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Let's talk about research for fic
I once had a teleplay writing class in which we each had to write a script for Law and Order. You had to research, not only your crime, but odd details dealing with biology or David Bowie or NYC. Up 'til then, I'd never really researched for a story. Right after that class I had a creative writing class in which we had to write a fiction short story based on a subject we researched. I noticed the research stories were significantly better than the stories we wrote first, which were non-researched based.
So, I'd learned my lesson. Research, even when you don't use it, can be felt. The weight of it can be there, making your story feel more real and you as an author more knowledgeable and thus, trustworthy. (The downside of it is research can be over-used, and the paragraphs about how chariots work feel like, "look I did research!". Or misused: spotty research on some stuff - good writing + sensational best seller techniques - making sense = Dan Brown.)
But apparently, I had not yet learned research = good for ALL writing. My first Jossverse fic was set in NYC, and although I did some spot-checking type research, my research wasn't thorough enough to make sense to . . . say, someone who'd actually been to NYC (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
alleynyc pointed that out and helped, and a2zmom still is). I've found since I've started researching for fic, though, that the research is almost as fun as the writing. Doing the canon research necessary just brings back my love for the shows, and doing other kinds of research makes me feel all smart and know-y. So I figure hey, maybe other people feel the same way. Or not.
I. Canon research. Return to canon, by watching eps, reading transcripts, and looking at various web sites about canon (such as the Buffy Dialogue Database and the Buffy Trivia Guide).
A. Refresher course. If I'm doing something like reworking a scene I always go reread the scene to remember what happened.
B. Dialogue snatching. Sometimes I use dialogue directly from canon. (I try to credit the episode when I do this).
C. Detail scoping. For times when you need a book on demonology or a pair of shoes Buffy owns. (This is when something like a trivia guide comes in handy).
D. Voice research. I almost always read transcripts right before I write dialogue so a character's voice is fresh in my mind. Sometimes I make note of how things are phrased (Faith uses a lot of cliches) or words that often get used (a lot of Willow's insults/ pet names feel out of the fifties) etc.
II. Misc. fact research. All the details you might or might not need to write a good story.
A. Voice research. Sometimes writing a character's voice requires knowing how they talk where they're from (for Faith I researched Boston-talk), their profession/passion (for Fred I'd look up some physics, Xander some comics), their style of speech (for Dru I read both the Bible and nursery rhymes).spiralleds had a cool post about researching pop culture references (for characters in Buffyverse. You can't write a good Buffy or Xander or Cordelia without pop culture references. Which is why Cordy's, "Who's Colin Farrell?" line is the MOST TRAGIC LINE IN THE HISTORY OF TV.)
B. Location research. Everything from where what buildings are (a2zmom continually beats me over the head on this one) to the flora and fauna in a city I don't live in. Then, if anything takes place in buildings I've never been in, like a jail or monastery or NYC's Macy's, I research those too (or get a2zmom to do on-site research ;o)
C. Translations. Latin, German, Spanish, Klignon. I can't speak 'em so I go elsewhere to find 'em.
D. Plot-level research. If a story hinges on something technical or medical, or a specific time period or place, I make sure to read up. This is the most obvious form of research, something that a lot of people do, I think. (Has anyone found out about Angeusl and Spike and the opium and CORSETS? kthx.)
E. Itty bitty detail research. Because sometimes you just need to know the average length of a penis (har har, itty bitty detail) or the tensile strength of a human hair. Once, I spent two hours searching for what restaurant plates are made of--you know those resaurant plates, the kind that feel both ceramic but the really cheap kind of ceramic? I wanted a technical word, a word that would pop! out at you, and "ceramic" wasn't doing it for me. (I never found a poppier word, though.)
III. Style research.
(all of these are mostly the same thing.)
A. Inspiration. For instance, I read this book where all the words felt new and really seemed to stand out, and I wondered how the author did it. I noticed that instead of just saying something like "fabric" or "cotton" he'd use a specific, almost technical word, like "faille". I thought it'd be interesting to try, so I spent hours looking for a more specific word for ceramic.
