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- Aug 7, 2005
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I've had a story brewing in the back of my mind for a while now. I think it's the one I want to write when I've finished my current WIPs. Ambitious maybe, but it's good to not run out of ideas and stop working. Writers write, after all!
I don't know where in the book I'll put the information I gather; I just know there will be bits about divorce, police procedure, art galleries, universities, etc. As background to the characters' lives. Some of it backstory, some of it to do with their chosen careers, some of it concerning the meat of the story itself.
My question is this: How do you go about gathering information about certain professions about which you know nothing?
I'm unpublished (at the moment, although fingers crossed for my book proposal) so feel a bit silly approaching, for instance, a doctor to say, "I'm a writer. Can I ask you a few questions?" I mean, I am a writer, just...not published. Yet.
So do I rely on the interweb? Trouble with that is, anyone can post there and you don't know for sure if the information you are gathering is reliable. Isn't it better to 'shadow' professionals, and if so, how do you go about making contacts/networking?
I heard it said most people would be flattered if you said, "I'm writing a book and I'd like to ask you a few questions about your work."
Trouble is, I feel like a fraud, 'cause you know they're gonna ask, "When will it be published?" and all I'd have to say is, "Uh...my last book's sitting on an agent's desk at the moment but, um...strictly speaking, I'm not published..." *feels this small*
I don't know where in the book I'll put the information I gather; I just know there will be bits about divorce, police procedure, art galleries, universities, etc. As background to the characters' lives. Some of it backstory, some of it to do with their chosen careers, some of it concerning the meat of the story itself.
My question is this: How do you go about gathering information about certain professions about which you know nothing?
I'm unpublished (at the moment, although fingers crossed for my book proposal) so feel a bit silly approaching, for instance, a doctor to say, "I'm a writer. Can I ask you a few questions?" I mean, I am a writer, just...not published. Yet.
So do I rely on the interweb? Trouble with that is, anyone can post there and you don't know for sure if the information you are gathering is reliable. Isn't it better to 'shadow' professionals, and if so, how do you go about making contacts/networking?
I heard it said most people would be flattered if you said, "I'm writing a book and I'd like to ask you a few questions about your work."
Trouble is, I feel like a fraud, 'cause you know they're gonna ask, "When will it be published?" and all I'd have to say is, "Uh...my last book's sitting on an agent's desk at the moment but, um...strictly speaking, I'm not published..." *feels this small*