Some novelists write historical fiction or contemporary thrillers filled with a wealth of meticulous detail, all carefully put together from genuine sources.
Others handwave their way through with such entertaining verve that you never notice.
Lawrence Block, a prolific and entertaining guy, has written complex crime fiction about a burglar who keeps having to solve murders in order to keep himself out of jail; stories about a clever, unsleeping operator who specializes in crossing tricky international borders, usually not by legal means. It's all very convincing stuff. And here's what he says about research:
"I don't enjoy it and don't do a very good job of it. I force myself when I have to, and I've become better about this in recent years, less given to slipshod fakery, but the idea of deliberately setting out to write a book that requires a vast amount of academic research is anathema to me."*
This is well and good if you're reading or writing fiction. It's entertainment! But be on lookout for it in commentary. A lot of what passes for news today is some pundit or another, holding forth on events of the day and speculating on what the future may hold. Most actual newscasts are news -- but the cable networks tend to fill prime time with commentators, not reporters. Know the difference.
It's even worse when it comes to politicians, and that goes double at rallies and campaign events. "Slipshod fakery" is the order of the day. Keep a notepad handy, or use a handheld device to make notes when they share facts and figures and supposed history or poll results. Look it up. Get back to primary sources if possible.
Life is not a novel and speaking for myself, I'd like to avoid the drama and sweep from a novel in my own life. Grand events are too often meatgrinders for the people who have to endure them.
_______________________
* Page 40, Writing the Novel from Plot to Print to Pixel, 2016.
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
3 comments:
I like the Scudder detective novels myself, but Bernie and the Tanner books are good too.
Block also has written one or two writing on writing books. One, Telling Lies For Fun and Profit, is a very readable how to on fiction creation. I like it better than King's On Writing, which I also have, thanks to an earlier inclination. Maybe I'll get back into it sometime.
Thanks.
Even much of what passes for news in daily newspapers in long on opinion and short on "just the facts." I think a cable news show like the old Headline News channel that actually gave the news would be a welcome respite, but no one with the money to fund an operation like that seems interested.
Yeah, research can be a pain sometimes, but it’s absolutely vital for certain genres, like alternate history.
I’m currently working on the third book in my ‘Republic of Texas Navy’ alt-history series, and this one needs a lot more research to allow properly weaving my fictional elements int the real events of World War 2.
Good luck with your new book. I really like what you have done with the ‘Hidden Frontier / I work on a Starship’ stories.
Post a Comment