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RESEARCH
Some writers love research. Anne Rice has been quoted as saying that she is always researching history and ancient cultures and myths, and instead of researching ideas, often her ideas come from her constant research.
I am not such a writer. I recognize that research is a necessary part of the writing process, it is important for authenticity, and fiction that lacks authenticity is not successful fiction. But I don’t love research, I often find it tedious and a bit dull. In this modern world, a lot of research can be done online, which simplifies things, but not all online information can be trusted, meaning sometimes you have to research your research.
My new novel THE QUARRY required a decent amount of research. Mainly because it took place at a real location, Limestone College, and in particular the beautiful but potentially dangerous lake on campus. I wanted to get the facts straight in order to enhance the fiction.
But there was a bit of Anne Rice in the whole situation. When I started my research I didn’t have a real idea in mind for what become THE QUARRY. I just knew there was a lot of rich history that surrounded Limestone, and in particularly Lake Limestone, known locally as The Quarry. I thought I could mine that history for a pretty interesting story.
But what I quickly started to discover that was a lot of what I had always thought was history was actually urban legend. However, the information I found was sketchy, which meant more and deeper research was required.
So I dove in headfirst, and spent almost an entire week doing nothing but researching The Quarry…and what I found was that what had once seemed like a chore suddenly was rather thrilling and exciting.
I started my research online, but quickly found there was little to find that way. So I went old school…straight to the library. I scoured through old books of local history, went through old papers dating back to the 50s on microfiche. A lot of what I found only raised more questions, requiring more searching, panning for kernels of information that could give me a true picture of the past. The actual search, the discovery that much of what I had been told over the years was myth, actually started to form a solid idea for THE QUARRY.
In the meantime, I also wanted to find out about life the Limestone campus. I was a student there, but my days as a student were over a decade in the past by this point, and the college had changed a lot since that time. Luckily I have a friend who still works at the school, Pam Wylie. I contacted her, repeatedly during the research process and later the actual writing of the book, and she answered every question she could. She even took me on a little tour of the campus, showing me things that had been updated since my day, just proving to be a wonderful resource. She also pointed me in the direction of a local paper because she remembered them doing a detailed article on The Quarry and its history several years prior.
This paper did not have their backlog on microfiche. I had to go to their offices and go through those oversized bound volumes of old papers. It almost seemed the way one would do research in a movie, and not even a movie made in this decade. But I was really enjoying it. In fact, in the end I used a lot of my experience researching in the book itself, having one of the characters go through a similar search.
It was far from the constant research that Rice does, but I did spend a week of my life—a week I was actually off from work—researching, and I actually loved it. Doesn’t mean that research is my favorite thing, but I no longer look at it as a necessary evil. I see its benefits, and realize that it can be exciting and enjoyable. And I think THE QUARRY is definitely a better book for it.
THE QUARRY can be purchased in trade paperback or ebook here: http://www.amazon.com/Quarry-Mark-A
I am not such a writer. I recognize that research is a necessary part of the writing process, it is important for authenticity, and fiction that lacks authenticity is not successful fiction. But I don’t love research, I often find it tedious and a bit dull. In this modern world, a lot of research can be done online, which simplifies things, but not all online information can be trusted, meaning sometimes you have to research your research.
My new novel THE QUARRY required a decent amount of research. Mainly because it took place at a real location, Limestone College, and in particular the beautiful but potentially dangerous lake on campus. I wanted to get the facts straight in order to enhance the fiction.
But there was a bit of Anne Rice in the whole situation. When I started my research I didn’t have a real idea in mind for what become THE QUARRY. I just knew there was a lot of rich history that surrounded Limestone, and in particularly Lake Limestone, known locally as The Quarry. I thought I could mine that history for a pretty interesting story.
But what I quickly started to discover that was a lot of what I had always thought was history was actually urban legend. However, the information I found was sketchy, which meant more and deeper research was required.
So I dove in headfirst, and spent almost an entire week doing nothing but researching The Quarry…and what I found was that what had once seemed like a chore suddenly was rather thrilling and exciting.
I started my research online, but quickly found there was little to find that way. So I went old school…straight to the library. I scoured through old books of local history, went through old papers dating back to the 50s on microfiche. A lot of what I found only raised more questions, requiring more searching, panning for kernels of information that could give me a true picture of the past. The actual search, the discovery that much of what I had been told over the years was myth, actually started to form a solid idea for THE QUARRY.
In the meantime, I also wanted to find out about life the Limestone campus. I was a student there, but my days as a student were over a decade in the past by this point, and the college had changed a lot since that time. Luckily I have a friend who still works at the school, Pam Wylie. I contacted her, repeatedly during the research process and later the actual writing of the book, and she answered every question she could. She even took me on a little tour of the campus, showing me things that had been updated since my day, just proving to be a wonderful resource. She also pointed me in the direction of a local paper because she remembered them doing a detailed article on The Quarry and its history several years prior.
This paper did not have their backlog on microfiche. I had to go to their offices and go through those oversized bound volumes of old papers. It almost seemed the way one would do research in a movie, and not even a movie made in this decade. But I was really enjoying it. In fact, in the end I used a lot of my experience researching in the book itself, having one of the characters go through a similar search.
It was far from the constant research that Rice does, but I did spend a week of my life—a week I was actually off from work—researching, and I actually loved it. Doesn’t mean that research is my favorite thing, but I no longer look at it as a necessary evil. I see its benefits, and realize that it can be exciting and enjoyable. And I think THE QUARRY is definitely a better book for it.
THE QUARRY can be purchased in trade paperback or ebook here: http://www.amazon.com/Quarry-Mark-A
