(no subject)

[the-gabih.livejournal.com]

As far as research goes, how much are you doing this month as you write? If something comes up that you can get away with sketching out rather than using detail that requires you to do some slightly in-depth stuff, which do you go for? And what's the oddest thing you've had to research so far for your NaNo, whether it was done this month or before NaNo began?

I did next to no research before this month, so I've been pretty much looking things up as they appear in the story. So far I've had to Google floriology, traditional Italian guitar music, Hungarian and German swear words and the history of Sealand (though the last one turned out to be unneccessary, although still fairly funny). The way in which blood splatters after a stabbing has also cropped up too, although that was less fun to research.

Comments

[stellamaris.livejournal.com]

I stop to do a bit of research here and there. The more details I know, the more words I can write! I have to be careful though, and know when to stop. Getting lost in research can very easily turn into an avoidance technique, or an entire writing session going to waste.

Why hello thar Mr. Darcy icon.

[hooves.livejournal.com]

I don't know about everyone else, but researching my topic is more exciting than writing about it. I'm finding that I prefer to research. It's rather sad, really, when documentaries are more exciting than characters you've created yourself.

I'm behind in my word count anyway, but it's going to be really hard for me to focus on my writing when I'd rather be researching more info.

I tend to do as much research as possible, though this year, I put it off until the last minute. So that means I research as I go. (Boo, because it's such a time-sink.) I can't plow through if one detail is out of place.

Last year's NaNoWriMo, the weirdest thing I researched was the year scissors were invented. This year, I've looked up what day of the week the 5th of March was in 1850. Thank God for the internet.

[sekaigo.livejournal.com]

I think WWII-era rifles and the effects/history/way of smoking opium have been the weirdest so far. XD I generally just do a quick google search and try to get an overview of whatever I need to know from that, and then research it more later.

[vialofzydrate.livejournal.com]

I'm doing the research as I go. For the most part, my story is being written (and outlined in detail) as I go. lol.

I think the weirdest thing I've looked up is Finnish insane asylums... other than that, it's been mostly medical stuff.

[teithiwr.livejournal.com]

Finnish asylums? Hee!

...I actually live really close by to an old mental hospital. (In Finland. :D)

[vialofzydrate.livejournal.com]

You're the most awesome person ever.

[teithiwr.livejournal.com]

That made my day. :D

[pipe-organ-wolf.livejournal.com]

For the most part, I'm writing stuff I know fairly well. I've had to research a few things, but I didn't invest much time. I just wanted enough of an idea to know where I'm going when I go back and edit. I did have to look up prison/mental institution restraints, especially pictures, and even with safe search settings on full, I learned more about people than I wanted to know.

At the editing stage, I do plan on doing more research. I just don't want to burn all my writing time now. But it would be very nice to know what kind of gun my char's likely to be carrying, how many shots per clip, etc. If nothing else, I'm hoping to find some synonyms for "gun" and "rifle" to change it up a bit.

[tehexile]

... that's odd, i've had to restrain difficult prisoners in my novel too. but its a sci-fi setting and so it ended up being full of tractor beams, neural dampeners and teleport redirectors.

I've been mostly researching coffee flavours and varieties for my Transdimensional Coffee Shop of Doom.

[quetzalcoatzin.livejournal.com]

usually I kinda do a quick wikipedia search if I find myself a little hung up. I've found that if I research for real as I go I start to procrastinate on actually writing!

[storywriter84.livejournal.com]

I do research when I need to. I don't always know exactly what I'm going to be writing about beforehand so it's hard to do research like that. Also, I think it's better to do it as you're writing. Currently I'm doing research on nightmares for a minor character.

[lmeighmy.livejournal.com]

My main characters are Mi'kmaq Indians from the northeast, so I've had to research Mi'kmaq traditions and stuff. My big thing is that I want to incorporate traditional Mi'kmaq stories into the novel...stories that illustrate a point I'm making. I have some stories I've accumulated from the 'Net, but any more will have to come after November, as I just don't have the time.

Occasionally, something else crops up, like what kind of vehicle I want them to be driving as they go from northern Maine to Mexico, towns in northern Mexico that might have a decent hospital, and even Apache witch doctor rituals.

[kallavindar.livejournal.com]

My research has been limited to Italian architecture and what stones were used to pave the streets of Volterra. I didn't find out the answer to that, unfortunately.

Also, general information about how long does it take to fly from Portland to Rome and that kind of stuff. In the end I had to make some up based on how long it takes to fly from Portland to Venice.

[stellamaris.livejournal.com]

OMG are you writing a Twilight fic?

