Thinking of writing a book part deux

[cornell]

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112656

that's the original thread.
Now, I have heard much advice on the topic of how I should go about this, what style I should adapt etc. I have tried a few times to just start writing on the advice of people who say to do just that. This hasn't worked. I have to stop every 2 minutes to fact check and that kills whatever momentum I had maybe gathered. The more I research the bigger the project becomes. It almost as if it has a mind of its own and wants me to know more before I put pen to paper.

What I think I will do now, and am in the process of doing, is to devour everything I can on the subject. Even though I lived through it and have my own personal view on how everything went down, there are still crucial and interesting facts that I must use as a source to give this project any kind of credibility. I'm not writing a history book, but it does need a strong backbone. It is my job to provide the blood, guts and flesh. The blood and guts I guess will be the horror stories, the flesh, my slant.

This has been a tough journey so far and I am forming opinions that are new to me in light of new information through the research, and not to be a whiner, but delving into this sad, sad period which surrounded my 30 years in the country has sometimes almost brought me to tears. I've had nightmares and long forgotten memories have resurfaced.

So I will continue to relive this until I'm ready or my wife tells me she's had enough (lol). Some of the books I've used as research so far:

http://www.amazon.com/Making-Sense-Troubles-Conflict-Northern/dp/1561310700

http://www.amazon.com/Course-Irish-History-4th/dp/1589790022/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220318805&sr=1-1

[Shweta]

Award-winning author Karen Joy Fowler does precisely this.

She reads a whole lot, immerses herself in the subject/time/place for 6 months or so, then writes. And she's absorbed and processed and integrated the world, and it shows in her writing.

This is a perfectly good approach.

Note: anything that works for you is a good approach :) I'm just letting you know it has the potential to work very well indeed.


ETA: And, I don't think you're a whiner at all. I think you're extremely brave to tackle this, especially after you lived through it.

[blacbird]

I work with a guy who is a chronic procrastinator. His motto seems to be "Procrastinate right now! Do it later." One of my favorites is when he tells me he's leaving, and an hour later I find he's still there. For him, the phrase "I'm leaving" translates into "I'm beginning to think about commencing to consider the possibility that I might start to embark on the thought journey that leads toward the concept that I might leave." That, to him, constitutes "leaving."

Lesson of that story:

Stop thinking about it and just go do it. Now.

caw

[Shweta]

Research is part of doing.

For some people, for some projects, there's no point in putting words down immediately.

[blacbird]

Research is part of doing.

For some people, for some projects, there's no point in putting words down immediately.

And for some people, no words ever get put down. Writing, the physical act of getting words out of your brain into a tangible form (paper, computer file, whatever) begets writing. It's an iterative process. Thinking about writing begets little, if anything. A desire to drink, maybe.

caw

[Phaeal]

There's no reason why you can't start writing while you're researching. Since you haven't written a book before (I assume - correct me if I'm wrong), you need to start working your prose muscles, to practice, to play with the process.

I'd suggest starting to write down your personal take on the situation, your own story within the story. In doing this, you'll be learning how to write and you may very well end up with a rough first draft that will provide you with the skeleton of the finished work.

Research is great -- I do it all the time. But I also make sure I have some actual writing underway, whether it's on the research project or one totally unconnected. Gotta keep those muscles limber, and, yes, research is one of the most seductive forms of procrastination because it just makes so much sense! Who can accuse you of not working? Look at all your reference books! Look at all your notes!

The plight of Mr. Casaubon in Middlemarch is a cautionary tale that still gives me shivers.

[tehuti88]

I guess I would second Phaeal's advice to seek a sort of middle ground. I write fantasy fiction, so research isn't as important, but since a lot of it is based on mythology and the culture and history of this region, I do need to read and learn more.

The thing is, since it's a subject I adore to bits, I don't even view it as "research." It's just reading about the subject I'm interested in, and incorporating what I learn into my story. Since I'm always writing and always learning and reading new things, the two go hand-in-hand and it would be terribly impractical for me to stop writing to research first. I'd never get done researching! *eyes her little library of about 100 books longingly*

The drawback is you might have to end up going back and revising what's already written, in light of newer things you've learned, but at least you don't run the risk of never even getting started.

It's not good to just jump headfirst into something without some knowledge (that was how I started out writing and it reads so ignorantly now! :o ), but I agree, there's a point when you have to sit down and start. If I waited until I felt I'd learned all I need to know then I would never get writing, because I never stop learning!

I think it's a really good sign that you're affected so emotionally by what you're researching, though. Caring about what one is writing is a great first step to writing well.

[Charlie Horse]

Absolutely. This might not work for everyone, but keep this in mind--You can always fix the facts later. You don't have to get it perfect the first time. The only way you ever become a writer is to write.

[cornell]

ok. some very good points there. I think I take the middle road approach and put something down. there are chapters which will not deal with anything historical or factual and will just be about me getting drunk and being driven 2 miles on the hood of a car, or my childhood friend tapping me on the head with an axe for fun, and splitting my head open like a watermelon.

[IdiotsRUs]

There's no reason why you can't start writing while you're researching. Since you haven't written a book before (I assume - correct me if I'm wrong), you need to start working your prose muscles, to practice, to play with the process.

I'd suggest starting to write down your personal take on the situation, your own story within the story. In doing this, you'll be learning how to write and you may very well end up with a rough first draft that will provide you with the skeleton of the finished work.

I have to echo this.

If you're writing and you need to put in a fact, you don't have to stop to look it up. pop a note in the sentence so: So I walked past the XXXXinsert pub name hereXXX and ...

When you've finished your first draft you can do a 'find' on all the XXX's and pop the actual name / fact / whatever in. It works great for me, because otherwise I'd stop cold and sort it. This way I can keep the momentum going when I've got it. And on days I don't have the momentum, I can fact check and sort it out.

[Shweta]

I think there are two types of research.

1) Figuring out facts. This can happen later, easy.

2) Getting a rich sense of the setting. This really should happen earlier rather than later, because it pervades writing.

Having said that, yeah, if someone's tendency is to research forever and never write, that's a bad thing. However, there's nothing wrong with saying "I will immerse myself in research for 3 months and no more; then I will start writing."

IMO.