Researching Your Story – Part 3
Read the third part of a three-part series.
A writer will face roadblocks that may derail a story.
I had another problem in Sailing into a Storm. I needed my heroine Lady Meg to wear a veil for her wedding. It was essential but in my research I discovered that veils had fallen out of fashion in 1774. So how do I justify wearing it?
Own it. I had her sister say, “Most brides don’t wear veils.” She states the norm for the time period. Then Meg replies. “Well, this bride is wearing a veil.” She shows that she is not doing something normal for that time period but makes it her choice.
Owning something works for other stories. Most people believe vampires cannot go out during the day, but you can create a reason why your vampire can tolerate day time. Twilight created a friendlier vampire. Admit the norm and create the exception. People will accept it.
No matter how much research you do or how careful you are, you’re going to make a mistake, but don’t beat yourself up over it. You’re writing a work of fiction. Few people will notice your mistake. Forgive yourself and your mistakes and move on.
If in doubt, leave it out. In my Impending Love and Lies story I knew from my research that Clara Barton received permission to take supplies to the battle of Antietam. I couldn’t find out if her nurses were all male or if some female nurses went. To be on the safe side I had my heroine Colleen and her sister Jessica dress as men, Cole and Jess. I checked recently and found that in fact Clara took male helpers. So by disguising their sex, my story is more believable.
If you use nicknames, stick to that name throughout your story. A modern novel has most people using first names. The exception is a boss, teacher, or elderly person. I struggled with “Sailing into a Storm because of the British nobility titles. Aristocrats are addressed by their title not their surname. Also older people or more important people are addressed more formally. Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bennett and the adults in the group are addressed formally throughout Pride and Prejudice. But I would change to the first name to show a shift in the relationship to something more personal.
A word of warning about names. Avoid names ending in S because of the possessive apostrophe. Avoid using main names that start with the same letter. In Sailing Into a Storm I needed the names of two characters to be similar. Originally, they were Margaret Katherine and Mary Catherine and called Meg and Mary. My editor kept mixing up the two women and wanted a name change. Simple solution. I changed Mary to Cathy. Similar formal names but different nicknames.
Your story is yours. You choose what to include and what to leave out. Focus is essential so you don’t lose your reader down a rabbit hole or info dump. If an interesting fact doesn’t work, don’t use it. Everything you include in your story should advance the plot, characters, or theme of your story.
Add personality to your characters by asking “why” they are doing something, wearing something, or saying something. Research personalities and note what people you are drawn to and those you don’t like. What do you look for in a friend? What can someone do that makes you want to avoid them? What turns a friend into an enemy? Or an enemy into a friend? What is their vulnerable point and why? This is all research. If you want your readers to understand your characters, you have to understand them as well. Think of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. The movie shows what drives couples apart. Use that knowledge.
The history, setting, and culture are background. They add to your story. I have read too many stories that could be located anywhere any time. They are basic without any other level of interest. You want to elevate your story to a higher level.
Give your characters something that grounds them in their time period or occupation. They need to be a friend to the reader. They need to connect. Pride and Prejudice is grounded in the Regency period not because of clothing or manners but the fact that Mr. Bennett has no male heir and their home will go to a Mr. Collins, the nearest male relative, and leave the women in his life homeless. That is what drives Mrs. Bennett to find husbands for her five daughters. It’s the urgency that drives the characters.
Most towns have a police, fire and safety center. Take advantage of the open house events. They are a great opportunity to see a police car up close. I knew I would be using a police car in Raining Tears so I sat in the car, I took pictures of the interior, and I looked to see how the spotlight worked. Put the reader in the story, let them experience it. That is what research allows.
Have you ever sat in on a trial? Gone to a city council meeting? Gone a guided hike? Go to public places and take notes, pictures, and look for inspiration for your stories. Don’t trust what is on television. In most TV courtrooms, the witness stand is next to the judge. Not in my county courthouse. The witness stand is to the left facing the jury. Also the jury seats are really comfortable. Take advantage of public buildings but ask if you can take photographs or ask for a guided tour.
Look for classes at schools and universities.
I also was invited by Kent State University to attend a forensic class on a Saturday morning. It was great. I learned so much. She had us age someone. She had skulls to explain how they identified someone’s age by the cranial sutures and how to determine sex by the shape of the skull, slope of the forehead and other features. Take advantage of schools, organizations, and speakers available, especially when it’s free. Educate yourself.
