TRAPPED: A Graphic Novel, Part Two

For some reason I can’t explain, I’m critiquing my very first novel TRAPPED, which I wrote in the 4th Grade in 1977.

TRAPPED,  A Graphic Novel, Part Two
( see Part One)

 

(5)
BZT
    When everyone was out, including Soldier,
Don asked, “Do you have a leader? If you do, could you
take us to him?”
    “We do, so we will. Hey, S10XZS821! Turn on
the non-light bending xrz!”

“Come”

You know, whenever there’s some pesky Law of the Universe, wouldn’t it be great if you could just turn it off with a flip of a switch? And why do alien names have to be so weird?
What’s with landing right on a tree?
Also, looks like I ran out of marker on this page. Or time.

(6)
    “Meet President szaisteaF10. President szaisteaF-
10, this is?”
     “The Appolo 203 10 year mission. How did you
know English,” asked Captain Mansfield.
    “We mind read.”
    “Our question is, how do you out of a black
hole?”
    “Only the high wizard knows. I don’t
know where he is,” said the President.
    “Where is the nearest planet?”
    “5 light days away.”
    “Wow! We’ll search for it. Bye.”

First of all, “President” szaisteaF10, put some damn clothes on. Secondly, you might want to have that looked at. Seriously.
WTF is that yellow thing? It looks like a boot fell through the ceiling.
Oh, Sue, yeah. Looks like someone let herself go. She must have been pretty pissed when they turned the light-bending off.

(7)
    6 days later they land on the planet.
Pow! Slam! Crash! Bash! Blam! Clutter!
    A meteorite shower!!

It’s raining meteors, Hallelujah, it’s raining meteors, outside!

(8)
BZT
   “It’s all over now,” said Captain Mansfeild. Let’s
go out.”
    When they were all out somebody yelled,
”Freeze, let us investigate you invaders. Give
us all your weapons and your ship. Why did you come
here?”

“Freeze!”

I think a meteor is crushing one of them. Uh…a little help here?
Wait—did they land on the same damn tree on a different planet? What are the odds?

(9)
    “We want to see the High Wizard.”
    “Why?”
    “We want to know how to get out of a
black hole.”
    “OK. We’ll take you to him if you
leave immediately afterwards!”

Well, Sue’s starting to shape up a bit.
But now we have to deal with those pesky alien-twins-on-wheels.
Also has anyone considered that the tree is intelligent? It seems to be following them around.

(10)
    “OK. We’ll cooperate.”
    “Good. We’ll take her for a souvenir.”
    “No you don’t,” yelled Daryl.
    Pow! Sok! Chomp! Oof!
    “There’s the un-lightbending switch,”
exclaimed Sue.
    “Get in the spaceship,” Captain
Mansfield commanded. It was
pretty hard to find it.

BZT
CAUTION
UN-Light Bending Switch
”Coming”
”Ooh, help!”
”YEOW”
chomp

Go Soldier! Finally, some decent action. They are beating the crap out of those stupid twins-on-wheels alien mo-fo’s!
And thank heavens for that ultra-convenient un-light bending switch.
My very first novel, and the heroine is kicking ass. I am so proud (sniff).
I’m beginning to realize something: I don’t have enough dogs in my novels anymore. The only one I can think of is Chaucer in Steam Palace. But sometime I need to write in a really bitchin’ dog like Soldier here.

(11)
    2 days later they land on a planet.
Luckily, they were out of fuel or they would
have crashed.
    Someone said, “Planet V said you heading
in this direction wanting to see
the high wizard.”
    “Yes, we are,” replied Captain
Mansfield.
    “We’ll take you to him,” he said.
BZT

Aliens with jetpacks rule!
So, with the light-unbending turned off, looks like Sue was back at the chow trough. Is it me or is Sue feeling a little like Smurfette, the only chick in the entire story?
That slide ramp looks pretty cool too.

(12)
    “Don, could you get fuel?”
    “Sure.”
    “Daryl, watch the spaceship.”
    “Yes sir.”
    The room they were led into held
the high wizard.
    “How do you get out of a
black hole,” asked Sue.
”What a fool.”

Um, Sue, let me explain. There’s a reason he’s called the High Wizard. Your first clue might have been that he’s smoking crack.
By the way, Sue, looking good, know what I mean?
I have no idea why it looks like the wizard is smoking.

