head over heals in love and nothing to do with my grandmother being born less than four months later!

As you might have guessed, I love genealogy.  Almost as much as I love historical romance.  I've found old newspapers, census records, biographies are all a treasure trove of ideas.

In addition to my grandmother's...um, rather "premature" birth, I have unearthed some skeletons in my family's closet.  An aunt who never knew the man that raised her wasn't her biological father.  A great- great grandfather who fathered the child of a 12-year old girl back in the 1910s.  (And, yes, thankfully, he was arrested and tried for it.)  My husband's great-great grandfather who was born in the 1860s to a widow two years after her husband died.  Talk about the math not adding up!

I read a story in the local newspaper from the late 1800s/early 1900s about a young girl being buried alive.  She had been given a dose of an opiate that induced a coma.  The neighbor's dogs kept carrying on at night, and finally the coffin was exhumed.  The lining was shredded from the poor soul trying to claw her way out.  I kid you not!

Sounds like Stephen King may not have such a fantastical imagination after all!

This week the AC writers are blogging about where they get their ideas. Check out these links:

Alexia Reed Angeleque Ford  Kristen Koster  Kimberly Farris

Got Ruby Slippers? (Or What Inspires Me?)

That was the question posed to my Accountability Group this week.

I suspect my sources of inspiration will be the same as many of theirs.  And many of yours as well.

Nothing helps my fickle Muse get her mojo on like reading a good book.  Sometimes reading (or rereading) just for pleasure or, more often than not, trying to figure out how that author kept me glued to the pages.  I have even been known to get an infusion of inspiration from reading a bad book, contemplating how it could have been better.

I have lots of visual cues in my writing cave.  One of my them is my sparkly ruby slippers.  No, not one of the four pair in existence, one of which sold for $666,000 at Christies Auction House in 2000, but a 4" magnetic pair.

They're a reminder of one of my favorite quotes.

Dorothy had the shoes, but lacked the vision.  Take control!
--Anonymous

At first glance, the quote might seem frivolous to you, but it reminds me that Dorothy had the means to get back to Kansas all along.  She just didn't realize it!

If clicking my heels together three times would result in a book contract, I'd be right on that.

But what I can do is take control--and get out of my own way.  One of the biggest (if not the biggest) impediments to my writing career is me.  Whether I'm feeling inspired or not, it's my job to write.  As Pablo Picaso once said, "Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working."

The AC writers are blogging this week about where they find inspiration!
Here are the links:

Alexia Reed Angeleque Ford  Kristen Koster  Kimberly Farris