"Don’t research Researching isn’t
Oct. 27th, 2015 07:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragonlady7via http://ift.tt/1O5NoCA:
“Don’t research
Researching isn’t writing and vice-versa. When you come to a factual matter that you could google in a matter of seconds, don’t. Don’t give in and look up the length of the Brooklyn Bridge, the population of Rhode Island, or the distance to the Sun. That way lies distraction-an endless click-trance that will turn your 20 minutes of composing into a half-day’s idyll through the web. Instead, do what journalists do: type “TK” where the fact should go, as in “The Brooklyn Bridge all TK feet of it, sailed into the air like a kite.” “TK” appears in very few English words (The one I get tripped up on is “Atkins”) so a quick search through your document for “TK” will tell you whether you have any fact-checking to do afterwards. And your editor and copyeditor will recognize it if you miss it and bring it to your attention.”
-
Cory Doctorow
Use this writing technique to avoid endless click-trances. For more snazzy writing tips for the 21st and ½ century open Context to page 30.
(via ismellfunny)
Also, in MS Word you can go into advance search and look up case-sensitive TK, so that will make your life even easier if you’re working with a super long document :B
(via fieldbears)
_—–__ Call me crazy but I usually don’t need to do research for piddly shit like that? I usually need to research because, like, how long is the Brooklyn Bridge? Can you run across it in a matter of a couple of minutes, or is it going to take longer? I’d better look at a picture, will my character need to vault any fences to get onto it before the bomb goes off? Or can I not do this scene like this at all? If you’re researching shit just to include factoids, I don’t think I want to read where you’re sprinkling them. Like, I get this tip or whatever, but it could not have less bearing on my actual writing process if it tried. If your factoid can be Googled and find-replaced later, your scene doesn’t need it. I do sometimes write scenes where I didn’t research, and so I leave the setting sketchy and demarcate the whole thing with four asterisks or something I’ll see later when scrolling– but that’s not a factoid, that’s me pointing up that I gotta figure out something major and rewrite this. Like, could he run to the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge in time or is this gonna have to be set in the Newport Plaza Mall instead? And does she know about the terrorist plot yet or not? That’s not a factoid, but that’s what I use research for. And I know nine times outta ten I’m gonna have to pitch the whole scene. There’s no shame in the click spiral. I usually find important things when I let myself keep reading. Just– use it wisely.
“Don’t research
Researching isn’t writing and vice-versa. When you come to a factual matter that you could google in a matter of seconds, don’t. Don’t give in and look up the length of the Brooklyn Bridge, the population of Rhode Island, or the distance to the Sun. That way lies distraction-an endless click-trance that will turn your 20 minutes of composing into a half-day’s idyll through the web. Instead, do what journalists do: type “TK” where the fact should go, as in “The Brooklyn Bridge all TK feet of it, sailed into the air like a kite.” “TK” appears in very few English words (The one I get tripped up on is “Atkins”) so a quick search through your document for “TK” will tell you whether you have any fact-checking to do afterwards. And your editor and copyeditor will recognize it if you miss it and bring it to your attention.”
-
Cory Doctorow
Use this writing technique to avoid endless click-trances. For more snazzy writing tips for the 21st and ½ century open Context to page 30.
(via ismellfunny)
Also, in MS Word you can go into advance search and look up case-sensitive TK, so that will make your life even easier if you’re working with a super long document :B
(via fieldbears)
_—–__ Call me crazy but I usually don’t need to do research for piddly shit like that? I usually need to research because, like, how long is the Brooklyn Bridge? Can you run across it in a matter of a couple of minutes, or is it going to take longer? I’d better look at a picture, will my character need to vault any fences to get onto it before the bomb goes off? Or can I not do this scene like this at all? If you’re researching shit just to include factoids, I don’t think I want to read where you’re sprinkling them. Like, I get this tip or whatever, but it could not have less bearing on my actual writing process if it tried. If your factoid can be Googled and find-replaced later, your scene doesn’t need it. I do sometimes write scenes where I didn’t research, and so I leave the setting sketchy and demarcate the whole thing with four asterisks or something I’ll see later when scrolling– but that’s not a factoid, that’s me pointing up that I gotta figure out something major and rewrite this. Like, could he run to the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge in time or is this gonna have to be set in the Newport Plaza Mall instead? And does she know about the terrorist plot yet or not? That’s not a factoid, but that’s what I use research for. And I know nine times outta ten I’m gonna have to pitch the whole scene. There’s no shame in the click spiral. I usually find important things when I let myself keep reading. Just– use it wisely.
