Fear of research

You ever get the feeling? Coming up with an excellent idea for later on in the story and you plan to for it to be that way. But in reality, you're actually uncertain if that idea is even plausible so there's necessary research to be done whether it's science or how politics or economy works.

But that's where the fear kicks in. As far as you know, there's still the possibility your excellent idea doesn't work and the better it is the more you'd be afraid of the idea of it being jossed. Does that happen to anyone else? How do you deal with it?

Nope.

I just write a description that is so generalized that I dont need to do the researc. "He pulled out a pistol" is just as good as using a real brand name.

I simply do the research. It'll either work or it won't; if it doesn't, find a better idea.

To be less of a smartass, I tend to really enjoy research anyway.

And I am rarely so interested in accuracy that I allow it to prevent me from writing something.

Of course, the best way to approach this is to start with a very vague and mutable idea and then look into things.

For example, once I was going to create a character for a roleplay set during the eighteen hundreds or so. I discovered a great deal about the Manchu dynasty, and my research even gave me ideas for character flaws- specifically an addiction to tobacco.

It allowed me to add little details and things that breathed life into the character.

Only have fear if it's something I know I can't research semi-easily. Some of the more minor things can be tough, like cultural values of someone growing up in some random place at a random time.

Use [1]

This fear is why I do the homework first and base my ideas off what I find. I've noticed that the reality of a thing is often cooler in its own way than the "fiction" (read; common and incorrect understanding, or how Hollywood says it works), so I'm able to get more creative in this way. I also avoid the problem of getting married to a great idea that just won't work.

Another good thing to do is to crowd source. It doesn't matter if you're not smart enough to understand some of the shit you want to write about, or whether or not you want to spend the time sifting through wikipedia and various scholarly articles to get info when you can just ask someone who knows what you're talking about.

tl;dr have a research consultant so you don't have to do so much of it yourself (this is an especially good tip if your Googlefu is weak like mine).

If an idea I had isn't really possible or doesn't actually fit with what I'm writing... it's more appropriate to realise it was never that cool in the first place. It was cool because I thought it could be possible, after all. If I was wrong then, well, that's that. And really, ideas are a dime a dozen, so it's barely a loss if I have to think of something else.

I absolutely love research. Quite often the research suggests things that I hadn't even considered that mould make ideal scenes, subplot arcs, sources of conflict, details that make the character more believable.

I quite often exclaim, while researching, "This is pure fucking gold!"

Research also suggests related areas of research. The only time it becomes a problem is if it becomes apparent that I would have to research too many fields/things to be practical. My Fantasy Kitchen Sink story sank due to that - it turned out I'd have to research far too much stuff just to make it vaguely fit into the time/place I wanted.

My current WIP is more reasonable, I'm doing a lot of research but I'm getting answers rather than an increasing list of questions. Usable answers that are "pure fucking gold".

I often find that reality prompts cooler ideas than the "cool ideas" it shoots down.

edited 2nd Oct '13 6:36:43 PM by Wolf1066

I'm actually doing research right now for a magic system. Not in superstition, but in basic physics. Reason; I am trying to design a magic system that at least pays lip service to natural laws. It is both more and less hard than one might think.

I know exactly what you mean. Often I find something that constrains me in some ways, but I just as often find things that open up more possibilities, so "harder and easier" is something very familiar to me.

Good point Greedling. However, I think it would be more of a confused feeling rather than just dumping the idea automatically in that it does have a lot of good points except for the fact that it doesn't work.

edited 2nd Oct '13 9:36:13 PM by PsychoFreaX

Well you feel however and even if you think something's a good decision you don't always end up enacting it right away because of how you feel. That's normal. I tend to distrust my feelings of attachment to my ideas because they probably only feel special because I was invested in them at some point rather than because they're any good.

Honestly, if something doesn't work then it simply negates all of its own good qualities. The idea working is the most important possible aspect of it. If it has other qualities that are so good that it might be worth looking into finding ways to make the idea work (usually requiring a drastic change in how the world works - magic, history, culture, whatever) then I guess you could put in the effort. Or you could just use it anyway and decide you don't care about accuracy (as long as you acknowledge that this doesn't protect you from criticisms of its inaccuracy). I've never found that desirable.

Anyway, do realise that if your idea doesn't work for whatever reason, that's the case whether or not you know it. Not having done the research just means that it'll be too late to think about it when you finally do learn you were wrong about something. Willful ignorance is never the most admirable choice.

edited 2nd Oct '13 9:49:16 PM by greedling

Odd, I'm doing that too.

Very true Greedling. I'm not saying to not research, it's definitely the right decision, but it is difficult to get started. I enjoy the presence of the idea floating in my head.

I do understand research is necessary and I usually don't feel this way for most ideas, but if it's among my tops...

edited 2nd Oct '13 10:15:49 PM by PsychoFreaX

One thing to remember is that it's OK to ignore the facts in order to make for a better story. For example: Say you've got a deaf character who communicates primarily through sign language. You can do the research into sign language, get a basic understanding of its rules and grammar and all that. But it doesn't really work well in text. So you'd end up generally ignoring all that research you did to make the story read better. So when people are communicating with sign language, it's probably better to write it with normal grammar, probably justifying it by saying that the characters are mentally translating it to normal grammar. Of course, your research might give you some ideas you can use, too.

If you really like an idea you come up with, if you think it's a really interesting idea, you can probably find some way to justify it. Even if that justification takes the form of, "It's fiction, relax."

I'm like this.

"Well, sci-fi can be cool, but every sci-fi series I've ever tried to watch has gone a billion miles over my head because I'm not remotely familiar with any of the tropes. And I don't even know how a calculator works, so how will I ever get to making credible future tech?"

edited 3rd Oct '13 3:18:32 AM by Twentington

Most people don't know how a calculator works. They do know that it works, what it can do, and what it can't do. In any case, the actual story is more important than the technological backdrop. If you've got a good story with silly technology, then it doesn't really matter that the tech is silly. If you've got a bad story with good technology, no one will want to bother. As long as the tech is internally consistent (as in, say, suddenly calculators can turn into minivans when sixty pages ago they could only turn into refrigerators) it's okay to ignore hard science and just write the story you want to write.