Research
I've never actually written a real story. I've flirted with short things, but that's about it. I usually keep my epic story lines (...fine, they're not even close to epic. but in my head they are) to myself, because it's more fun to play than to actually record anything--although that said, I do have copious amounts of story notes spread across twentyish notebooks, just so I have enough information somewhere in my bedroom to remember all pertinent parts of a story.
I usually make things up to keep me happy, and if I come across a part of a story that either doesn't make sense or I need to research to be accurate, I just blur over it and pretend it makes sense and is logical and cool, because I can do that in my own head. If I actually had to verbalize anything or write it down that would never fly, which is part of why I don't.
Anywho, the point is I have this character I decided needed to attend college, and for once in my life I went about looking up universities she could attend in Oregon, which is where she's from. This was months ago, back before I went to Oregon and realized I hated it (more on that some other time).
I've watched enough BYU football over the years to know we regularly play Oregon. I know they're called the Ducks and their uniforms have feathers on the shoulder pads that look more like tire treads, meaning every time I look at them I laugh because I imagine roadkill. (Or at least they used to--I'm just assuming they still have tire tread uniforms. I could be wrong. It's been years since I realized this, and in my brain everything stays the same and never changes). So I googled Oregon State, learned a thing or two about it (such as it is located in Corvallis), decided it was her university, and went on my merry way.
Tonight I was rethinking this story and trying to figure out maps and times from her hometown to college, and then I started pondering about the academic calendar, so I headed back to trusty google to look up more information. My brain was apparently functioning this time, though, because as I looked on the main page of the website, I noticed their mascot was a beaver.
Beavers are not ducks, just in case you were wondering.
I googled Oregon Ducks and realized Oregon State and University of Oregon are not the same place. But if I moved her to UO, she would live in Eugene, not Corvallis, and that just doesn't sound as cool. So I started researching a bit more to determine which university I really wanted to stick with, when I discovered that both schools are on this weird four term system. Their Winter semester starts early January and is completed by the end of March, before Spring Break. I've spent enough time mocking BYU-I for their trimester system that this four term system just didn't sit right, meaning I had to start over and find a new college in Oregon. I googled Oregon schools and looked over Willamette and Reed before deciding University of Portland was the best bet.
As a side note, UP is a private school and yearly tuition is $33,000--and that doesn't even include housing costs! Holy crow! I think that's about as much as I spent my entire four years at BYU! How do people afford university? I briefly considered NOT sending my girl to college because she couldn't afford it. If my future kids choose not to go to BYU, I think I'm just going to leave them to their own devices when it comes to money, because that is ridiculous. $33,00! That's just slightly less than my annual salary! Holy moly!
Anyway, the REAL real point of all this is I just spent several hours researching Oregon schools with a heavy emphasis on University of Portland. When I was done, I looked at my clock and realized I just spent more time on this, for a story I'm never going to write, than I did researching my own university. In fact, I didn't research BYU at all. I just always knew I'd go there and only got on their website long enough to figure out what I needed to send in for my application. I may have just spent more time on Oregon's schools' websites than I did on BYU's website in all four years I attended.
It's now way late and I should stop reading other schools' academic calendars and just go to bed. (Side note 2: UP, also a religious school, gets a week off for Spring Break AND a week off for Easter Break. C'mon, BYU, you shouldn't let the Catholics show you up for winter semester breaks!)
To bed I go. For reals. I'm tired. zzzzzzzz...
I usually make things up to keep me happy, and if I come across a part of a story that either doesn't make sense or I need to research to be accurate, I just blur over it and pretend it makes sense and is logical and cool, because I can do that in my own head. If I actually had to verbalize anything or write it down that would never fly, which is part of why I don't.
Anywho, the point is I have this character I decided needed to attend college, and for once in my life I went about looking up universities she could attend in Oregon, which is where she's from. This was months ago, back before I went to Oregon and realized I hated it (more on that some other time).
I've watched enough BYU football over the years to know we regularly play Oregon. I know they're called the Ducks and their uniforms have feathers on the shoulder pads that look more like tire treads, meaning every time I look at them I laugh because I imagine roadkill. (Or at least they used to--I'm just assuming they still have tire tread uniforms. I could be wrong. It's been years since I realized this, and in my brain everything stays the same and never changes). So I googled Oregon State, learned a thing or two about it (such as it is located in Corvallis), decided it was her university, and went on my merry way.
Tonight I was rethinking this story and trying to figure out maps and times from her hometown to college, and then I started pondering about the academic calendar, so I headed back to trusty google to look up more information. My brain was apparently functioning this time, though, because as I looked on the main page of the website, I noticed their mascot was a beaver.
Beavers are not ducks, just in case you were wondering.
I googled Oregon Ducks and realized Oregon State and University of Oregon are not the same place. But if I moved her to UO, she would live in Eugene, not Corvallis, and that just doesn't sound as cool. So I started researching a bit more to determine which university I really wanted to stick with, when I discovered that both schools are on this weird four term system. Their Winter semester starts early January and is completed by the end of March, before Spring Break. I've spent enough time mocking BYU-I for their trimester system that this four term system just didn't sit right, meaning I had to start over and find a new college in Oregon. I googled Oregon schools and looked over Willamette and Reed before deciding University of Portland was the best bet.
As a side note, UP is a private school and yearly tuition is $33,000--and that doesn't even include housing costs! Holy crow! I think that's about as much as I spent my entire four years at BYU! How do people afford university? I briefly considered NOT sending my girl to college because she couldn't afford it. If my future kids choose not to go to BYU, I think I'm just going to leave them to their own devices when it comes to money, because that is ridiculous. $33,00! That's just slightly less than my annual salary! Holy moly!
Anyway, the REAL real point of all this is I just spent several hours researching Oregon schools with a heavy emphasis on University of Portland. When I was done, I looked at my clock and realized I just spent more time on this, for a story I'm never going to write, than I did researching my own university. In fact, I didn't research BYU at all. I just always knew I'd go there and only got on their website long enough to figure out what I needed to send in for my application. I may have just spent more time on Oregon's schools' websites than I did on BYU's website in all four years I attended.
It's now way late and I should stop reading other schools' academic calendars and just go to bed. (Side note 2: UP, also a religious school, gets a week off for Spring Break AND a week off for Easter Break. C'mon, BYU, you shouldn't let the Catholics show you up for winter semester breaks!)
To bed I go. For reals. I'm tired. zzzzzzzz...