The Importance of Research in Writing

Listening to: Taylor Swift - 1989

Mood: Nerdy

Research is a key part of every manuscript I’ve written, even when creating my own worlds, magic systems, or whatever fantastical thing I've thought up. There are many mss that’ll never see the light of day that required heavy research, learnings that I can apply to current and future projects. More recently, for BLOODBIRD, I researched Arthurian history and legends as well as medieval torture. For THRALL TO THE BURNING SKY I actually visited Morocco to gain a greater understanding of the culture that inspired Zara’s world. Real world research is awesome. A lot of my writerly friends joke that we’re all likely on a government watch list for the things we’ve researched for our projects. It’s probably true, as I’ve had to hunt down some pretty interesting things.

Earlier this week a shiny new idea came to me and, without getting to deep in the details here, I’ve spent the better part of my evenings refreshing my knowledge about one of the most interesting events in history (to me): the fall of Constantinople. I don’t want to talk about the idea too much because I’m still developing it and I’m crazy excited about it. I might even put my current WIP on pause (*gasp*), which I’ve never actually done to an ms before. But this new story is crazy in my head and ready to flow from my fingertips. Might as well let the muse take over.

And now, of course, I’m also trying to convince the Hubs that we need to visit Istanbul very soon—though by convince I really mean discuss when we should go because it’s not hard to persuade him to travel with me. Because, again, real world research is awesome and it would be great to gain knowledge of the history from the source. Alas, we'll have to see when it will be possible, so for now I’m researching and plotting. Because, while I love writing, the research aspect of starting a new ms makes the nerdy side of me all giddy.