Neil Turner asked Neil Turner:

“I would like to ask if you have done anything unusual in the name of research?”

Neil Turner Like many writers, I now do the majority of my research online. I’ve gone down some rabbit holes with topics and people I abhor, reading biographies, interview or testimony transcripts and the like—many by some pretty appalling human beings. It’s been frightening at times, but also instructive. I’ve gained a deep appreciation for the people who confront the world’s ugliness and pain in ways many of us can’t imagine. I also interview people to get a feel for how events impact them; police, reporters, paramedics, even a doctor or two. I want to get inside their skin in an effort to understand what they feel and experience in the moment, allowing me to relate that emotion to readers. Is success a jubilant Eureka! moment, or something quietly satisfying? What if they hit a dead end or a lead doesn’t work out, or perhaps they lose a patient? What do they feel in those moments? Frustration, anger, perhaps a sense of forward momentum if they learn something useful in the process? Then there’s the usual crime author search for unique ways to kill people and get away with it, how to destroy evidence, misdirect investigators, frame others … all of which leads to a tired old writer joke: I never want the police to see my internet search history! I’m afraid I haven’t (yet) killed anyone to test a thesis … well, at least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 😉

flag