Friends: A Brilliant Resource
Research is, in the opinions of myself and most writers I have come across, an important part of writing. Like when writing papers for school you can’t just bullshit your way across to the other side, as people will pick up on the errors and call you on it. If that weren’t the case, I’d be writing a serious historical novel where Julius Caesar is a pirate who sent his secret iceberg pirate ship straight into the Titanic because Nostradamus predicted it would happen.
Oh, and Caesar has a full head of hair. I mean, it’s fiction! I can do whatever I want!
But while most people would go to books or websites for their research purposes, a lot of people forget to look around them, at the people they talk to daily. You might find that at least one person knows something useful.
One of my friends is in training to become a police officer, and given that a good chunk of Blood Bound is devoted to a string of (vampire-related) murders and other nasty crimes, and Delia’s brother is a cop, it’s always a good thing to have even a cop in training to go to. She’d know more about it than me, and even if she didn’t know herself she’d know where to send me instead.
Another friend of mine is a film student and film buff, especially when it comes to Asian cinema and the like. So as well as general fun discussions on movies, she also helped me flesh out an Asian vampire in the employ of Athanasios.
I myself have a degree in classical studies, and know a heck of a lot about mythology and things like that; that makes me a resource for other people on the subject and people have used it.
What I am trying to say is, look around at the people you know, and what they might know. You never know how useful they might be until you ask.
So ask.
Oh, and Caesar has a full head of hair. I mean, it’s fiction! I can do whatever I want!
But while most people would go to books or websites for their research purposes, a lot of people forget to look around them, at the people they talk to daily. You might find that at least one person knows something useful.
One of my friends is in training to become a police officer, and given that a good chunk of Blood Bound is devoted to a string of (vampire-related) murders and other nasty crimes, and Delia’s brother is a cop, it’s always a good thing to have even a cop in training to go to. She’d know more about it than me, and even if she didn’t know herself she’d know where to send me instead.
Another friend of mine is a film student and film buff, especially when it comes to Asian cinema and the like. So as well as general fun discussions on movies, she also helped me flesh out an Asian vampire in the employ of Athanasios.
I myself have a degree in classical studies, and know a heck of a lot about mythology and things like that; that makes me a resource for other people on the subject and people have used it.
What I am trying to say is, look around at the people you know, and what they might know. You never know how useful they might be until you ask.
So ask.