I love a good mystery or crime novel. Do you read
‘dedication’ and ‘acknowledgement’ pages when you get a new book to read? The
dedication page is the one where the author dedicates the book to a certain
person or persons, usually someone that played an important role in the
writer’s life or someone that supported their project in some way.
The acknowledgement page is where the author gives
acknowledgement to the people that provided resources, information and aid in
the creation of their book. These people are usually experts that provide the
help/information required for the story to be authentic and believable.
Some authors, John Grisham and Scott Turrow for example, are
attorneys that have extensive legal knowledge and a wealth of case histories in
their heads. A lay person trying to write a crime novel who has no legal
experience in such matters, have to rely on experts for information. This falls
under research. You must search through printed material and rely on personal
interviews.
Another favorite author of mine has a main character that is
a medical examiner. In order to accurately describe forensic medicine and
investigation practices, she needs the expertise provided by knowledgeable
people in that field. She also utilizes experts from the FBI and various police
agencies.
I have yet to write a crime novel, perhaps I never will. Who
knows? I write in the paranormal genre. I already new much of the beliefs of
werewolves and vampires, but I also researched more information on the subject.
Borough Hall has it’s beginnings in Bucharest
Romania.
As with others in my age group I learned very little about the European country
in world history class while in high school. I had to glean the information I
needed through research. I’ve traveled to tiny Luxembourg,
passed through Germany to
the Netherlands, and took a
day trip to Brussels, Belgium. That’s the only personal
experience I’ve had in Europe.
In order to set some of the scenes for my story, I had to
describe them. How do you do that without knowing the scenery yourself? You
research it. I use Wikipedia often for my research. I read about the history of
the country and viewed/downloaded some of the images provided there. I also
scoured the internet for more images. This gave me the resources I needed in
order to provide accurate descriptions of the scenes for my readers. Look at
the image above. I used images like that in my first novel, and described it in
detail. Such descriptions help the reader see the scenes in their mind.
The bottom line is that unless you have personal knowledge
or experience in the field in which you are writing, you’re going to do
thorough research for your stories. I believe that you can never learn too
much. Even researching for your writing, you’ll acquire knowledge that you’ll
probably not forget. So get out there, do your research and
Good luck with all of your writing endeavors.
