I don't know about you, but I do not know everything about everything the way my ten year old claims. As a writer, I write about many things, and some of them require research. I find the research that goes into writing a novel one of the most exciting aspects of novelwriting.
Some things I find myself researching for a WIP are quite mundane and ordinary. This might strike you as odd, but when you're writing about brushing your teeth, or hitching a backpack up on your shoulder, or opening and closing a pocket knife, you might need to practice doing these things before you feel you can adequately write even one sentence about it. Writers do much more than sit in a seat typing or writing away at their manuscripts!
Other things take more research. For my duology, THE PACKING HOUSE and UNPACKING, I have researched recurring nightmares, Rorshach Inkblot tests, how to make a "God's Eye," the smell of WD-40, orange Adventurer vintage tackleboxes, Ford F150 trucks, pony cars, how to break into a school building, seeing a deer up close in the woods, the names of pencil manufacturers, names of presidents (to differentiate the teachers at three different high schools), high school mascots, and many other things. This is by no means an exhaustive list of writerly research. It's just the tip of the pencil, so to speak.
So, what about you? What have you found when you research for your latest WIP? What is the strangest thing you've caught yourself looking up for something you are writing about or for a future MS (manuscript) you plan to write? I've dabbled in steampunk, fairy tales, and ghost stories among other things. I can't let you know all of my secrets!
In the comments below, please share what fun, strange, bizarre, or otherworldly research writing has caused you to bunnytrail on for minutes or hours.
Back to research, reading and writing on my WIP! Happy writing (and researching) to you all!
