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Barbara Delinsky | How To Write About The Great Unknown
January 8, 2010
Write about what you know. It’s a basic rule of thumb. What we know, we
understand, and what we understand, we can better convey to readers, which is
what it’s all about. But what do you do when you’ve written half a dozen books,
and what you know and understand feels old?
You stretch. Get out of that office chair, link your fingers high over your
head and reach high, then twist left, then right, then bend at the waist and
hang those fingers low to the floor. Once you feel the blood good and strong in
your head, you’re ready to stretch the brain.
Go for the challenge! Want to set your story in a place you’ve never been?
Deal with a subject you don’t know? Create a character like no one you’ve ever
met? You can do it. Absolutely!
The fact is, you can write about what you don’t know, because you ... can ...
learn. I’ve done that for more books than I can count. How? I start with an
issue, something I’ve read about in the news, something that’s timely and that
piques my interest. Take teen pregnancy. I was in my twenties when I had my
kids, and my sons were even older when they had theirs. But stories of teen
pregnancy are all over the Web. Google. Click. Bingo!
Next, I head to the mall. Since my books are character-driven, people are
crucial. I watch, listen, imagine. I make notes of physical traits that are
different from the ones I typically use. Likewise, facial expressions.
Then it’s back home for more research. Years ago, I lived at the library during
this phase, but today the computer is my portal. That said, there’s no
substitute for a live source. The mom of my pregnant teen in Not My Daughter is a high
school principal, so I phoned a local high school and talked with the
principal’s assistant. She was thrilled to share the types of things that fill
a principal’s day in real life. She actually told me three times more than I
actually put in the book, but that’s the way it is with all research. I become
an armchair expert, so to speak. Then I dole out only enough of the details to
flesh out my characters, without boring my readers.
Research is key, whether you’re talking occupations, locations, or emotions.
And it doesn’t end when you start writing the book. New things crop up in the
course of the writing, so research-on-demand has become my M.O. And that’s OK.
Hey, I like learning, when I’m interested in a topic.
When I’m interested in a topic. If there’s one secret to writing about the
Great Unknown, it’s that. I have to be interested in the topic. If I’m not, I
haven’t a prayer in the world of hooking my reader.
I once set a book in Brazil. I had never been there and knew nothing about the
country, but did my research. The greatest compliment I received when the book
came out was from a woman from Brazil who was convinced I had been there, the
upshot of which is this: The Great Unknown is definitely do-able. It may take
work, but I like the challenge. It keeps me fresh.
Comments
7 comments posted.
Re: Barbara Delinsky | How To Write About The Great Unknown
Barbara Delinsky: Thank you for your post. I hope it will encourage other writers to venture into topics and themes they have not already covered.
Based on my experience, I've found that though there's much I don't know, there's nothing I can't research. One of the best investments for a writer (or anyone else) is to spend a little time learning how to use efficiently the research avenues provided by the Internet.
I can remember the days when any information worth having was hard to come by. Today the big problem is TMI: too much information.
The number of sources of information is huge and growing all the time. The trick is to find the exact information one needs, no more and no less, in as short a time as possible.
A researcher must also consider how good the information is. Is it up-to-date? Is it complete? Is it objective? Was it written or compiled by someone with an ax to grind? Do others consider a given source credible and reliable?
Careless reporting, rumours, factoids, hoaxes, urban legends, and other forms of misinformation have always posed problems for researchers. Now that information can be disseminated in a flash, the situation has grown exponentially worse.
Remember the news story in late 2009 that Obama would call the White House Christmas tree a "holiday tree"? That proved to be false, but not before many people believed it and raised a big fuss over it.
There's a saying in journalism: "If your mother says she loves you, check it out." To verify a piece of information, there's no substitute for a second independent source.
Keep up the good work!
(Mary Anne Landers 3:03pm January 8, 2010)
The thing about research is to check the source and depend more heavily on the ones you've used in the past. The imagination has no boundaries and is not bound by restrictions. There's a believablity factor involved and running it past your gut and sounding it out amongst experts helps, too.
(Alyson Widen 3:59pm January 8, 2010)
Fabulous insight. I imagine there would be a lot of research & fact checking even with the familiar.
(Mary Preston 6:15pm January 8, 2010)
Great interview! I have got to get a copy of this book!
(Lisa Glidewell 11:17pm January 8, 2010)
What a thought provoking subject. I remember when I had to make a report in grade school & I needed information, my mom, a teacher herself, always pointed me to the library to do my "digging". And I had wonderful librarians who would suggest not one, but many books for me to lug home & read (many hours)for the "great unknown"! Now if you want to research a place or topic, all you need do is type it into your computer & it whisks you away to the magic land of information!
(Jean Merriott 1:11am January 9, 2010)
I'm happy to see your report here, Ms. Delinsky. I've been reading your books for decades. One thing that I always want to do when reading is broadening my horizons. I can do that with writers like you who don't write only romance but always put in other issues as well, like running races, legal items, etc. and now in more recent ones I've read: why a white-skinned couple should have a black-skinned child. For me, those things are as important as, say, the "love" story or affirmation of any kind.
Thanks so much for the delightful books you've written over the years and still write.
(Sigrun Schulz 7:57pm January 10, 2010)
When I see your name on a book then I know that it is one that I want. Thank you for an interesting article that explains why your books are a welcome read for me.
Hasn't the internet made the world considerably smaller and more easily explored by more people....even those who would otherwise never be able to learn about things by going and seeing them for themselves. I am glad to be living with today's technology. Tomorrow's will be even more amazing.
(Ruby Davis 12:00pm January 12, 2010)
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