BEDA DAY 11: Research
I will be the first to admit I am lousy at "traditional" research. I have never gotten the hang of citing my sources and I have always compensated for this by making up facts that turn out to be completely true. So imagine my surprise when I do some honest to goodness research and I GET NOTHING.
When I first came up with the premise for my WIP I was all "SHHHHH! Don't tell ANYONE they will STEALZ my idea!" but really, the existing market for YA Fantasy set in Wilderness Program for Delinquent Youth is, as far as I can tell, non-existant. In fact, I am not even finding much in the way of ANYTHING on Wilderness Programs for Delinquent Youth. The TENUOUSLY related things I am finding become less and less related when I read them. They do not look anything at all like the story in my head. This is annoying for multiple reasons.
First, I've become KIND OF OBSESSED with this project and I want to read everything written on Wilderness Programs, like EVER WRITTEN, ever. Did I mention ever? There is a disturbing lack of things written on this. This worries me. Where are all the former attendees now, if they are not writing about it? The ones I find writing about it are fresh out of the program, newly returned to civiliazation. Where are they later? Years and years later. Where are the sales assosciates, construction workers, store managers, business owners, tax-payers, mothers, fathers, permanent students, Internet geeks, sports enthusiasts, rock stars and other random people for whom the Wilderness Program was just this thing that happened a long time ago?
Second, I picked that setting specifically with the intention of blowing off the research portion.
I could list a whole bunch of other reasons, but what I think is MOST interesting about all this research is NONE OF IT CHANGED THE SHAPE OF THE BOOK IN MY HEAD AT ALL. I mean, it may turn out that my head is a horrible, horrible book shape to have, but at least I know when I am done that it is definitely mine. I also know that I am going to finish it, even though NO ONE IS EVER GOING TO READ IT. Or they will read it and LIE because it is that awful. I'm fine with that. I thought it might weaken my desire to keep writing, turns out it only weakens my desire to show people.
UEG is seeming attainable. I am still skeptical of RESULTS however.