Research, Teaching Writing and Families. A Mixed Bag!

Phew, it's hard work being a writer! Yesterday, I spent a full day with two other authors working to one of our gruesome schedules. It really inspired me and I got loads done (even if the RSI is playing up now). On each writing day, we treat ourselves with a yummy dinner afterwards and, my goodness, was I ready to relax. 

I am writing to brief on this latest project. The plus side of this is that there's very little opportunity for authorial navel-gazing. The plot has already been outlined, so all I need to do is turn a storyline into a manuscript and bring my own inspiration to grow a flower from a seedling. And the research! How I love it. I didn't think I would ever enjoy research and now I understand how addictive it is. A few thoughts about historical research:

It depends. If you want to lay out your stall and promote your book as a definitive historical work, accurately representing life as it once was then you really want to nail things. And that will mean a lot of research. It's a field of writing I have no experience of. However, if you're writing a novel inspired by a time and place but that's actually a good romping adventure, I would say do your research but then step away. Do just enough to inspire you, but don't devote six months of your life to research trips and the London Library. You have to get it right enough for the story. Beyond that? It's fiction, remember! (I should say that it's always glaringly obvious when a writer hasn't bothered at all with their research. That's not only disappointing but career damaging.)

The Internet is a marvellous tool and one I use a lot but I can't recommend enough a highly illustrated, accessible non-fiction book. Pictures, pictures, pictures. It really is true that you can learn more from a single image than a thousand words of text. This is why many writers find children's non-fiction books extremely useful. All that information boiled down to its purest essence - and with pretty pictures, too!

I don't have a brain that will ever understand the ins and outs of Crimean War politics, but I do have a brain that can spark into life when I read about what someone ate for dinner or how they washed their clothes. You don't always have to look at the big picture; sometimes it's the tiny details that will empower you as a writer. Search out resources that throw a light on the day-to-day life of people in the past. I promise you that this will fuel your imagination like nothing else. You'll hastily put that research book aside and begin hammering away at the keyboard.

Remember, at some point you have to stop researching and start writing. It is very important to understand when to do this. To be honest, I don't have a long research period in advance. I pull my resources around me, dip into them, flag some pages with Post-it notes and then just get going. I will occasionally stop writing to dip back into my books or turn to the Internet, if I come across a scene that is just begging for some interesting authentic detail. Not everyone would like this approach, but it works for me. If you are someone who does all their research well ahead of the game, I would advise knowing when to put down the books. Writing and procrastination go hand-in-hand. For some people, research will become another form of procrastination. Make sure this isn't you. When you miss your deadline, your editor won't want to know that it's because you just had one more book to read.

I hope these thoughts help!

During the bus ride over to meet my friends yesterday I listened to a Front Row podcast that discussed the pros and cons of creative writing degrees. You can find it here. It was fascinating, with many different contributors and conflicting opinions. Naomi Alderman talked with wry intelligence and humour about the class system in Britain and how our fear of being seen to strive for success may fuel scorn for the study of creating writing. She also admitted that you either have it or you don't have it - the talent to write, I mean. And going by the construction of that last sentence, perhaps I don't have it! But listen to the podcast, I highly recommend it.

Finally, finally - a link here to a fascinating article in The Guardian by Frank Cottrell Boyce about people's ability to write and have children. Judging by some of the very successful and talented writers I know who also - shock, horror! - have a family, I think I know which side of the debate I'm on. But go and have a read, and then let me know what you think.

Have a good week, everyone!