If you write murder mysteries, you should consider Sisters in Crime. They visit medical examiners and have speakers that can give you vital information to make your stories more realistic. If you don’t want to join an organization, you can visit the same spots on your own or take other writers and friends and ask for a tour. Form your own research group.
Knowing a doctor, nurse, or paramedic is also helpful to answer medical questions. If you can’t find someone, go online but always double check information. There is a lot of garbage out there and you don’t want it in your book. Try to confirm information with two or three sources.
Even basic first aid or CPR classes can be helpful in writing a story where someone is injured or stops breathing.
I am lucky in that my brother was a paramedic, police officer and detective. And he likes answering my questions.
Network with police officers, dispatch, and nurses. At these events talk to the officers and personnel. Find contacts you can network with. Ask if you can take a tour of the police station, dispatch center, or medical examiner’s office. Don’t overwhelm them, respect their time, and have questions prepared. Ask for an email or phone number for follow up questions.
My community offered a Citizen Police Academy. Great information. I visited the police stations and dispatch center for Stow, Tallmadge, Cuyahoga Falls and Silver Lake. Each police department is different so you can create your own station and staff to suit your needs. They demonstrated K9 units, gave us access to the shooting range, and talked about making an arrest, warrants, how police obtain evidence, use of force, dispatch, how to be a good witness, medical examiner, DUI stops, shooting protocol. You can learn a lot from one of these programs. I took notes and refer back to them when I’m writing a police scene.
I don’t write about murder cases I covered, but I use details that reveal the why of what they did in fictional characters. A man murdered his two children and buried them in Hudson.
One thing that stood out for me was the father picked a shady spot to bury his children because it was hot in July, and he didn’t want to be uncomfortable. His selfish concern for himself painted a picture of how cold-hearted he could be.
A true story can inspire us in different ways. If we can capture the inspiration and transfer it to your reader, they can connect not only with the story but the emotions we felt. And a story needs to connect on an emotional level. If it makes you cry, the readers will cry. If it makes you laugh, the reader will laugh.
Respect people you know or meet that you base a character on. Flattery can turn into an insult. Combine characteristics of two or more people to create a fictional character so others don’t recognize themselves in your writing.
Pick details from your research that work for your story. Be creative.
But avoid mental illness as an excuse for a crime. That will get your story rejected. Research and discover a valid reason someone commits a crime such as greed, power, revenge, or anger. In a romance the couple need to consent before sex.
A series is harder to write than a stand-alone book because what you write in the first book impacts the remaining stories. I made the rookie mistake of using a C or J for names in my Impending Love series. Looking back, it would have been better to make the names different like in Little Women with Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. I also used their nicknames instead of full names with Cory, Jem, Cole, Jess, Cass and Jules but some sounded like boy’s names and may have caused confusion. I learned my lesson but had to go with the names mentioned because they were a series and mentioned in the first book.
I count myself lucky my Impending Love series worked so well. I did a lot of research before the first book, but only completed the first one because why write more if I don’t get published? Once published, I wrote each book in order one at a time. Scary. How I managed to have each new book match up with previous stories is a miracle, but it helps that each book is an independent story with its own main characters and subgenre.
I’m working on a four-book series now and each book is independent in its story, but I’m writing a good portion of each story before I submitted the first one just to be safe. I also have the names Deidre, Liny, Chauncy, and Olivia for the heroines. No name starts with the same letter. Learn from your mistakes.
Writing is a lot of work but that is what makes it rewarding. I like a challenge and try to write something different in each of my books. No two are alike even in the series.
Impending Love and War has a love triangle and focuses on a runaway slave. Impending Love and Death is a quest in search of answers. Impending Love and Lies is about a jilting and dealing with betrayal. Impending Love and Capture is about courage in the face of defeat. Impending Love and Madness deals with Lincoln’s assassination and the chaos after the war. Impending Love and Promise is a thriller as a madman seeks revenge while the heroine rescues her orphaned cousins.
Research adds details and can elevate your writing by adding authentic information about the place, people, and culture. It applies to the past as well as the present. And life, events, and technology are constantly changing. Research makes your story accurate and interesting for the reader.
I hope you will take a few ideas and apply them to your own writing. If nothing else, try a new experience and be inspired to add it to a story you’re writing. Make your writing fun and enjoy it.
Purchase and read the beginnings of my novels at https://goo.gl/B7lKMs
