I expect most writers have to do some research for their books. I always say you should do as little research as you can get away with when you're writing the first draft. That means you focus on the story first, the research second. It also means you don't spend hours and days on the research without actually doing any writing.
Of course, some books need more research than others. A Single to Rome meant three visits to the Eternal City (see the lengths I go to!), Kissing Mr Wrong meant a trip to the battlefields of the Somme.
But the strangest bit of research I think I've ever done was for Another Woman's Husband. The main character's husband trains for and runs the Bath Half Marathon over the course of the book. Luckily there are lots of websites and forums and books about running so much of the research didn't involve me having to don trainers myself but there was one question I couldn't find the answer to.
After watching the Bath Half Marathon one year I went to the pub afterwards. At the next table were a group of runners celebrating their achievement and we got chatting. I explained about the book and they gave me lots of detail that you'd only know if you'd done the run. But there was still the one question lurking, the question which was utterly vital for the plot.
Finally, emboldened by a couple of glasses of Pinot Grigio, I asked the question: 'How soon do you think you could have sex after running the race?'
I wasn't thrown out and they gave me an answer - tho I'm not 100% sure how accurate it was, given they were young men talking in front of their mates. But short of asking them to prove it...
Anyway, it remains the most embarrassing question I've ever asked. What about you?
6 comments:
Hi Sarah, I asked on Twitter for people with memories of Cyprus invasion. The first response was from a Turk who objected to the word invasion and insisted it was an 'intervention'. I could see from Turkeys point of view why they called it that as by staging a coup Greece had given them justification for the 'intervention. Some of my followers are Greek Cypriots who would never agree so it was a delicate situation to be in but of course I learnt from it.
Ann Patey
You should have asked me, Sarah! My husband runs marathons and long-distance triathlons which always (after a long swim, over 100 miles on the bike) end with a marathon run. I know all about it...
My research is never bizarre or sensitive. If in doubt, leave it out is my motto. But, once when looking through the archives of a local newspaper for something else, I discovered that the Aurora Borealis was seen as far south as Yorkshire in April 1848. I had to get that in the novel somehow.
*rofl*
A few weeks ago, I was at a seminar where physicians explained all kinds of medical stuff to non-experts. I was writing a short story at that time for a horror/snuff anthology, but I couldn't bring myself to ask them how long someone would survive with their bowels wrapped around iron pipes... (^v^)
When writing Pleasant Vices (my second book) I had to ask a friend who is a GP if, should a man drop dead when he's got a full-scale erection, would there be immediate de-tumescence or would it stay up for a while. (Was necessary for plot, trust me) GP wasn't actually sure so asked a pathologist friend of his. Aaagh! (In case you're wondering, it would go down - blood pressure is needed to maintain er.. uprightness)
Most embarrassing question without a doubt: How much did a blowjob cost in Ireland in the Thirties? I eventually gave up but not before I e-mailed the in-house researcher at the Mitchell Library to ask. Strangely enough I never got a response. I did manage to find the price of a pint of Guiness through.
Ann - It just goes to show how careful we need to be with our choice of words sometimes. I wonder if there's a word that would be acceptable to either side.
Oh Sally, asking you would have been even worse than going up to a complete stranger and asking.
Diandra, I bet they would have loved it!
Judy, you never know when that sort of information will come in handy. (You've got me thinking now - does it just...flop? Or take a few minutes?)
Jim, I wonder why the researcher never got back to you...
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