Writer's Notes: Research is Good. And Dangerous.
I
consider myself a fairly logical person most of the time. But I'm also
just a tad bit obsessive/compulsive. Or a lot. Let's put it this way –
if I decide I'm interested in something, I can't stop researching it
until I'm completely sated with the knowledge that I know as much as I
possibly can (or until I know enough that I'm finally just bored). It's a
good trait for a writer to have, but if I'm not careful, it's very easy
to annoy everyone around me while I'm finding out all this cool stuff
about...whatever. I have to remind myself that the person next to me
does not actually
want to know all about the history of smurfs or ships on stamps
or...say...the healing powers of coconut oil and aloe vera. Especially
considering the person next to me is often my husband. Poor guy.
When
we decided not to treat my dog's cancer, it was more a decision not to
put him through anything that would be painful, energy-sapping or
confusing for him. But I remembered reading about some studies with
coconut oil and cancer, and looked it up. Convinced that even if it
didn't actually help, it certainly wouldn't hurt (and if it did help,
any little bit would be good), I decided to use it on the tumor that was
trying to grow back on Gabe's eyelid, and also start adding it to the
dogs' food daily.
Needless
to say, I've been impressed with the results, and have started
incorporating coconut oil into our diet as well. It's slow going,
because there's a detox period, but It's worth it, I think. Naturally
that got me to thinking – what other natural things should I be looking
at trying, both for Gabriel and myself?
A
few hours later, I had collected a good amount of data on healthy,
anti-cancer, anti-infection natural remedies to try with Gabriel (I'm
under no illusion any of it will cure him completely, I'm just looking
to keep him as healthy as possible), but as is the nature of a lot of
herbs and plant compounds, they're good for a lot more than just one
thing. So my husband and I will be trying a few ourselves, just because
we're trying to get healthy, and if it's something that might help us at
the cellular level as we age, we want to be ahead of that particular
curve.
For
the past week, I've been reading everything I can get my hands on about
coconut oil, and more recently, aloe vera – and before I honed in on
those two things, everything remotely known to have anti-cancer
properties. Suffice it to say, I now know enough to make the average
person think some company is paying me to do an infomercial.
Just
like it's hard to refrain from sharing my new found knowledge with
everyone in close proximity, it's sometimes hard not to rush out and
build a story around whatever I happen to be researching/obsessed with
at the time. But the fact is, a lot of the stuff I research isn't
something that would interest anyone else, and I write fiction, which is
something people read to escape with, not necessarily to learn things
from.
What
I can do, however, is to include a tidbit of information as a quirk or
plot twist...so when I'm doing all of this reading, I'll often make note
of things that seem totally off the wall, in the hope that someday I'll
find the perfect spot for a quirky character who randomly knows the
cost of a rare smurf. Naturally, this information will annoy everyone
around him/her, and provide me with a nice bit of juicy conflict to work
off of.
Actually,
that wasn't a good example, because I could write a totally believable,
quirky story from that starting point, and people might actually enjoy
it. Except the folks at Peyo. So I'd probably have to change the rare
collectible to something else....
Dang
it. This always happens. I need to stop here, before I come up with a
way to use aloe vera and coconut oil in the center of some conspiracy
theory plot by a lab rat at a research company who happens to fall in
love with an aloe farmer who...
Crap.
consider myself a fairly logical person most of the time. But I'm also
just a tad bit obsessive/compulsive. Or a lot. Let's put it this way –
if I decide I'm interested in something, I can't stop researching it
until I'm completely sated with the knowledge that I know as much as I
possibly can (or until I know enough that I'm finally just bored). It's a
good trait for a writer to have, but if I'm not careful, it's very easy
to annoy everyone around me while I'm finding out all this cool stuff
about...whatever. I have to remind myself that the person next to me
does not actually
want to know all about the history of smurfs or ships on stamps
or...say...the healing powers of coconut oil and aloe vera. Especially
considering the person next to me is often my husband. Poor guy.
When
we decided not to treat my dog's cancer, it was more a decision not to
put him through anything that would be painful, energy-sapping or
confusing for him. But I remembered reading about some studies with
coconut oil and cancer, and looked it up. Convinced that even if it
didn't actually help, it certainly wouldn't hurt (and if it did help,
any little bit would be good), I decided to use it on the tumor that was
trying to grow back on Gabe's eyelid, and also start adding it to the
dogs' food daily.
Needless
to say, I've been impressed with the results, and have started
incorporating coconut oil into our diet as well. It's slow going,
because there's a detox period, but It's worth it, I think. Naturally
that got me to thinking – what other natural things should I be looking
at trying, both for Gabriel and myself?
A
few hours later, I had collected a good amount of data on healthy,
anti-cancer, anti-infection natural remedies to try with Gabriel (I'm
under no illusion any of it will cure him completely, I'm just looking
to keep him as healthy as possible), but as is the nature of a lot of
herbs and plant compounds, they're good for a lot more than just one
thing. So my husband and I will be trying a few ourselves, just because
we're trying to get healthy, and if it's something that might help us at
the cellular level as we age, we want to be ahead of that particular
curve.
For
the past week, I've been reading everything I can get my hands on about
coconut oil, and more recently, aloe vera – and before I honed in on
those two things, everything remotely known to have anti-cancer
properties. Suffice it to say, I now know enough to make the average
person think some company is paying me to do an infomercial.
Just
like it's hard to refrain from sharing my new found knowledge with
everyone in close proximity, it's sometimes hard not to rush out and
build a story around whatever I happen to be researching/obsessed with
at the time. But the fact is, a lot of the stuff I research isn't
something that would interest anyone else, and I write fiction, which is
something people read to escape with, not necessarily to learn things
from.
What
I can do, however, is to include a tidbit of information as a quirk or
plot twist...so when I'm doing all of this reading, I'll often make note
of things that seem totally off the wall, in the hope that someday I'll
find the perfect spot for a quirky character who randomly knows the
cost of a rare smurf. Naturally, this information will annoy everyone
around him/her, and provide me with a nice bit of juicy conflict to work
off of.
Actually,
that wasn't a good example, because I could write a totally believable,
quirky story from that starting point, and people might actually enjoy
it. Except the folks at Peyo. So I'd probably have to change the rare
collectible to something else....
Dang
it. This always happens. I need to stop here, before I come up with a
way to use aloe vera and coconut oil in the center of some conspiracy
theory plot by a lab rat at a research company who happens to fall in
love with an aloe farmer who...
Crap.
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