Use Everything

I was talking about rituals and life experiences and using them. It's the old 'keeping your eyes open' ploy.


We in the USA are celebrating a holiday this week-end. A friend told me of someone she works with who had no idea what the holiday was about. We were both slightly stunned. The media give a lot of attention to this holiday. Besides that, we all get the day off. Well, most of us. How could she not know what the holiday was about?


It's like that with my writing. I've got to know what's going on all around my characters. I can't have them off on some adventure and not know where they're at, what's happening, and why. At least as far as I as the author will tell them.


I can't have them having a day off and not know what the reason is. If it's for a holiday, I better sure as heck know what the holiday is about.


Being an author means knowing a lot. Yes, you can research things on the net, but you have to make darn well sure you have researched pretty well.


I wrote an incident in one of my chapters about making a campfire. I swore I had researched it well, but one of my critiquers, a Boy Scout, laughed and said I better go back to Google or find myself a Boy Scout who would tell me how to start a campfire. My son-in-law's an Eagle Scout. I will ask him tomorrow.


Life is research.