Just When I Think So…
… it slaps me in the face again. Or at least it seems so. Every time I believe I have locked in enough information to drop the correct details into a story I manage to find something I missed. I’ve written three legends to go with the new book, I have an outline with chapter summaries and scene notes, so I’m feeling pretty good. That is, until I realize I need to find a ghost town somewhere in Arizona. Opening that search a little came up with some options, but nearly all of them are tourist attraction types and definitely not what I need for the story.
On to more research…
I’m going to end up in the Tuarsahzi desert realm for Book #2. A lot. Wastelands such as deserts are fascinatingly varied. Each has it’s own origin conditions, geography, flora and fauna, and resources. The Sahara Desert and the Mojave Desert are not the same, names notwithstanding. As I reached this conclusion, I looked up from my research into them and realized it was 5 hours after I’d started.
And I still haven’t written a single word in Book #2.
It’s not always like that, but it’s certainly very common. Sometimes I end up following completely different, but complementary, threads from my main research. For someone that used to read encyclopedias for fun (don’t ask), the Internet is a cornucopia that gets hard to put down. There’s always the “a ha” moment waiting around the corner when research sparks a new idea for a character or story component. That’s one reason I find it so enticing and enthralling and what led to the title for this post.
The good news? Research never ends. There’s always one more thread (or a bunch more) to track down and it’s all valuable. Maybe not immediately, but eventually it will enhance a story or three.
The bad news? Research never ends. As a time sink it has no competition, at least for me. Eventually it all becomes grist for the mill and fodder for stories that aren’t just entertaining, but perhaps spark a desire in a reader to learn more. Maybe it’s just to see if the author has any real idea what they’re talking about. Maybe it’s because the story piqued a reader’s interest and they want to learn more.
So, I’ll keep researching. I may not use it now, but sooner or later all those tidbits will show up in a story. I just have to stop researching long enough to write them!
DDW
