Research, Reading (and a bit of Writing) by Neil McGowan
It’s been a funny month for me from a writing perspective. I don’t feel like I’ve done much actual writing, in terms of getting words down on paper to tell a story, but I’ve still been busy doing ‘writer-y stuff’ (as my youngest calls it). I’ve spent the bulk of my time working on research for the Rigoletto follow-up I mentioned last month – jotting down ideas for potential scenes, then researching the time period to find half of them wouldn’t be possible. I don’t mind taking a little some small liberties for the sake of the story, but I need to keep it somewhat grounded in reality. I’m aiming for a gritty crime drama, after all, and not a fantasy. I actually quite enjoy running into these problems, if I’m honest. I find they force me to find creative solutions to the problems I place my characters in. I also find tight boundaries to be, paradoxically, quite liberating. Once I know where the limits lie, I’m able to plough on with the writing without worrying too muc...