JUST THE FACTS......

When writing a non-fiction book, as you already know, a lot of research needs to be done. The same is true though for fiction. inevitably some sort of research needs to be done. Sometimes you research writing styles, genres, geography, legaleese, or medical or historical facts, but in any good piece of writing the author has done some sort of fact finding.

Fiction may be fiction, but that doesn't mean that the intelligence of the reader should be dismissed. You can only stretch facts so far, except maybe with Sci-Fi or Fantasy. I don't know what sort of research you'd do for these styles because I've always been kind of grounded in fact and my brain, although full of strange imaginings, still seems to stop just short of jumping off that cliff toward...REALLY...FLYING MONKEYS? REALLY? That's not to say I don't like reading one of these wonderful works once in a while, but I can't imagine ever writing one.

A lot of my research involves reading books in the styles that I enjoy writing in and I encourage each and every one of you to do the same. Just don't go don't that "dark road" that I often travel after reading a genre that I really love and respect and strive to become a published author in one day...that blackness in your mind that says "hey el stupido...there ain't no way you can write anything as good as this author...so why ya botherin'?" This kind of thinking can stop me cold for weeks sometimes. I may not be Sandra Brown, Alexandra Sokolov, Mary Higgins Clark, John Grisham, Lee Child...but they weren't them either before their first novel was published. What I do learn from reading their works though is that each and everyone one of them did some sort of research before completing any of their novels for print. I'm not one of these anal people who'll interrupt a good read to check a fact the author has shared, but the really good authors never give me reason to feel I even need to do that.

We are so blessed as writers in this day and age... to have the ultimate research tool right at our finger tips. Instant confirmation of facts are available, just a click away. Get out there into the public to do research also though. Nothing brings a scene to life more than having it based on observations and conversations held with real live subjects. People love to share their knowledge with others and as writers...we should always be listening.