(13)
    “Go through another one, of course.”
    “Where is another one?”
    “20 light days away.”
    “Thank you, goodbye!”
    21 days later, they land on a planet
that orbits the black hole. Suddenly
Sue floats off the planet very fast
heading towards the black hole.
    “Into the rocket,” Captain Mans-
feild  yelled. “Get her!”
    Faster, faster, faster than the
speed of light, they rush to catch her.

Dammit, Sue, your compulsive overeating has doomed us all! You got so big that the black hole’s trying to eat you!
There’s actually a great lesson for novel-writing right here. Just when you think you have all the answers, TPTB try to strip everything away and kill you. You must pass that final test with everything on the line.

(14)
    “Get her! Get on the oxyegen!”
    All of a sudden, they are on the other
side of the black hole, where they had
started from.
    “Let’s get back to Earth now”
    When they got back to Earth,
there is a big celebration.
    The end.
”The New Yorker”

Whew. Finally, they’re safe.
I really can see the roots of my writing career in this story, written in the 4th grade some 35 years ago when I was 10 years old. I hope you have enjoyed it!

TRAPPED: A Graphic Novel, Part One

While cleaning out the garage I came across the very first novel I ever wrote. What I’ve done here is to include the pages of the novel, with a transcription and commentary.

Without further ado, I present you, TRAPPED, Part One.

TRAPPED
WRITTEN AND ILLISRATED BY ANDREW ROSENBERG

Jeez, a typo right on the cover? What were they teaching me back then?
But it’s a nice, strong title. Conflict. Tension. It has everything.

TRAPPED
Written and Illustrated by Andrew Rosenberg

Yay! Typo corrected by the cover page!

 

Copyright © 1977 by Rosenberg Co., Vernon Ct.

Looks like I self-published with my own publishing house. See how smart I was in the 4th grade?

I dedicate this book to Mrs. Magnuson,
My parents, and Mr. Grabowski
For helping me write this book.

Wha-wha-huh?? Magnuson? As in, Archie and May Magnuson, my crime-fighting detective duo? I remember Mr. Grabowski, but I don’t remember Mrs. Magnuson AT ALL. But maybe I did. Maybe she was an inspiration to my writing career, and somehow I used the name later. Weird.
Or maybe she was my literary agent. Yeah, that’s it. That’s why she’s in the acknowledgements.

I n t r o d u c t I o n
    This introduction is for you to realize
what a black hole is (which this story is about).
A black hole is a whole bunch of stars so squash-
ed together that the gravity is so great time stands
still, and light can’t escape (especially for rockets
that go as fast as light).
    If you circled around a black hole for an hour,
1000 years could pass on Earth.
    A black hole is made up of anti-matter which
can also be called nothing!
  If you get close to a black hole, you would be
S t r e c h e d out of shape because
of the gravitie’s super strong pull.

OK
A) If you’re going to explain how your story differs from known science, at least get the known science part right.
B) The bigger the word, the more important to spell it right.
C) I love the stretched dude.
D) This is a perfect example of why prologues suck.

So I did a pretty good job with all the preambles of the book. But with Page (1), I make an immediate mistake: Page 1 is on the left.

(1)
“3…2…1…ignition, BLASTOFF!”
    It is the year 2014. Captain Mansfield, Mike
Mansfield, Sue Mansfield, Daryl Mansfield, Don Brooks,
and Soldier, their dog, start their 10 year mission into
space.
    Soon the Appolo 203 Mission 10 spaceship
is going about 36,000 MPH. Then 128,000 MPH. Then
up to 85,258,500 MPH. From there on, the speed of
light, 186,000 MPSecond.

2014??? Holy crap we better get going already!
I bet back in 1977, I was thinking, “sometime waaaay in the future. Like…2014. Yeah.”
Damn I feel old.
WTF is with everyone with the same name, and one random dude?
I wonder which country’s spaceship that is…
I also wonder what that device is next to the crowd. Looks like it’s zapping them.
BTW pay attention and see if any of those names are mentioned again. A reminder to not front-load your stories with a lot of characters who never re-appear.
Used a character named “Mansfield” in the first draft of Steam Palace but he got cut.
Have a couple characters named “Sue” here and there.

(2)
    “Slow down the spaceship,” Don exclaimed
after a few days on their mission.
    “It’s the Captain’s orders. We have to contact
Earth!”
    Bzzzzz, Click. “1-10 to Earth 1-10 to
Ear—Hey! The spaceship’s going backwar-
ds very fast! Fire the engine’s. Full speed
ahead,” Captain Mansfield demanded.
BOOM Fizzle, Crack!
”Stop the engines! It’s a black hole!”

