How to exploit friends and influence strangers: Part 1

Writers like to ask questions. It’s an occupational hazard. When you spend X hours a day asking characters “why did you do that?” it sort of becomes second nature. We’re not trying to be nosy pests. We just can’t help ourselves. When there is a quandary that the internet can’t solve, there is no shame in turning to your friends. Heck, a lot of times it’s better and faster to turn to them first.

I have a good mind for trivial information but there are a lot of subjects that for one reason or another, I know jack squat about. As fate would have it, those tend to be the subjects that my stories require me to research. For example, I was free writing a scene wherein my protagonist needed to get someone to tell her the sensitive information she needs. The obvious solution was to get the informant tipsy enough to become chatty. The problem was that the informant was not a casual drinker or the sort of person that would frequent bars. That ruled out all the usual imbibables.

The informant however, was the sort of person that would occasionally indulge in a glass of good whisky. This presented me with another problem. I don’t know anything about whisky, quality or otherwise, and since I don’t drink there was no way for me to find out first hand. Fortunately I have friends that do drink and within a few minutes they were able to give me the information I needed so my protagonist could get the information she needed. Yay!

Sure, I could have Googled the answer but sending a text message isn’t laborious. Plus, I didn’t have to waste an hour sifting through search results and one of my friends gets the satisfaction of knowing their help was instrumental to that scene. It’s a win all across the board.

So, how do I keep track of which friends knows what? That’s easy. They’re my friends. I already know their hobbies and interests. You don’t need a knack for trivia to keep track of that. Sure, I could keep a list (and if that helps you, by all means, do) but since I do have a knack, I don’t need to. Besides, it would be a bit creepy if any of them saw such a list on my computer.

Of course there is always going to be a topic that none of my friends have a working knowledge of and that’s ok. In those circumstances I can turn to the internet or professionals in the field to satisfy me. If I were an introvert, this wouldn’t be a go to method for me. I’d probably stick to library books and Google in that case. Since I’m not an introvert and have many friends, it would be idiotic not to crowd source whenever possible. Just because I can’t afford an assistant doesn’t mean that I don’t have lovely people willing to volunteer for a few moments. After all, isn’t that what friends are for?

The method behind the madness

It's kinda funny that every time I start a new story, I realize how little I know about a particular subject. It doesn't matter if I can carry a conversation about said subject, the moment I sit down and outline, it either flies out of my brain or I discover that a working knowledge just isn't enough. I'm currently working on the outline for my cyberpunk series and for this particular project, the latter is true.

I originally started work on it in December of 2010. I was bouncing between four books back then and while I spent most of my time on my primary project (the YA fantasy), I worked on one of the others when I needed a break. I thought that I had all of the worldbuilding in place and the outline filled in enough that I could at least get started on the first few chapters. But when I read through my notes, I realized that not only had I left a lot unfinished, but I hadn't checked facts on a lot of the tech. In fact, when I realized how much research I'd need to do, I just about had a heart attack. It's going to take most of the month to complete the outline.

Now, I know a few of you are shouting "No! Don't get bogged down with research! Write the book and do all of that later."

As much as I'd like to, I can't. If the information I was missing was how much recoil a gun has or the average airspeed of an unladen swallow, than yeah, I could look that up later. But the things I need to check are along the lines of "can silicone even do that?" and "that's a great gadget, but how are you going to power it?" You know, essential things. I can't justify writing a scene, let alone many scenes, that rely on a gadget that may not even be feasible. It's a waste of time and creative energy. It's better to work out the details now. Besides, in the process of figuring all of this out, I'll gain a better  understanding of what can and can't be done with the gadget so I can use it more effectively in the story.

See? There is a method to my madness.

There's also a passion behind my madness. I mentioned back in June (Just the Facts, Mam) that I love it when authors do their homework. Now, I'm not going to spend two years on research like Diana Gabaldon does. I like doing research, but not that much.

You see, it all goes back to that oft repeated advice: Know yourself.

I know I have a tendency to do too much research and to even stop writing so I can look something up. That's why I gave myself the month to finish researching and outlining. This will force me to focus on finding the answers that I need so I don't get lost in the bowl full of deliciousness that is link salad. This is the first time I've tried this tactic so we'll see how well I actually follow through on this, but it should work because I hate missing deadlines.


Side note: I apologize for the irregularity of my posts lately. Summer is my busy season and I've been running ragged for the past few weeks. Instead of updating the blog every Friday, I'm going to do it on Mondays now. I tend to have more free time on Mondays so that should help me get back on track. Thanks for bearing with me!