But I've Never Been In A Massage Parlor…
Despite a morning temperature of -6 and a wind chill factor of -23, my daughter's school stayed open and I wound up not having to cancel a writing day. We'd have kept her home anyway due to the weather except for the school's policy of not letting the kids have outdoor recess when the wind chill is below zero. It's the Upper Midwest in January; this is going to happen again. Might as well learn to cope rather than try to hide from the weather. At least until we can live in a warm weather climate.
I had my second ultra-productive week in a row. Five chapters written and 9,000+ words this week. Manuscript is up to 22,171 and the first fifteen chapters are done. I really like this story.
Something that inevitably happens when you write fiction is that you have to write about topics about which you do not have first-hand knowledge. For example, Ae-Cha has crossed the border illegally and has gotten sucked into the world of human sex trafficking and prostitution in Koreatown. I am 0-for-3 on personal experience with those things, and have never visited a massage parlor, either. So how do I write about these things convincingly, considering most of my readers will not have experienced these things first hand, either?
The two tools I have at my disposal are imagination and research. Not necessarily in that order. The Internet has literally brought into everyone's home virtually anything you might want to learn more about. It is an utterly indispensable resource. Another priceless source of information is first-hand accounts from people who have experienced what it is you as a writer are trying to write about. This is much harder information to come by but definitely worth the effort. When at all possible, it helps to have actually visited the locations of places you are writing about. If you can't, though, Google Maps and Google Earth have satellite photos that are the next best thing. The amount and quality of information out there are utterly remarkable.
Then your imagination and skill as a writer have to mold all of that information into a credible, compelling story. Which in my opinion is the fun part.
Two writers whose work is rich with information are Michael Crichton and Robert Crais. Michael Crichton has created a substantial collection of novels and television shows, including ER. What I notice about him more than anyone else I've read, though, is how much I learn about certain topics while I'm reading his fiction. Want to know about global warming? Read "State of Fear". Want to learn about Japanese culture? Read "Rising Sun". Want to learn about dinosaurs and DNA? Read "Jurassic Park". Want to learn about how jumbo jets work? Read "Airframe". The amount of research he did for his novels must have been staggering, and is matched by his ability to weave the information into compelling stories.
Robert Crais is one of the best selling suspense authors of the current day. He has amassed so much knowledge of the structure and function of the different ethnic gangs in Los Angeles that one wonders how he learned all of it. I am going to attend a signing of his on Sunday, and I intend to ask him about that. It will be the second signing of his I've attended. He is entertaining at his appearances and I always learn something. And he was accommodating enough to move the time of his appearance two hours earlier than scheduled so it didn't conflict with the Packers game this Sunday. Another enormous point in his favor. 
Have a terrific weekend! Read something that teaches you something about a topic you've always been interested in but have never taken the time to research! Thanks for reading. -Jon
