Starting my next book... sort of
So I'm doing the preliminary research and note taking on my next book. Unlike most books I write, this one was sort of 'given' to me by my editor, or at least a very basic two sentence plot summary was, namely: Sheikh has an affair and then leaves heroine not knowing she is pregnant. Three years later they meet again...Lots of room for possibilities!! So for the last few weeks I've been thinking about motivations for the characters. I'm pretty big on motivations. I can't 'settle' into a book until I've thought of good reasons for the hero and heroine to act the way they do. So right away I saw I had some pretty big problems to solve, namely: 1.) Why would a hero ditch the heroine? 2.) Why would she not tell him about the baby? I've never done a secret baby plot before, and in this day and age I don't think there *should* be too many secret babies, so I'll have to think through this one carefully!
The other thing I've been researching is my fictional sheikhdom. Now since it's fictional, you might think there might little research to do, but I like to put my fictional kingdom in real places. My last made-up country was based roughly on Morocco. This time it's based on the island Socotra, which is owned by Yemen and positioned off the coast of Somalia. And finally I need to research pearl diving, because that is the island's industry!
I really enjoy research, and I've had to do more than I anticipated for each book. I love writing settings, so I really try to get my details right. It helps when I've been to the place--like Italy, Greece, Morocco--but when I haven't my imagination and the internet can take me there! Besides places, for various books I've researched architecture, real estate, hospice care, art therapy, autism, the diamond industry, and self-injury to name a few.
Of course, with all the research, there has to be a balance. You don't want to stuff your book full of irrelevant facts just because they're interesting [to you]. What do you think? Do you like lots of research-type details in your book or do they annoy you? Or do you notice them at all?
Labels: research, writing life
posted by Kate Hewitt at
4:10 PM
