A Writer's Research

            Following what I was talking about a couple weeks ago regarding all the research a writer needs to do, I thought I’d go into a little more detail. I think a lot of people take what they’re reading for granted – I know I did before I started seriously writing.

            As a fantasy writer, I often have the luxury of just making things up as I go along, but even when I do that I have to write it all down in the encyclopedia of my world so I can reference them at a later date. Still, there are many little things – mostly minor details – that require research to bring a level of believability to the story, like how fast people can travel on foot or horseback over what terrain, the size of the world... I’ve even put quite a lot of research into the mythological elves, dwarves and trolls to see how I could tie them in to the common modern fantasy images of them.

The best example I can give, however, is a bit of research that occupied me for a full week in September of 2012. Looking back on it, I’m amazed it didn’t take longer! For the first two weeks of October, Harper Voyager (a branch of Harper Collins) was opening their doors to the public for manuscript submissions – the first time this had happened in over ten years. Needless to say, this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. There was just one problem... my first book was about 1500 words short of the minimum length. I needed to write a whole new chapter.

            I wracked my brain for weeks, trying to figure out if there was any part of the story I had missed, or anything significant I could add. At last it came to me: I’d been toying with ideas for designing games unique to my fantasy world and somehow my brain combined this with fortune telling as a method of foreshadowing. Overnight, my brain began insisting on designing a unique deck of cards that could be used both for games and reading fortunes. It sounds easy enough – I could just make it up as I go... but then, what if I needed it for something else? I wouldn’t have all the knowledge I needed. Not to mention there are enough fans of Tarot cards out there that I could easily tread on some toes if I didn’t do the fortune telling bit right.

            That was the place to start. Tarot cards. I‘d had a little exposure to them in the past, but what I really needed was to understand the science behind them. Most people who have had their fortunes read are amazed at the accuracy. How did this work? So, I found this wonderful website that taught me everything I needed to know about using Tarot cards and gave me many insights into the art – it inspired me so much that I went out and bought a Tarot deck so I could gain an even better understanding. Using the information I found on the site and in the instruction book that came with the deck, I began dissecting the meanings of the 78 cards and rearranging them into my new 52 card deck. This was very challenging because I wanted my new deck to be fully functional as a Tarot deck should anyone decide to use it that way. I did manage it and, if I do say so myself, I feel I did an excellent job.

            I now had the outlined meanings of my cards. I then arranged them into 7 suits (with 7 cards each) and 3 wild cards. Each suit had its own general significance and the progression of the card values (1 through 7) were made symbolic of a journey. I named the cards, then went on to the hardest part – describing them. I needed a description for each of the cards so I could know what they looked like, and each description had to reflect the meaning of the card. Luckily I could lean on the Tarot deck I’d bought for inspiration, but, man, was that ever tricky!

            Finally I had my deck of cards planned out! Ecstatic about this, I made up a mock deck on the backs of some old business cards (my clever mother never throws away anything that could come day be used for arts or crafts) and started designing the card game. I wanted something similar to poker, yet with a distinctiveness born of being developed on a different world. This was a challenge for me because I don’t play poker and have only a limited knowledge of its workings (mostly gained from watching Maverick). But I managed it and gathered my family to test it. They loved it!

Here are some of the cards in the mock deck.

What? I'm a writer, not an artist!

            So, over the course of the week I had developed a unique deck of cards and a game to go along with it. It was now time to write my new chapter. Ha! You’d forgotten that’s what this was all about, hadn’t you? All this work, just for a few details in one chapter of one book. Well, you’ll be happy to know that I wrote that chapter and loved every moment of it. I was then able to submit my book to Harper Voyager.

            It just goes to show how much work goes into some of the smallest things. Most people will never know about that work, but it is essential to making the story as believable as possible. Also, if I ever need to use those cards in another book, all the work is already done; sitting around and waiting to be useful. And, hey! Maybe someday I’ll have the art drawn for the cards so other people can enjoy them! Who wouldn’t want to play with a deck of cards that has 7 suits? Just imagine all the possibilities!

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.