Couple lessons here:
A) Never underestimate the power of onomatopoeia.
B) Nor the power of exclamation points!
C) Nor the power of a black hole. In other words, never park your spaceship near a black hole to make a phone call.

(3)
    As quick as a wink, they’re on the other side
of the black hole. Now the dimensions are height,
depth, width, time, and bending light!
    “How do we get back through the hole,” every-
one asked. Even Soldier was upset.
    Life in the spaceship was the same
except you kept on bumping into things
you didn’t see!

I really hate that light-bending Universe! Look at what it does to poor Sue Mansfield. On the left-hand size, she’s this totally hot zombie. On the right, she’s plain Jane.
For the record, neither my handwriting nor my drawing ability has improved one iota since 1977. If you don’t believe me, ask anyone in my critique groups.

(4)
    “Prepare the spaceship to land,” Captain Mans-
field ordered. With him, Don, and Mike at the
controls, Sue and Daryl watch out the win-
dow, they try to land on land. Crunch! A
perfect land!
    The land had oxyegen, trees, inttegent
life! English?!

“HALT! DO YOU COME IN PEACE OR WAR”

“PEACE”

An interrobang?! Yes!
Seriously, whatever else you do in life, DO NOT MISSPELL “INTELLIGENT!”
And don’t repeat words over and over again and again.

Next: TRAPPED: A Graphic Novel, Part Two

“What are you passionate about?”

I’ve received that question a few times lately in regards to some non-writing matters. But it got me thinking…what about writing am I passionate about?

I started thinking about things like Show vs Tell, character arcs, Hero’s Journey, scene structure, and the appropriate use of commas. Plot vs story, conflict on every page, tension, stakes, making every word matter.

Then it struck me. All those concepts are really ancillary to the real thing I’m passionate about.

I’m passionate about PASSION.

Not necessarily that romantic passion—though I have that too—but I’m passionate about writing characters who are passionate, who care, who fight and struggle whether for a good or evil cause.

I’m passionate about creating surprises, to challenge my characters past the breaking point, to have them fight to the last breath. To create wild twists and turns that drive the story to the conclusion.

I’m passionate about good writing, that creates worlds you can see, touch, and taste. Characters that you feel that you know, that care about the things you would if you were them.

So my stories are really stories about the nature of passion, and what passion can do to you. In Steam Palace, my main character Sophia even has a name for it—Mad Passion. She thinks it’s some kind of ethereal magic that causes her to make difficult decisions and face the truth of her situation. She thinks it’s a defect or some kind of special gift, but the reality is that she’s just passionate. Like everyone. And by driving her to the truth of matters, she can throw off societies’ norms and expectations and do what she needs to do.

Passion.

How do you use passion in your writing?

Hmm…that image I found gives me an idea for a blogfest……

Ideas Don’t Sell

Thanks to Victoria Mixon’s post for inspiring this.

I’m an idea guy. I’m always thinking about situations, complications, characters, conflicts, twists, what have you. I think I’m original, creative, and I can generate the basis of compelling stories.

But there’s a problem.

It reminds me of something I’ve heard from published writers at conferences. It generally goes something like this:

“A friend of mine heard that I’m published. They said they had a great idea for a story, and if I wrote it for them, they’d split the proceeds with me 50-50.”

I hope you can see the problem with this. And the problem with me.

You see, the greatest ideas in the world don’t make a story. They make a great description of an idea.

Stories are more than great ideas. They require great writing. In fact, without great writing, stories are dull and lifeless, and even the greatest idea in the world cannot save it. The writing is what makes the idea come alive to the reader. It’s describing a pretzel as flour, water, yeast, and salt, twisted and baked for 20 mins vs describing a pretzel as warm, chewy nirvana that Hindu street vendors sell during blisteringly cold Decembers in Philadelphia.

The interesting thing is that query letters are really all about the idea, the concept. I wonder if people get caught up in this. Then the writing disappoints, and the partial is rejected.

Seems like I’ve been a ton of time working on the ideas, figuring out all the plot details, worrying about story structure, but used barely any effort working on my writing. Not just sentences, but more about how I approach a scene, what’s said, what’s felt, what’s not just happening in the physical plane, but what’s happening on the emotional level, and not just for the POV character.

The truth of the matter is that great ideas are a dime a dozen. Anyone can think of some characters and some complications, some trick that ties it all together, some great piece of technology or magic. But what sells is writing. Vivid scenes. Relatable characters you care about. Something that captures the reader from the first word and refuses to let them go. (Let’s not go overboard here…the ideas behind the story have to be original and captivating, otherwise your characters have nothing interesting to do). I think that great writing sells a lot more books than great ideas.

