Welcome to A Writer’s POV. If someone had told me that writing a novel would cause me to loose sleep, gain weight, snap at my husband, pull my hair out, (literally and figuratively) and kick the dog, if I had one, I never would have put pen to paper. But as they say, ignorance is bliss, and I plunged in and began writing my book with the naïve expectation that I’d be finished in a year. Needless to say, five years and seven drafts later, I’m still on my quest for the Holy Grail, a published novel. Although frustrating, I spent that time growing as a writer. Every rewrite, revision and critique taught me something. Every book I read or workshop I attended offered new insights and ways to improve my craft. My goal with this blog is to share with you what I've learned so far. To talk about issues that plague all writers, to talk about the nuts and bolts of writing. Despite the fact that it's all been said before, each of us has our own way of telling a story and hopefully you'll visit often for help, support or just for the fun of it to read the posts written from this writer's point of view.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Research Can Be Fun

I was not a very good student. I hated studying, reading, and most of all; research. Now that I'm a writer, it's hard to believe that although studying may still be at the bottom of that list, reading and research give me the most pleasure.

 Whether it be for a novel or magazine story, I tend to get "lost" online when confirming a fact, or reading to learn more about a particular subject to make a profile or story more interesting and accurate. The Internet makes this former arduous task easier and more enjoyable than spending hours in a library. Believe me, I'm no academic. I'm just taking advantage of modern technology.

The past comes alive, one website at a time, revealing bits of trivia about actual historical occurrences that were little known, to me anyway, that can be used in a novel. Each mouse click leads to another and before you know it, an hour or more had passed. It's fun, but can be counterproductive at the same time.

 So now, I have to restrain my desire to know more about anything. Because eventually, I have to get back to work and write the story.
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