Writing What You Don’t Know
One of the most common questions I’ve gotten since releasing Stay the Distance is whether or not I’ve ever worked at a racetrack. I would absolutely love to say yes, that my experience on the racetrack is unparalleled and I have done all the jobs, but the sad answer is that no, I have not.
I am but a humble librarian, and until very recently I lived nowhere near a racetrack. I haven’t even been to the racetrack I live near now. Maybe I will one day, but knowing me that probably won’t happen.
In fact, when I wrote the book I’d never been to Saratoga Springs, where the vast majority of Stay the Distance takes place. It was only after I’d finished it, and was mulling how to publish it, that I went to Saratoga. And you know what? There was only one thing I changed in the manuscript afterward. I think it was just a detail about the grandstand — nothing major.
It’s amazing what Google can find you – this free image of Saratoga Springs came courtesy of the Boston Public Library via a Google images search.
There’s a common saying in the writing world: write what you know. I’d have to say that sometimes that’s a pretty common sense saying. When it comes down to the horse world, it’s necessary. If the little details are off, then the whole book feels off, and if the whole book feels off who will want to read it?
But if we all wrote what we knew, so much wouldn’t get written. I wanted to write a horse racing book, not a book about libraries (oh my god, just … no), so I did a deep dive into The Blood-Horse, bookmarked the websites for Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course, sifted through YouTube to find previous runnings of races I wanted to portray, pulled out all my Google skills and found information I didn’t even know I wanted to know. Then I went truly nuts and wandered around Google Maps, because if you’ve never been to a place, Google has taken care of that for you with Street View. Does it potentially obliterate privacy? Probably! But as an author, I love it.
Maybe you have to be a little obsessive. (Or a lot obsessive. I mean, it’s all relative).
It helps if you’ve got some hands on, tangential experience. I may not have worked with racehorses, but I’ve worked with off track Thoroughbreds. I rode dressage. I could overlap what knowledge I needed with the knowledge I already knew. Then it all comes down to the writing.
So far, Stay the Distance seems to be enjoying the fruits of my obsessive-compulsive researching. Luckily for me, my next book has already been through the industry insider wringer, so when in doubt, find someone to tell you what’s real, what’s not real, and then let the creative process make up the difference.
To research!
Originally posted to Horseback Reads. Stay the Distance is the Horseback Reads book club pick for January! Tune into the Facebook page to ask me questions on Monday, Jan. 25.
