In Praise of Libraries

I did something yesterday that I haven't done in yonks.  I went to the library.


Yes, I know. Flay me senseless with disapproving retorts.  Everyone knows you should Support Your Local Library and it was very remiss of me to neglect it for so long.  But to be honest I had forgotten all about it.  


Time was I hung around not only my local library, which isn't the greatest depository of reference material, but also the Central Library in Edinburgh, a better stocked resource, with the dedicated enthusiasm of a junkie.  When the lending allowance went up from 3 books to 15 I nearly fainted with excitement at the prospect of lugging great bagfuls of hardbacks home on wet winter evenings.  I could while away hours fingering the bindings.  

My local library looks nothing like this

So what happened?  The internet, that's what.  Why trudge out of the house when all you need to do is Google something?


But as I mentioned in my last post, I'm toying with art again and looking for inspirational material.  Some subjects call for hard copy and art is one of them.  Hence my visit, prodigal son-like, to the local library.


What was nice was they even remembered me after so long!  Now, that's the kind of personal treatment you don't get from Google, isn't it?  I might not use it much, but it's nice to know it's there.  So don't be like me, folks. Support Your Local Library.

Research

I read somewhere - probably in one of the million or so books on writing I seem to have purchased over the years - that in order to write realistic fiction you have to do even more research than you would for non-fiction. Not only do you have to know the facts about the world you are creating, you have to internalize them to such an extent that you can create real people to live in that world.

I don't know how true that is, never having attempted non-fiction, but I would say research is something of a quagmire for me. It's so easy to get absorbed in the details and carried away with immersing yourself in an area of research you can find yourself drifting away from the original point of the exercise. At the moment I'm looking into faded stately homes for my current WIP - it's not a major plank of the book but it helps me visualise the setting for the main part of the story. The upshot is I can spend far too much time trawling through books on the subject. It's not a hardship by any means - I've always loved visiting stately piles and looking at classical architecture - but maybe that's the trouble.

But for all the pictures I can't seem to lay hands on architectural plans for these houses. Any suggestions?

Ello, ello, ello...

I'm looking for a bit of help with research. One of my characters is a Detective Sergeant and I need to fill in a bit of bio and procedural information (mainly for my own benefit) to fill him in a little. Unfortunately all I know about police begins and ends with The Bill which probably isn't the best source material. So I'm issuing a plea to anyone reading this who knows a bit about police business from the inside (preferably British - or Scottish to be specific - but other countries might be useful on general questions) and doesn't mind asking a lot of questions from an ignoramus. Please leave a comment and I'll get back to you.

Anyone remember Z Cars and Dixon of Dock Green? I'm sure things have moved on since then...

Research

eeeek! Just realised I haven't posted here for over a week. Sorry about that, but this has been a very eventful week. I can't go into detail but there has been some movement on the agent front and hopefully I will have some news to give you in the not too distant future.

Meanwhile I'm having fun researching the witchcraft aspect of WIP. I recently purchased some new tarot cards (I dabbled once before many moons ago but let it lapse) and joined some Wicca forums. The cards have been giving me some startlingly accurate predictions and I've discovered that Wiccans are lovely people who contrary to popular mythology wouldn't hurt a fly never mind turn anyone into a toad. They've been only too happy to give me advice. I'm wondering how they ever came to be so reviled and burned, but then people do the strangest things!

Research is one of the things I really love about writing a story. It gives me a chance to dip into another world, to live the experiences of my characters. Mind you it has its dangers. I have a tendency to get sucked in and then it's hard to pull back and use the information in the story. Or worse, get an idea for a whole different book that takes me away from the original project. Argh! Discipline, woman! It's self-indulgence, pure and simple. You'd think I'd know better at my age.

To close here is a link to another new agency looking for clients which I spotted on my surfing travels.

Toodle-oo the noo!