[emmalie-crystal.livejournal.com]

Mostly I'm ignoring the research til December. Only thing I've seriously paused writing to look up were flights in order to get my FMC and two MMCs from Orlando to Kyoto. I seriously need to research colleges in Florida, and multiple personality disorders. Bu that's for December~

[zxora.livejournal.com]

So far I've looked up common causes of death in the early 16th century, but haven't had much luck, so I'm just going to blame a carriage accident, I think...:-P.

~*Kelsey*~

[the-gabih.livejournal.com]

Apparently one rather surprising medieval death toll was a result of toothache- the infection would spread to the sufferer's brain, and they'd die. It was actually the most common cause of death at one point, although I don't know which point in the medieval period this actually was, so... yeah.

[fifmeister.livejournal.com]

Until my 3000+ word day yesterday, I was behind in my word count, so when I came across something that needed research, I made a note to come back to it later. (December is for research!) So far, the things that need additional research are mainly landmarks of Chicago and some information on genetics--namely, how exactly the powers that be go about determining if one set of DNA matches another set well enough to determine a familial relationship. All I know about the topic is what I've seen on CSI, so I definitely need to do some further research. :p Following in that same vein, I also need to do some research on the military to find out if there's some kind of official branch that handles DNA-related things (identification of remains, etc) and what it might be called.

Oh, and I'd also like to find out what material elevator doors are usually made from.

[gnomenapper.livejournal.com]

I'm doing some minor research as I go. Like pulling up google and a few pages, typically Wikipedia. Then I pop in the basics as a placeholder for more thorough information later. If I do too much research I get caught up in learning, then I lose my train of thought. :(
I tend to stick with what I know, but sometimes a character takes on a mind of it's own and all of a sudden I've typed that they know how to play the violin (which I know nothing about). Crazy things like that :P

[walkertxkitty.livejournal.com]

Not as much as I would have had to if I had followed my original idea, but more than I'd like. I've had to look up the history of men and women's fashion so that I could figure out what their clothing looks like typically across classes. I've spent quite a bit of time researching poisons, alchemy, ceremonial magic, and daggers.

[bailzzararco.livejournal.com]

I suppose I might have to do some research at some point, but I haven't had to so far.

[teithiwr.livejournal.com]

I'm saving most of my research for December. I make a lot of stuff up as I go along - the good thing about writing about a (modern-day) fantasy world. :)

I've been researching Roman names a lot, though, but that's quick. Oh, and some minor stuff about steam trains, too. Nothing major, though: I want to write, not get bogged up in looking up interesting stuff.

[takatohedgehog.livejournal.com]

I did most of my research in October and have all the articles I needed saved on my pen drive, but I've got Wikipedia set as my internet homepage, so I can just click the home button and all my answers are there :)

[elbereth-light.livejournal.com]

I'm barely researching.
Happily, my novel is fantasy (with steampunk elements) so I don't need to research much - I can just make it up!
I did research drugs a little, since I'm trying to come up with one for my fantasy world. But I got sucked into the internet and it held up the writing.
So now, if I need facts, I use the good ol' square brackets and decide to come back to it in December, or when my word count is looking healthier. Same goes for the steampunkish engines and whatnots. I don't need to know the intricate workings right now, and researching would just lead to immense procrastination.

[elementarystars.livejournal.com]

I have such a problem with research. I'm writing about something I thought I knew very well, but it turns out there are loads of little details I have no idea about. I got stuck in a researching rut and didn't write ANYTHING, I just researched brake discs and aerodynamics.

But after some pep talks from fellow NaNo-ers, I realised this month was about just getting everything out and then later you can go back and change things. So I'm faring much better now.

Weirdest thing I researched this year has been carbon fibre. Hm.

[jasper-child.livejournal.com]

I've actually been trying to avoid researching for any part of my novel, except when I couldn't avoid it.'

For instance, I know nothing about the Spanish Navy or merchant ships... or anything nautical for that matter so I did the barest amount of research and stopped myself before I went too far. Probably the most in-depth I went was for the second mate (which my MC is) and even then I tried to forget most of what I found out so it could hover in my subconscious.
When I do go too far, I tend to lose ideas in the process (and since it's quantity over quality, I'm saving my research time for later).

...The last thing I searched for was a name for the friend character I just made.

[lovin-torture.livejournal.com]

Before NaNo I had done a bit of research but I think I misinterpreted how much I needed to do. I've been googling like a headless chicken since I started D:
I've had to do a far bit of research because I want to try and make it as realistic as possible. It's mostly due to the fact it's set in the UK and I need things like train station namees, the names of schools/roads/suburbs/hotels.
It does get a bit annoying though :/