What's the most research you've done for a script?

Well, the subject title sort of says it all.

Firing up Microsoft Encarta to check the distance by sea between San Diego and Mazatlan.

Opening Jane's Guns Recognition Guide to check the magazine capacity of an Uzi.

Other than the above, I'm a great believer in "write what you know" -- or, "write what you can imagine, that's OK too."

-Derek
One of the many reasons you should never listen to dpat ~PipeWriter

silly ?

you do as much research as you need to make your story plausible

the more you know the less research you must do - that's why they say, "write what you know"

write on!

Re: silly ?

When I wrote my action/fantasy set in 1890's India, "The Eyes of Mara," I spend about a month reading (and watching on video) some Kipling tales and took a book or two out of the library about the Raj period in Colonial India, and that was it. As I wrote the script and came across a technical detail, such as weapons used, types of food ate, clothing, etc, I would google it.

Research, I feel, should add credibility to your story, but the story itself should be timeless.

After I finished the first draft, I had a history expert and a military buff look it over and made changes that I felt were needed.

Bottom line, don't spend so much time researching the small details, since the story needs and deserves broader strokes that research will not give you. You'll end up losing focus of what your story is about.

Re: silly ?

I've done about a month's worth of research, pouring through books about the Civil War, contacting friends who are Civil War buffs, etc.

Having said that, I didn't let historical facts get in the way of telling a good story.

Re: silly ?

That is why I love computers. My local library is hopeless. Research that use to take months not takes minutes.

Everyday I visit dictionary.com.

Google is your friend.

don't discount its value

Research can be an appealing distratction for anyone who wants to avoid actually writing, a real excuse to procrastinate. But I find that deep research on a subject that interests me, history for example, often raises new story possibilities as I learn more about the background subject.

I'm not talking about technical details like many of you have mentioned. That's necessary (although some lesser craftspeople ignore that too). But I mean research into, in the case of one story I'm currently working on, the way people actually lived in colonial America. I'm researching it by reading book after book of history, biography, military and social analysis, trying to get beyond the cliches of the three-cornered hat and fife-and-drum music.

It always comes back to the characters you present and the journeys they pursue. if they're not compelling, all the research in the world isn't going to salvage the story. But the forces that shape a story are mysterious and uncontrollable, and research can be a source for insight into character. If it's done properly, in the right spirit, it probably will be just that.