B. Instruction. If I were to write a piece with a lot of dialogue or meaning beneath the words I'd read Vonnegut's Long Walk to Forever or Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants to see how they did it.
B. Emulation. Sometimes I wonder if this is cheating. It's a more direct stealing then the two above. When I am writing a letter to someone important I want to sound official, but also dry, witty, and fun--so I go read Jane Austen and try to bring as much as her tone as I can into my own writing. To me this isn't any kind of plagarism, as her voice naturally becomes my own when I steal it for myself, as long as I don't take exact words and phrases.
[Poll #700205]
I'd love to hear more from you all. For instance, if you do what I'm calling "style research", what have you read to "get in the mood," and in order to write what? (For instance, in Bodiless Within the Bodies, I wanted the Tibet part to have long sentences, in a flowing style, with something distinctly Eastern in tone, so I picked up Hesse's Siddartha again and read a few pages. I don't think I was successful in capturing the tone I wanted, but I definitely think Hesse helped.) And what sites do you normally go to for canon research, besides Buffyworld and the ones listed above? What about translations, maps, details, pop culture, et al? Furthermore, how do you organize all these links? Do you keep them forever, create temp folders for the stories you're writing, or just flit through the sites and hope you'll never have to see them again?
Any crazy research story about spending hours trying to find what a restaurant plate might be made of? Any stories about how someone in fandom took you aside and said, "look kid, research?" Any stories about how much you love/loathe/fear research, and why?
That's it. Discuss.
So, I'd learned my lesson. Research, even when you don't use it, can be felt. The weight of it can be there, making your story feel more real and you as an author more knowledgeable and thus, trustworthy. (The downside of it is research can be over-used, and the paragraphs about how chariots work feel like, "look I did research!". Or misused: spotty research on some stuff - good writing + sensational best seller techniques - making sense = Dan Brown.)
But apparently, I had not yet learned research = good for ALL writing. My first Jossverse fic was set in NYC, and although I did some spot-checking type research, my research wasn't thorough enough to make sense to . . . say, someone who'd actually been to NYC (
alleynyc pointed that out and helped, and a2zmom still is). I've found since I've started researching for fic, though, that the research is almost as fun as the writing. Doing the canon research necessary just brings back my love for the shows, and doing other kinds of research makes me feel all smart and know-y. So I figure hey, maybe other people feel the same way. Or not.I. Canon research. Return to canon, by watching eps, reading transcripts, and looking at various web sites about canon (such as the Buffy Dialogue Database and the Buffy Trivia Guide).
A. Refresher course. If I'm doing something like reworking a scene I always go reread the scene to remember what happened.
B. Dialogue snatching. Sometimes I use dialogue directly from canon. (I try to credit the episode when I do this).
C. Detail scoping. For times when you need a book on demonology or a pair of shoes Buffy owns. (This is when something like a trivia guide comes in handy).
D. Voice research. I almost always read transcripts right before I write dialogue so a character's voice is fresh in my mind. Sometimes I make note of how things are phrased (Faith uses a lot of cliches) or words that often get used (a lot of Willow's insults/ pet names feel out of the fifties) etc.
II. Misc. fact research. All the details you might or might not need to write a good story.
A. Voice research. Sometimes writing a character's voice requires knowing how they talk where they're from (for Faith I researched Boston-talk), their profession/passion (for Fred I'd look up some physics, Xander some comics), their style of speech (for Dru I read both the Bible and nursery rhymes).
spiralleds had a cool post about researching pop culture references (for characters in Buffyverse. You can't write a good Buffy or Xander or Cordelia without pop culture references. Which is why Cordy's, "Who's Colin Farrell?" line is the MOST TRAGIC LINE IN THE HISTORY OF TV.)B. Location research. Everything from where what buildings are (
a2zmom continually beats me over the head on this one) to the flora and fauna in a city I don't live in. Then, if anything takes place in buildings I've never been in, like a jail or monastery or NYC's Macy's, I research those too (or get a2zmom to do on-site research ;o)C. Translations. Latin, German, Spanish, Klignon. I can't speak 'em so I go elsewhere to find 'em.