So to summarize, ideas don’t sell the writing, the writing sells the ideas.

Or, in other words, the more I learn about writing, the more I learn that I don’t know shit about writing.

PS. I find it interesting that I don’t have a blog category called “Writing Technique.” Hmm…

Plotting Vs. Pantsing

Okay. For my last few NaNoWriMo novels (Steam Palace, Dead Air) and my screenplay, I’ve been a plotter. Meaning, I’ve plotted out most of the major scenes and turning points of the story. Plotting is a process by which you can create a roadmap for your story so you don’t spend time exploring dead ends or trying to ram a character into a situation that “needs” to happen. I’m a firm believer in plotting as a way to do a lot of the structural work of the story before you sit down and write it. It’s particularly effective for Nano or Script Frenzy since whatever work you do beforehand is that much less you need to do as you’re writing.

So I have a confession to make. For Girl World, I… pantsed it! *cringe* Don’t hit me!

Okay, in fairness, it’s not like I sat down on Day One and wrote a novel from scratch. I’ve had the concept in my head since December. I’ve written a few thousand words of backstory, written from the 1st person POV of the main character. In fact, I didn’t start out to write a novel at all.

That’s the thing. It just happened. I would write a scene, figuring I could stop, but suddenly the next scene would come to me just like that. It’s like a mythical Muse sat on my shoulder directing my thoughts, telling me the story in my head. I knew in the back of my mind that there would be an Ordeal. I knew there would be a Climactic scene at the end. I had about four ideas of where the story would go, but it went in its own direction.

And frankly, I think it’s the best story (first-draft) I’ve written, way better than last year’s NaNoWriMo (Dead Air).

I think part of it is becoming crucially aware of elements of story-telling such as Story Structure, Conflict, and Characterization. My characters have deep, desperate needs, fears, and desires. They are faced with impossible choices. And it doesn’t hurt that this is essentially a superhero story. Grett discovers she has secret powers…powers that can hurt the ones she loves if used improperly. So there’s the eternal temptation to use your superpowers to your advantage.Which is why my main character must have a firm moral grounding. It’s a classic YA theme.

So now what? How do I feel about the whole plotting vs. pantsing debate? Pretty mixed. I think it helped that I planned this story to be short. There’s only one POV. There are very few subthreads. Maybe this is the way to go in the future. We’ll see. There have been some stories that I’ve pantsed (The Immortals) that stalled because I didn’t know where the story should go. 

I guess the lesson here is just do what feels right.

Halfway to a Script

So far, who knows? Hard to believe all the things in my script already: Gambling schemes, train wrecks, spies, hostile insurgents, vicious soldiers, and religious overtones. And I’m only halfway. And since this is the 18th day of Script Frenzy…I’m actually behind.

One thing I’m struggling with is scenes. My whole script is supposed to have ~40 scenes. I think I have ~50 so far. Part of this is how I define scene vs shot. It’s one of those screenwriting things I’ll have to learn. I think the trick is to make each scene do more and have fewer of them. Each scene should be ~3 pages. Revision’s going to be a bitch.

Speaking of religion, I watched a show yesterday that tried to come up with rational, scientific explanations for the Ten Plagues and some aspects of the story of Moses. They provided explanations that derived from a sudden climate change that year, since most of the effects were biological (swarms, disease). Then at the end of a show, a rabbi came on and said (paraphrasing), “does it really matter that any of these things actually happened? The story is what’s important, and the lessons demonstrated therein. Scientific inquiry is all well and good, but it’s not what the story is about. It’s not going to teach you anything.” (For the record I disagree with that assessment because I think any line of legitimate scientific inquiry has merit…in this case it could be a lesson in the dangers of climate change.)

This is what I’m doing with my own story. Does it really matter that I create an accurate accounting of my cousin’s journey? Should I just stick to the facts? Or is the important thing the story, the reasons for the journey and why the outcome is important? If we can look at the Bible as metaphorical rather than literal, then why not any history? A history book tells us the X, Y, and Z’s of who did what to whom. A story tells us why all these things happened and how they impacted the people who lived through those times. (Personally I think the Bible is more a series of stories based on certain events and folklore, but not an actual accounting of real events).

The “story” of my cousin isn’t a list of events and travails. It’s the tale of a man trying to come to grips with his own sense of self, of remaining steadfast to a single goal, to persevere when it looks like all hope is lost (starting in approximately 20 pages from now). So I’m going to create events and characters that clearly demonstrate this commitment.

