How I Write–My Favourite Resource/Research Sites

For those new to coming to my site, every week, my accountability group poses a question to each other about writing. This week, we’re shouting out to those who have great resource/research sites.

I chose this topic because there are tons of great sites out there for authors and aside from the usual craft kind, there are some that I keep on my iGoogle homepage.

Writing craft wise, there’s one I constantly visit because of the depth of her articles. This would be Roni Loren. I especially like her friday round up of what’s been going on around the internet. This is a must visit for me every friday.

I’m sure everyone knows the Bookshelf Muse but if you don’t, they feature an emotion or event or whatever and offer a variety of descriptive words you can use instead. They’re similar to the Flip Dictionary, but a bit more specific.

Jody Hedlund’s blog is another awesome resource for authors. I find something to relate with most if not all of her posts. They are insightful for aspiring writers and pubbed authors.

Now, research wise, I found these sites by accident but I must say that I love them. For instance, if you’re looking for medical research, Jordyn Redwood has a great site. She offers great posts to help fiction writers write plausible medical scenarios. If you write forensics, then you should check out the Writer’s Forensic Blog where they answer questions and discuss certain topics like “How Could My Time-traveling Physician Save the Life of My 15th Century Heroine With a Blood Transfusion?”. The last one is Arma Virumque Cano, a blog I was turned on to by a post based on this question, “What kind of handgun would you use to slay a dragon?“.

Don’t forget to check out my accountability partners in crime: Danie Ford, Emma G. Delaney, Kimberly Farris, Kristen Koster

Tips and Tricks: Do-It-Yourself Fire Starters

Right now, I’m working on Not Quite Dead, a book that takes place about 28 years after a zombie apocalypse. I’ve been quite busy lately looking up survival tips that I could incorporate into the story such as natural herbal remedies, etc. One thing that I did find that I thought was interesting (although I probably won’t exactly use it) is this tip on how to start a fire using cotton pads dipped in candle wax.

It’s a pretty cool idea and it’d be very easy to carry some around in your pocket (not that you’d want to start a fire to attract zombie attention but still). You simply dip the pads into melted candle wax, let it dry and then when you’re ready to use one, make a small tear and light it on fire.

The wafers can be used in whole, broken in half or quarters depending on the quality of kindling and how dry it is, the larger the piece the longer the burn time and better for damp kindling.

If you had limited supplies and were desperate during the times of an apocalypse, what would you use to keep warm?

Thursday 13: Round up of Science /Humanities

1. E-readers get heavier with each book
2. One step closer to the borg
3. Stretchy solar cells make self-powering ‘skin’
4. Mind-reading devices help the speechless speak
5. Brain scans reveal lucid dreaming’s sleep cinema
6. Smart chimp gets speech like a human
7. First known Europeans identified
8. Cancer found in 2,000 year old mummy
9. Blood from a stone? No. Blood from a rice? Sure.
10. Eyes are the window to the soul; skin is a window to the brain
11. Vampire-like predatory bacteria could become a living antibiotic
12. Your brain knows a lot more than you realize
13. NASA to develop dust grabbing tractor beams for future missions

How I Write– Research

While last week we talked about how we develop our characters, this week the question asked was how we do our research.

I don’t know if you know, but I write weird stuff. I don’t write normal, humans living ordinary lives. My book is all about spies and assassins and psychic powers. And through the vein of it all, I love science and adding a scientific spin on the paranormal.

My research involves science textbooks and Googling about psychic abilities and various uses of equipment. But mostly, I make it up. That’s the thing when you write paranormal, you can use your imagination to create things. Like copying memories from one person and transferring them into another.

What I write, there isn’t tons of research out there for (sometimes, none). I have been known to look up fighting techniques, however, and watch youtube videos of it, studying the way the fighter moves. I don’t tend to mention real places either. Why? Because I fear those details that need to go into the story to make it real for readers. If it’s a real place, especially one I’ve never gone to, which less face it, is everywhere, then I know I’ll mess something up. So what did I do? My characters live on the mountains. Granted, in book2 they do go to town, but it’s not a real place. I can make up whatever I want and no one can say ‘hey, you wrote that wrong’.

I’m always in awe at those who write historicals. I think that it’s the hardest genre to write just because there’s so much you need to know. All those accuracies, you need to keep in the back of your mind or else you know someone is going to find it and point it out.

All in all, there are layers to researching. I Google (my main source to the wacky information you can’t ask someone out loud), but I also watch movies (fight scenes) and read other books. In the end, it all helps those puzzle pieces fall in place.

Check out how my other friends do research: Danie Ford Emma G. Delaney Kimberly Farris Kristen Koster