Research for Writing: Blah!

I stand at the window and hope for rain that seems will never happen. It is the desert, after all, and that way for a reason. If we had an abundance of rain, it wouldn’t be desert, right?

 

The terrain in my home state finds its way into the things I write. Write what you know, someone told me recently. Perhaps they understood that I hate the research part of writing. Oh, I know some writers love to do research, but I don’t.  So I tend to write about things I know, or within easy grasp.

 

In Like A Cedar in Lebanon, I confess, I had to do some research – on medical conditions regarding a heart transplant, and about the Gulf War. But it was minuscule, not overly deep research, the way I like research to be.

 

I’ve also heard other writers say to make sure you get your facts straight in your writing. Readers will KNOW and point out your errors to you. Maybe I was an ignorant reader, still am, because I seldom care about factual errors. If it’s blatant, maybe, but otherwise I just want a good read, something to keep me turning pages to see what happens next.

 

I’m not talking about grammatical or spelling errors. Those I spot right away. Unfortunately! I say unfortunately because I hate to be distracted when I’m reading.

 

So I write, hoping, praying I don’t have to do research. I’m currently working on several projects. One: going through my manuscript about being a cougar from a Christian perspective. (yes, I AM married to a younger man, 16 years younger – we’ve been married 19 years). Two:

Two different short articles for a testimony contest with FaithWriters. Three: Two different novels. Four: Polishing a synopsis and first chapter of a novel for an entry to the Page Turner contest with FaithWriters.

 

So, I better get busy!