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Researched or Made Up

Posted by metmiyup

January 12, 2009

I had an interesting conversation with a non-writing acquaintance this weekend on the subject of SF/F/P (Science Fiction/Fantasy/Paranormal). Her idea? Only SF needs research, the rest can be made up as you go.

Ahem. Just because we write SF/F/P doesn't mean we don't need to do some basic research for our novels. I mean, sure, a spaceship will necessitate a different sort of research than a medieval-type, magical healer or a ghost-hunting vampire but every book needs SOMETHING researched. And, yes, some of it (the science or the magic) can be extrapolated or taken two or three steps beyond common belief or facts but you have to have a solid starting point before you do that extrapolation.

Related:Guest - Sara Humphreys

With that in mind, I've got a couple of go-to's that I tend to use especially for my fantasy or paranormal stuff. I thought I'd share them with you.

Scott Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs
The Herbal Tarot

Related:Guest - Isabel Cooper

Alchemy Works
Culpepper's Complete Herbal and English Physician

Of course, there's also the whole Google thing which I love to spend hours on when I'm trying to find one esoteric little factoid. And sometimes that leads me down dark and mysterious alleys that can provide even more color or depth to my plots.

I also subscribe to science links like World Science or National Geographic that help keep me in line with today's science. I love astronomy (a hobby) so I keep a little abreast in that field and I'm always watching the Science Channel on TV.

What we have to remember is that not every little thing we learn in the course of our research will be put in our manuscript pages. The research is there to make sure that we have a binary star system operating in the proper way or that the herbal remedy we're feeding a character will make him feel better without killing him first.

Related:Guest - Kathryne Kennedy

Hope that helps clear up the research/make up aspects of SF/F/P

-- Lynda