Lessons from Screenwriting: Act I

Well, it’s been an interesting 8 days so far. I’m a little bit behind, but I’m not concerned. It’s taking a while to really get this screenwriting thing going. It’s such a different medium than literature. Everything is so condensed, so every line is critical. Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

1. Screenwriting, like pimpin’, ain’t easy. There’s no convenient inner dialog, there’s almost no description, yet it requires the same emotional content as any writing. I’ve realized there’s something I call “embodied debate” where a character’s inner conflict must somehow be demonstrated with external action or dialog. It must be given voice. I have to create situations that demonstrate the internal struggle and the stakes, even if those situations never happened.
2. Show, don’t tell x 1000. I suppose a narrator could blab, or like Star Wars, a long bunch of words could introduce the scene: In 1911, a young man sets foot on America, and over the next 9 years, blah blah blah. Then in 1920, he receives a letter. Open scene.
   Meh. But, for instance, how do I reveal the content of the letter without just throwing it up on the screen? In a novel I could just include it. Here ya go. (Not to mention the fact that the letter was written in Yiddish).
3. Backstory? We don’t need no stinkin’ Backstory! Sure, I can throw dates up on the screen, do the whole “10 Years Ago in the Old Country” bit. Maybe I will upon revision. But I’m throwing it in like a drive-by shooting. Here a sentence, there an argument over the past. But it’s impossible to include an explanation of who the characters are, what their relationships are, what they do for a living, etc. It just needs to come out in the dialog.
4. Nothing goes to plan. I spent a month thinking about all the scenes I could write. I looked at screenwriting books that screamed that I needed 40 scenes divided into fifteen major “beats”. Whatevs. Did I ever mention that I’m a natural pantser? Within the first couple days I threw out all the cards. Why? Because the story was boring, just a dude filling out paperwork and dealing with red tape. There was no emotional content, just a sense of vague frustration. This is a guy who has to go up against hostile forces and bad weather, not to mention backstabbing traitorous “friends.” Red tape bedamned! This is not a police procedural, it’s a gutsy drama. It’s not important how he gets the passport, what’s important is that he’s woefully unprepared for the  journey. So show that.
5. Unlosing my religion. I’m not a religious person. The last time I went to a service outside a wedding or funeral was a 9/11 memorial service. I barely give a thought to the holidays. I don’t feel that my MC is particularly religious. But while doing the research for this story, I revisited Judaism, subjects and events that I hadn’t thought about since before my Bar Mitzvah when I was 13. Many of the major events of the story coincide with major Jewish holidays. While perhaps a coincidence, I can’t ignore this low-hanging fruit. So my MC may have a crisis of faith along with everything else that’s going on. It feels cheesy, but I can’t help but think that he’s going to experience an affirmation of his faith.

So what happened is that a couple days ago I was stuck; the story was going nowhere. I made a decision to just throw out about 8 pages and rewrite—something you’re technically not supposed to do during Script Frenzy. Whatevs. If the story isn’t working, do what you need to do to get it on track.

Another thing I did was to make a decision about the style of the story. I know this isn’t “my” story. It’s the story of a cousin (2x removed) of mine. But the thing is, I have my own style. I write how I write. I’ve written SF, Steampunk, Mystery, Spy Thrillers, etc., but they all have a similar feel. I realized that I have to write how I write. I have to write stories in the way that I enjoy, that motivate me. I needed to make this my story. My style, my pace, my types of conflicts. Once I made that decision, the pages suddenly started to flow. Characters crept out of the woodwork into importance. It may not be true to the “story”, but it’s true to me.

So on to Act II. Wish me luck!

Don’t Be A Watson

I’m going to talk about how the example of IBM’s Watson is a good object lesson on what not to do in your writing. Bear with me for a minute.


I was very impressed at how IBM’s creation Watson fared at Jeopardy. As a former computer scientist at places such as Google and Microsoft, I was actually more fascinated by Watson’s failures than its successes. Frankly, I was surprised that Watson didn’t answer every question correctly and faster than the humans. Watson missed obvious questions. To me, it seemed that the machine was great at trivia, the “fill in the blank” kind of questions. Things that any Google search can answer. But it failed at more complex problems, questions that involved things like metaphor and analogy, standard fare on SAT tests. It all led me to one conclusion:
We are still nowhere near achieving “artificial intelligence.”


