Eric Walker
asked
Eliot Peper:
I really enjoyed the book Eliot! I am curious how much time you spend researching for your books when it touches on current topics? Based on your attention to detail and realistic approaches it seems like it would be a lot. An offshoot to that question is how much time do you spend researching stuff for the book vs the more creative writing part?
Eliot Peper
I rarely set out to research a book. Instead, I follow my curiosity.
It something seems interesting for any reason at all, I do down Wikipedia rabbit holes, read books on the subject, and reach out to experts to learn more (you'd be amazed how willing people are to respond when you have a specific, respectful question). Basically, I just nerd out a lot because it's fun!
Sometimes when I'm learning about something, I notice things that stick with me. It might be a cool fact or a paradox or a feeling or a question or an anecdote or anything at all. Sometimes when I'm not doing anything in particular, I notice that my mind is wandering into fertile territory. These might daydreams or memories or images or scenes or relationships or ideas or anything particularly evocative. For me, the act of writing a novel is a process of recombining these fragments of learning and imagination and synthesizing them into a story that brings them to life. It's not unlike making a mosaic from shards of pottery.
As I'm writing a rough draft, sometimes I run into very practicable questions that would be apparent to the character in question but not to me as I write their story: How long does it take to fly from San Francisco to the Galápagos? How much of Washington DC would flood during a storm surge after a few decades of sea level rise? What does an assassin's weapon of choice tell us about their personality? For these kinds of tactical questions, I do what anyone else would and try to find the answer on Google, or reach out to folks who might know.
Because I don't see my research as a process, it's hard for me to compare the time it takes to the time I spend writing. Ultimately everything I read, do, and experience is the raw material from which I construct my novels.
It something seems interesting for any reason at all, I do down Wikipedia rabbit holes, read books on the subject, and reach out to experts to learn more (you'd be amazed how willing people are to respond when you have a specific, respectful question). Basically, I just nerd out a lot because it's fun!
Sometimes when I'm learning about something, I notice things that stick with me. It might be a cool fact or a paradox or a feeling or a question or an anecdote or anything at all. Sometimes when I'm not doing anything in particular, I notice that my mind is wandering into fertile territory. These might daydreams or memories or images or scenes or relationships or ideas or anything particularly evocative. For me, the act of writing a novel is a process of recombining these fragments of learning and imagination and synthesizing them into a story that brings them to life. It's not unlike making a mosaic from shards of pottery.
As I'm writing a rough draft, sometimes I run into very practicable questions that would be apparent to the character in question but not to me as I write their story: How long does it take to fly from San Francisco to the Galápagos? How much of Washington DC would flood during a storm surge after a few decades of sea level rise? What does an assassin's weapon of choice tell us about their personality? For these kinds of tactical questions, I do what anyone else would and try to find the answer on Google, or reach out to folks who might know.
Because I don't see my research as a process, it's hard for me to compare the time it takes to the time I spend writing. Ultimately everything I read, do, and experience is the raw material from which I construct my novels.
More Answered Questions
Kevin Grubb
asked
Eliot Peper:
Hi Eliot, I really enjoyed Bandwidth and Borderless and am looking forward to reading Breach soon. I like that the Analog series takes a nuanced view of economics and business. As a consultant, I find myself nodding along to a lot to the logic supporting the narrative (a nice change of pace from scifi authors who treat business as some sort of monolith!). Where do you get your economic inspiration?
Bob
asked
Eliot Peper:
Eliot, enjoyed Bandwidth very much (Amazon Firsts selection). Looking forward to checking out your other work. Is the NW backdrop based on research or are you located there now? (Lifelong Seattleite, now living in Hawaii). Any particular order recommended based on my enjoying Bandwidth, machine learning, NW?
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