D. Plot-level research. If a story hinges on something technical or medical, or a specific time period or place, I make sure to read up. This is the most obvious form of research, something that a lot of people do, I think. (Has anyone found out about Angeusl and Spike and the opium and CORSETS? kthx.)
E. Itty bitty detail research. Because sometimes you just need to know the average length of a penis (har har, itty bitty detail) or the tensile strength of a human hair. Once, I spent two hours searching for what restaurant plates are made of--you know those resaurant plates, the kind that feel both ceramic but the really cheap kind of ceramic? I wanted a technical word, a word that would pop! out at you, and "ceramic" wasn't doing it for me. (I never found a poppier word, though.)
III. Style research.
(all of these are mostly the same thing.)
A. Inspiration. For instance, I read this book where all the words felt new and really seemed to stand out, and I wondered how the author did it. I noticed that instead of just saying something like "fabric" or "cotton" he'd use a specific, almost technical word, like "faille". I thought it'd be interesting to try, so I spent hours looking for a more specific word for ceramic.
B. Instruction. If I were to write a piece with a lot of dialogue or meaning beneath the words I'd read Vonnegut's Long Walk to Forever or Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants to see how they did it.
B. Emulation. Sometimes I wonder if this is cheating. It's a more direct stealing then the two above. When I am writing a letter to someone important I want to sound official, but also dry, witty, and fun--so I go read Jane Austen and try to bring as much as her tone as I can into my own writing. To me this isn't any kind of plagarism, as her voice naturally becomes my own when I steal it for myself, as long as I don't take exact words and phrases.
[Poll #700205]
I'd love to hear more from you all. For instance, if you do what I'm calling "style research", what have you read to "get in the mood," and in order to write what? (For instance, in Bodiless Within the Bodies, I wanted the Tibet part to have long sentences, in a flowing style, with something distinctly Eastern in tone, so I picked up Hesse's Siddartha again and read a few pages. I don't think I was successful in capturing the tone I wanted, but I definitely think Hesse helped.) And what sites do you normally go to for canon research, besides Buffyworld and the ones listed above? What about translations, maps, details, pop culture, et al? Furthermore, how do you organize all these links? Do you keep them forever, create temp folders for the stories you're writing, or just flit through the sites and hope you'll never have to see them again?
Any crazy research story about spending hours trying to find what a restaurant plate might be made of? Any stories about how someone in fandom took you aside and said, "look kid, research?" Any stories about how much you love/loathe/fear research, and why?
That's it. Discuss.
no subject
When I set out to write something I almost always reasearch more or less extensively (online, in libraries, talking with friends, asking my flist) before and during the writing process. I find that really adds to the story, as you mentioned I find that even if I don't use most of what I've learned it's still there in the background. For instance when I wrote 'Break,', my B/A angstathon, I spent the best part of a day reading about katanas, samurai swords and how they were made and regarded by the people who used them. In the end I hardly used any of the knowledge I'd aquired but I think it fed into the feel of the story. My research for 'Six Minutes...' took me to some fairly disturbing places, it's suprising how difficult it is finding out how long it takes to effectively strangle someone, and how long it takes for brain death to set in ::shudders:: Another time I asked a list I was on to explain Homecoming to me (we don't have it in the UK,) one guy told me this whole story about a cow being eleced homecoming queen one year. I shamelessly stole that story and had Faith relate it to Buffy, complete with gross football team inuendos. I've done loads of research for fics I've yet to write, learned way more than I ever wanted to about the US prison system, Southie, and about remote Chinese provinces inhabited mainly by yaks.
I find the pop culture one of the hardest things to get right, so I avoid the refrences as much as I can, even though I feel this is a weakness in my writing. When I sit down to write an American character it strikes me each time that although we share a lot or reference points, there are many background things that you take for granted growing up and living in a particular society, but which are mysterious when viewed from the outside. I really should write Giles, Wesley or Spike to see if it's easier, but I just haven't felt inspired to do it yet.