Watson is just a machine, without emotion, drive, or ambition. I thought of a few questions I could easily ask it that it could never solve. “Who is standing to your left?” “How’s the lighting in here?” “Who does Ken Jennings remind you of?” “Fire! Please proceed to the nearest exit in an orderly manner.”


Yes, computer scientists have created something I call “programmed intelligence.” Intelligence in very specific domains, but as soon as you step outside the domain, the intelligence fails. Because “intelligence” isn’t just about recollection, computation, or pattern analysis. It’s much more about metaphor, symbolism, and relationships.
Think about a book for a moment. A book is really just a machine. It’s a Kindle with only one book available. The words are just dots of ink on the page that create letters. The letters form words, the words form sentences, paragraphs, and chapters. Computers can be made to understand how to display and edit those letters and words, even spot incorrect ones. But a computer can never read a book and understand what’s in it. It can look up every word and phrase, but never truly comprehend the meaning, the story. And even a book can never judge your emotion reaction to the story and respond accordingly. There’s as much intelligence in Watson as in any book on your bookshelf.


There were other subtle things that Watson failed to do on Jeopardy. He couldn’t learn from his mistakes (yes, computers can be programmed to learn, but that’s the equivalent of fixing a typo). It seemed that the other contestants learned and began to challenge the machine on the third day. More importantly, Watson has no idea why he made mistakes to begin with. Watson has no insight, no self-awareness. Imagine if Alex Trebeck had said “incorrect” to Watson on even correct, obvious answers:

“Answer is: The color of the White House. Watson.”
“What is white?”
“Incorrect. Ken?”
“What is white?”
“Correct.”

Watson would just hum along, completely oblivious. If Trebeck pulled that on Ken Jennings, he would storm off the stage or go after Trebeck’s throat.
So until we create a computer with emotion and true reasoning, we’ll never have intelligence, only super-fast trivia answerers.


So you’re wondering, “what does this have to do with my writing?”


The questions you should be asking yourself is, “How are my characters like Watson?” Do your characters react to their environment? Do they have their own agendas? Are they there just to provide other characters with information? Or are they living, reasoning creatures?


Another way to look at it is to ask, “What was at stake for Watson?” Yes, hundreds of computer scientists spent years on this project, but did Watson care? If there was indeed a fire alarm during taping, would Watson react? Do you think Watson really cared about how much money it earned? But every single character in your work cares about every interaction. There are stakes involved. They want something, and your other characters are either assistants or obstacles to those goals. Otherwise they are no better than the old books on your shelves.


So when you write your stories, keep one thing in mind: Don’t be a Watson.
NOTE: The writing content of this blog is moving soon! Check out the preview at The WriteRunner.

Research

I don’t think I’ve ever talked about the subject of research in novel writing. Research is a critical part of any story project. Research can be divided into 4 broad categories:

1. Genre – This means reading a lot of works in your genre. You need to find out what’s been done, and what are the standard tropes of your genre. It can also involve in-person conversations. For Steam Palace, for example, I attended a few Steampunk conventions where I asked a lot of questions of steampunk enthusiasts as to “what makes a story Steampunk.” Other sources can include blogs about your genre, magazines, and reviews.
   
2. World Building – If there is any kind of historical context or setting to your story, it behooves you to research the area in question. If you are writing SF/F in a “second world” setting (not a real Earth setting), your research may involve mythology, scientific studies, and other speculative works. Visit the settings in your book, talk to the locals. If it’s a made-up place, find a real-life place that is close. Make the bridge of your starship something like the bridge of a decommissioned aircraft carrier that you can visit.
   
3. Character – Whether or not you base your characters on real people, it’s always good to have an idea of who your characters are. Biographies, memoirs, and genealogy are all sources of characters. Learn what made them do what they did, and see how it can apply to your story. Some characters are mixtures of many people, some are just certain aspects. If your character is in a specific profession, talk to people in that profession. Make sure you do this research for all your characters, not just the main ones.
   
4. Story – This one is a little harder to define. This is more about learning about story structure beyond the standard of your genre. But it also involves interacting with your writing peers, whether at conferences or in critique groups. Find out what are the characteristics of good writing, and explore various styles of writing. Learn what the best way to tell your story should be.

How much research is enough? I feel there is probably 2 main periods of research. The first comes before anything is written, when the story is still a concept. The second would be during the writing process, especially revision when you are trying to flesh out details. In terms of how much, I feel that if you are continually interrupted during the writing process to look something up, then you might want to dedicate a period of time to really understand your subject. But of course the actual amount of research will vary by subject and scope.