Research is a vital part of the writing process. Few writers have ever swung any battle axes in the middle of medieval melees, and even fewer have stowed away on an alien cruise ship. Far fetched and silly examples aside, every writer has to do their research at some point during the writing process. I've run countless hours of research over things like the design considerations for building a castle, to theoretical propulsion drives for space travel, to pondering why a sniper might favor a Dragunov SVD over a Barret XM500. What some writers may overlook during the course of the creative aspect of their research is the need to delve into an even more critical and very practical topic: the reader.
While some of the best writing may very well come from writing for its own sake, the chances for writer-reader disconnect abound if there's no understanding about the people who are most likely to read your book. The key thing here is determining just who is most likely to read your book. There's been some interesting research released from the Pew Research Center back in April 2012, as well as earlier this year. When viewed in concert with each other, the data supports what we all already know: that e-readership is on the rise. With that in mind, the 2012 report (a four part series) yields a lot of useful data that provides some very valuable insight on who is more likely to engage in e-reading (whether via e-reader, tablet, cell phone or computers). Certainly, if e-reading is still going up in 2014, than there's a good chance that the other figures from Pew's study are on a similar upward trend. This is vital information to an author when trying to determine the audience for their work.
Another reason why it's worth researching who's reading what is to avoid stereotyping your audience. For example, some outside of the video gaming world might not be aware nearly half of all gamers are female, based on a 2014 study by the Entertainment Software Association. If the power houses behind the video game industry don't want to risk offending its half of it's consumer base, neither do you. Besides, you might even be surprised at what you find the deeper you delve. A 2013 report from Pew also sheds light on reader demographics by gender/age/race/education/income and provides figures for print, e-book and audio book reading habits. Further internet research can even provide useful information on readers by genre. While I'm not a romance writer, it's still useful for authors like myself to know that men make up a little less than twenty percent of the market for romance novels.
The point is that the information is out there and it's worth reading to get a better sense of who may be interested in your work. Having an understanding of this, and thereby a better understanding of your audience, may help forge better connections between you and your readers.
It's been a while since my last post. In that time, a lot has happened that's taken me away from my work on the next two books. As the firm and its clients have been happy with my work, my level of responsibility has increased and to the point where I'm now training other attorneys. On the homefront, I've got a tweenager turning into a teenager with all of the usual accompanying hormone fed angst that's juxtaposed next to a two year old who is eerily independent. Back to school has been a...you get the idea. Fortunately, I'm not in this alone. My wife has been an absolute rockstar on too many things to list here. And besides, this is supposed to be a writing blog, right? I figure that, by now, you're wondering where this is all going. Fair enough.
The past thirty day break from writing has been agonizing and rewarding at the same time. The agony part is obvious: I've been incredibly anxious, feeling as though my writing dreams/goals were falling by the wayside; there's been an emptiness like I had lost a piece of my soul; and there are moments where I was afraid that I was going to lose every single reader or fan forever. Any one of these would be terrrible nightmares for a writer to endure. I was constantly worried about all three.
Yet over the course of those same thirty days, some really great things have occurred. I've gotten to experience the joys and frustrations of potty training a toddler. It's a uniquely parental experience to feel pride over your child's first time being able to do something that we take for granted every day. Not to mention the fact that you save ridiculous amounts of money by not buying diapers. I also got a raise. I didn't even have to bring up the subject, let along negotiate the amount. I got to watch my oldest try to surf and do reasonably well for her first time out. I would have missed out on all of these things had I shut myself in the office, banging away on the keyboard and to the exclusion of everything else going on in my life.
To be sure, the past thirty days weren't all rosy. Some are a bit too personal to share here, others just can't be mentioned due to attorney-client. Regardless, the good and bad end up becoming valuable lessons and experiences that continue to help shape me as a writer. Being able to recall what it felt like to watch either of my girls accomplish something new/difficult for the first time is invaluable to my writing and the stories that I'm crafting. Likewise, working hard and being rewarded helps to reinforce my beliefs that hard work does pay off, if you're patient. My point is that all of these events, good and bad, have added something to my life that is important to all writers: experience.
When we're telling a story, we are writing about the lives of other people. We are sharing with the reader the emotional highs and lows of our characters. Most of us will never live the kind of lives of our characters, yet that doesn't mean that we can't pull from our own experiences to describe what our heroes and villains are feeling.
Additionally, the time away from Savannah Keller and Sean Valdes has given me the opportunity to take a more objective look at the story. Like any writing project, sometimes you have to walk away and come back and look at it with fresh eyes. Now it's time for me to get back to work on my current projects and put the lessons from the past thirty days to good use.
How do your life experiences shape your stories and characters?
Whoever said that flash fiction was good for the soul was definitely on to something. It's led me to look back at some older projects that I've shelved for various reasons. What follows is from a science fiction novel that I've been tinkering since my junior year in college (circa 1999). I've gone back, made a few adjustments and polished out a couple of rust stains. I might just take this one off of the shelf and start playing around with it again.