However, the best thing about doing fic research is being able sit down for a few happy hours with some favourite eps and feel all justified and hardworking because what you're doing is 'research' *g*
no subject
I'm glad you think so.
'Break,', my B/A angstathon,
Have I ever given you fb for that? I loved it. And I could feel the research you did on the sword.
My research for 'Six Minutes...' took me to some fairly disturbing places, it's suprising how difficult it is finding out how long it takes to effectively strangle someone, and how long it takes for brain death to set in
The research I had to do for my teleplay for that class was most morbid. I ended up disabling images on my internet settings whenever I researched it.
Another time I asked a list I was on to explain Homecoming to me (we don't have it in the UK,) one guy told me this whole story about a cow being eleced homecoming queen one year. I shamelessly stole that story
I do stuff like that ALL. THE. TIME. Sometimes I fear my shameless stealing will go to far. I already wrote an original story about someone that I regret having done, even though it's not like it'll get published or anything. Er...I mean, stealing a story about a cow is fun and cool, but sometimes I do that on a more personal level and wonder if people I know and love will be hurt by it. Which is an utter tangent from what you were talking about, sorry.
there are many background things that you take for granted growing up and living in a particular society,
So true. I've spent a little (very peripheral) time in the HP fandom and it was the same with me...er, only the opposite. But while I do know stuff like Homecoming, I still find pop culture references difficult. Sometimes writing characters like Buffy makes me wish I watched more tv and listened to more pop music.
However, the best thing about doing fic research is being able sit down for a few happy hours with some favourite eps and feel all justified and hardworking because what you're doing is 'research'
Ahahahah! I've done that a couple times, but I quickly stopped . . . I find I'm afraid to rewatch BtVS/AtS too much. In the past, I've moved from fandom to fandom pretty quickly...every 6 months or so. It's not that I stop loving the source material, I just get tired of it. I often return years later. But I don't want that to happen with Jossverse, I want to clutch it to my bosom forever and ever! So I've been holding off on rewatching much, fearing I'll get tired of it ... and that some day the eps won't feel so shiny as they do right now.
I am a sad sad lady!
no subject
Have I ever given you fb for that? I loved it. And I could feel the research you did on the sword.
No, there was no shiny feedback from you ::attempts to pout meaningfully, looks unfortunately like a distressed carp:: I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed it though. I keep thinking I'd like to write more B/A because I love the pairing, but that's the only idea I ever had for them. Speaking of practical research in regards to fic, I did once spend a whole night stuck in LA bus station while I was travelling between Phoenix and Santa Cruz, though my stay there wasn't nearly as colourful as Buffy's.
Sometimes I fear my shameless stealing will go to far.
I wonder about that too, as I do steal and rework real life incidents sometimes -- more in some of the stories I've got in note form than the ones already posted. It's a fine line I guess.
So true. I've spent a little (very peripheral) time in the HP fandom and it was the same with me...er, only the opposite. But while I do know stuff like Homecoming, I still find pop culture references difficult. Sometimes writing characters like Buffy makes me wish I watched more tv and listened to more pop music.
I'd probably do fine in HP fandom but sadly it's never interested me, I'm loyal in my obsessions. the pop culture is tough, and as the poster you linked to pointed out, it gets harder to use the references as time goes by. I try to work around it by being very general, but I do admire people who can really nail it.
In the past, I've moved from fandom to fandom pretty quickly...every 6 months or so. It's not that I stop loving the source material, I just get tired of it. I often return years later. But I don't want that to happen with Jossverse, I want to clutch it to my bosom forever and ever!
Well, from a purely selfish POV I hope you do, I love your writing and your wit and all your other contibutions to Jossverse fandom and LJ in general. A few of my favourite writers have moved on during the last year, and each time it hurts a little, like they're breaking up with my one true fandom and somehow it feels personal, even though it's not. Sorry, that sounds a little insane (-: But there does seem to be something about the Jossverse which is incredibly rich and not easy to wear out, I can't really explain what it is, in fact I was discussing this illusive quality with
I am a sad sad lady!
You're certainly not alone *g*