Crazy things authors do in the name of research

Over the years as an editor, I’ve had to ask various authors if what they’ve said in their books is accurate. The internet is a wonderful place for an author to begin their research, but it’s not necessarily completely correct.

I know of several authors who had to check whether certain buildings were still in various towns. Google Maps is a good place to start, but Google Earth is even better. Best of all is a friend living in that town who can do the leg work for the author.

I know of several authors who’ve been on a police program where they travel with officers on their daily/nightly duties. That really gives immediacy to the writing.

I’ve previously mentioned the well-known erotic romance author who freely confesses to having broken arms and legs off some of her Barbie and Ken dolls while researching her sex scenes. But it’s good to know what finally gets in her book works.

Then there was the author who wanted her heroine to escape from a certain model of car. Not owning that type of vehicle herself, she went down to the local car sales yard and asked to view one. I’m not too sure what the salesman thought as she practised climbing in and out of the trunk, but hey, I knew her heroine could do it!

One of my favorite stories is the author whose heroine needed to escape from a villain during a romantic scene. Her husband came home from work one night to find candles on the table and an unopened bottle of champagne. He was really happy until she explained that she was going to hit him over the head with the full bottle, and see if she could drag his unconscious body down the hallway as her heroine would need to do. Her husband just looked at her and said, “Can’t I drink all the champagne and get unconscious that way instead?”

You may already have read of Anny Cook’s research into making acorns into food. An entire chat loop of authors was waiting with bated breath for each new step of this adventure. It ended up as a great blog, but the actual book she was using it for went in a different direction from the one she was expecting and her hero and heroine never had to cook the acorns.
But maybe one day in a future book….
The acorn story is here: http://annycook.blogspot.com.au/p/great-acorn-hunt.html

Helen Woodall

What's in your purse/suitcase?

Recently, courtesy of a bunch of bushfires, I was looking at the possibility of having to evacuate my home with very little warning.

Now I admit I am weird. I own thousands of books and over two hundred ornamental frogs and I decided not to pack any of them. How could I choose just one or two? It would be like choosing one child. I ended up putting my passport and a clean pair of undies in my purse and making sure I was wearing shoes. Well, it is summer here and I usually go barefoot six months of the year.

I am the person who travelled around the world with three sets of clothes – one on, one in the wash and one tidy outfit. Yes, I already admitted I am weird.

So I get quite annoyed when reading a book where, whatever happens, the heroine drags the appropriate outfit or item from her purse/suitcase. A friend agreed with me and called it “a suitcase the depth of the Cayman Trench” syndrome. Her must-haves were passport/ID, money and tampons. Another friend is more the Boy Scout type. Her purse includes a roll of duct tape, a Leatherman multi-tool, meds, spare glasses, Sony reader/charger, cell phone/charger, small notepad and pen, a spool of waxed twelve cord (very strong string!) and a lighter.

Another friend commented, “Purse? What’s a purse? I tend to set those down and forget them in various public places. Wallet goes in one back pocket of the jeans, cell phone in the other. Front pocket has lip balm, a hair elastic, and occasionally a small stash of pain reliever. Keys go on a carabiner clip to the belt loop, with mini Swiss army knife. What more does one need? Oh, sunglasses on top of head.”

So, do you get annoyed when the heroine of the book is sitting on the beach in her bikini, and she is suddenly invited to a party and instantly pulls a sexy ballgown out of her suitcase? Or would there be one in your suitcase too?

This blog has been reprinted from redlinesanddeadlines.blogspot.com, Sunday 22 March 2009
 

Helen  Woodall

helen.woodall@gmail.com

The Power of Words

Author Anny Cook recently wrote an interesting article about the power of words, and how overuse of a word diminishes its power.

http://annycook.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/power-of-words.html

What she said was particularly relevant after a recent court case here in Australia where a man was not fined for swearing at the police, including using words like “fucking pigs” when referring to the police officers. The court deemed the words to be in “common use” and “not offensive to the ordinary person”.

Repetitive words are the bane of an author’s life. We’ve all read books where every character “moves” across a room. No one ever walks, runs, glides, hurries, marches... Nope, they all move. Boring.

But authors also need to be aware of the emotional impact words can have, greatly enhancing the power of the story. Anny suggested “abandon” as one such powerful word. It does indeed tug at the emotions.

Authors who spend a little while with a thesaurus can not only remove all those incredibly boring repetitive words, but also replace some overused words with much more powerful ones. And remember, a short word can be just as poignant as a long one. After all, haven’t you sometimes felt let down simply because the hero never said, “I love you” to the heroine?

Helen Woodall

helen.woodall@gmail.com

A line in the sand

The most difficult thing for a new writer to figure out is where to draw the line in the sand. You know that line. The one where you take your stand about what you will—or will not—change in your book.

In the five years since I was offered my first contract, I’ve had eight editors at four publishers. They’ve ranged from the excellent to the truly awful. In an ideal world, your editor will do all he/she can to make your book a success. Most editors fall in that category. However…there are some who are not.

Signs that you might want to discuss a change of editor with your publisher:

1)      If your editor is ever denigrating of you as a person. If your editor tells you that you’re dumber than a box of rocks, it might be time to move on. Publishing is a business and all communications should be business-like.

2)      If your editor fails to respond to polite, business-like email after five days. I once had an editor quit in the middle of editing my book. The first I knew about it was when a totally strange woman emailed me about how thrilled she was to be working with me.

3)      If your editor ever tells you “because I said so” when you ask why something has to be changed. Any editor worth her salt should be able to provide a valid reason—even if it’s simply because the offending material doesn’t meet the publisher’s guidelines.

Now the caution. Be very sure, very sure the reason you’ve drawn your line in the sand is worth the possible cost. If you truly cannot come to an agreement, you may lose your contract. A few things are absolutely worth taking that stand. Most are not.

Anny Cook

http://annycook.blogspot.com/