Excerpt from "Harbinger of the Wrath" (working title)
The priest stood in the doorway, framed by the blue-white light from the solitary light source in the corridor outside. He held the auto-pistol in his right hand, periodically flexing his last three fingers open and closed. The air continued to grow so thick that the priest inwardly swore that he saw the shadows inside the room flutter and move.
“Forgive me my trespasses and those who trespass against me, Lord. They know not what they do. Grant me your strength to do what must be done and save this poor soul before you come claim her.” The priest whispered to himself and took a single step forward as he steeled himself for what was to come. He waited for her to stir or give some sign that she was still alive. Finally, the priest kneeled upon both knees, sitting forward to keep the ache from setting into his calves. He held the auto-pistol in his lap and braced himself with his free hand.
“I know you’re awake, Janelle. Just because I’m a priest that doesn’t mean I can’t tell when someone’s trying to play me for a fool.” He said in a low, hoarse voice that did not startle the woman. When her eyes did flutter open, there was little more than bitterness and rage behind them.
“Priest?” Janelle shot back. The unguarded quiver in the woman’s voice betrayed the rage that seethed within.
“Nothing has changed Janelle. I am still the same Father…” The priest’s voice rose in volume and was still hoarse and dry, but now it was lined with a gentle edge that was almost pleading.
“No!” She interrupted, shouting at the top of her lungs. “No you’re not! You’re no priest. Priests don’t go murdering people!”
“Sinners, Janelle. They were all sinners. There was no hope of salvation for them.” The priest shot back in frustration. “Worse, they dared to try and stand in the way of God’s plan. Hence, why he unleashed the plague on the colony and probably…”
“It was a biological attack!” Janelle cut him off again. “No natural disease can kill someone in three hours. This isn’t God, it’s the Republic launching its counteroffensive to kick-start the Unification War all over again. Jesus Christ I can’t believe…”
“Don’t! Don’t you dare, don’t you dare!” Spittle flew from his lips and coated the side of the woman’s face and the cold metal barrel of the auto-pistol which was now viciously pressed against the side of her head. “Never take His name in vain! Never, do you hear me! Never!”
“Because once it starts, I can’t stop them,” his voice lowered to a whimper. “…I can’t stop them from coming for your soul. Once it starts…has started. Don’t you see?” He repeated more quietly as he panted and fought for breath. Eventually he became aware that he had grabbed hold of her hair with his other hand. As he slowed his breathing, the priest began to let go of her. He kept the auto-pistol pointed at her head as he backed away and stood up.
There's an old story that's been told in various incarnations and media. Generally, it involves a young, hard working employee at some company who passes by the desk/office of a more senior employee. For the sake of this post, we'll call the young employee Bob and the more senior employee Joe. Bob passes by Joe's office almost daily and notices that, each time, Joe is just sitting with his feet propped up on his desk. It looks like Joe is staring out into space or even half-asleep. Bob, meanwhile, puts in long hours and keeps his nose to the grindstone. After a few weeks of watching Joe's apparent tireless slacking, Bob finally works up the courage to ask another employee why Joe hasn't been fired yet. Bob's fellow worker then tells him that some time ago, Joe was sitting at his desk, with his feet propped up, and came up with an idea that saved the company millions of dollars. I've likely butchered the story, though I think you get the point.
Daydreaming is the writer's best friend, just as in the example above. It's an opportunity to let the creative side of your brain take over and just wander. This leads to all sorts of ideas that you may not have considered while you were diligently tapping away at the keyboard to meet your daily/weekly word count goal. This is because when we are in the trenches of actively writing we are either trying to capture that moment of inspiration and emotion, or trying to slog through a chapter that's become tedious for whatever reason. Neither gives the writer much of an opportunity to sit back in the audience and watch what's playing on the screen. That's what daydreaming becomes in the context of writing a book: it's like hitting the replay button for your favorite movie scene to make you didn't miss something. It leads to far more introspection that you might even find during the normal editing process.
The kind of replay editing that I'm referring to is not so much to catch grammar and punctuation mistakes, as it's a sort of quality control device. Ultimately, the writer has to ask herself/himself: does this scene play out on paper/ebook the same way that it does in my head? If it doesn't, then it may be time to hit the replay button and fix what doesn't work. Alternatively, if what you've written mirrors what's in your head, then you know that it's time to move on to the next scene.
Another important aspect of daydreaming and its importance to writing - aside from the usual enjoyment of staring off into space - is the inspirational aspect. Sometimes we dwell so much and for so long on a story that we lose sight of what ignited the creative spark in the first place. Under those circumstances, daydreaming about your story can help rekindle that fire. As I mentioned in a previous post that I tend to listen to music when I write. I also play certain songs when I'm daydreaming and trying to work out a particular section before trying to write it down.
What do you see when you write or read?
