Research Fractals

All this noveling reminds me of what has always been my favorite and most time-consuming aspect of writing: research.

Ever click on a Wikipedia page and find yourself clicking and clicking on the related links until each new page spirals in its own direction? That's what research is for me. The same goes with library books, newspapers, and database articles. There are problems with researching like this. For one thing, you may never get your novel done. Because, let's face it—it would take forever to learn everything about everything, and you could end up a perpetual scholar as opposed to a novelist.

However, even then, there's still hope. One of my writing professors did research for ten straight years before publishing her magnum opus, which ended up winning the California Book Award (her editor measures her books by the pound, I guess).

If you saw my awkward NaNoVideo (which I hope you didn't, but hey, I can't stop you), then you know that my novel is about deep-sea exploration. One thing about researching for this novel is that it has renewed my once-dormant fascination for the world's oceans and all the ecosystems within it, and I have run into the other problem that habitual researchers run into: I have more facts than I know what to do with (especially about abyssal gigantism and hydrothermal vent systems). Did you know that lobsters don't really age? Or that there are hooked teeth on the tentacles of colossal squids? As an aside, I recommend steeling yourself before image-searching that last one.

I'm not one who enjoys getting my hands dirty, but reading about the ocean makes me want to become one of those fleece-wearing marine biologists, wading out in the water to collect red-algae samples. And I think that's what noveling research is supposed to do. It's supposed to get you excited about something totally unrelated to your own life or your primary interests. I have to give credit to the NaNoWriMo community here. Lots of people came through when it came to helping me with my novel. In fact, the very picture above is an image sent to me by a fellow novelist who had some experience diving around shipwrecks.

About halfway through the month, something happened that made my research dreams come true. Another fellow Wrimo mentioned that he could get me in touch with Don Walsh, one of two men who were in the only manned expedition to ever reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench. I had become a huge fan of Walsh when I started my novel. It was recommended that I do a little more probing into the subject of the expedition before sending this great man an email—an enthralling idea (hooray, more research!) that also filled me with some trepidation (what if I still don't know enough and ask something silly?). Needless to say, I have yet to send Walsh an email, but I know that I will, if only because I must interview him!

Research Wrimos, what new things have you been discovering?

– Ari