You should always write about what you know about, right? But what if you don't know much about anything?
I know you have to research and I do do a lot of researching, but lately I'm finding researching so distracting. I have to stop what I'm doing to go and look something up, then I get side-tracked doing other stuff.
Like today. I wrote three sentences, then realised I don't know what happens to someone once they've discovered a dead body. So I Googled it briefly, then ended up watching a film.
I've now stopped writing again, trying to think of a good town/city to set something in. The trouble with living in the countryside is that not a lot happens here. I need a place with lots of hotels and somewhere an actor would go to promote his films. However, I know nothing about cities. The nearest city to me is Exeter. I rarely go there.
I might make a place up, or just avoid naming anywhere.
I do know about hotels, having worked in one for five years. I also know about paranormal stuff - having belonged to a weird paranormal circle when I was younger, and regularly (and recently) attending ghost hunts. So those parts of my story are okay.
But it's just everything else! Towns. Murders. Police investigations.
I guess what I'm trying to ask beneath this waffling, is, should I stop whining and just research like everyone else? Or alter my story so I don't have to keep stopping to look things up by writing about what I do know?
How does everyone else cope with not knowing stuff? I'm pretty sure the answer will be research... Damn my laziness and poor attention.
I know you have to research and I do do a lot of researching, but lately I'm finding researching so distracting. I have to stop what I'm doing to go and look something up, then I get side-tracked doing other stuff.
Like today. I wrote three sentences, then realised I don't know what happens to someone once they've discovered a dead body. So I Googled it briefly, then ended up watching a film.
I've now stopped writing again, trying to think of a good town/city to set something in. The trouble with living in the countryside is that not a lot happens here. I need a place with lots of hotels and somewhere an actor would go to promote his films. However, I know nothing about cities. The nearest city to me is Exeter. I rarely go there.
I might make a place up, or just avoid naming anywhere.
I do know about hotels, having worked in one for five years. I also know about paranormal stuff - having belonged to a weird paranormal circle when I was younger, and regularly (and recently) attending ghost hunts. So those parts of my story are okay.
But it's just everything else! Towns. Murders. Police investigations.
I guess what I'm trying to ask beneath this waffling, is, should I stop whining and just research like everyone else? Or alter my story so I don't have to keep stopping to look things up by writing about what I do know?
How does everyone else cope with not knowing stuff? I'm pretty sure the answer will be research... Damn my laziness and poor attention.