What is the weirdest/coolest thing you ever had to research for your story?
First off, I'm a nerdy writer. So what's cool to me is not going to be as cool to some people, yet might be incredibly cool to others. And for me, communication of all kinds is inherently fascinating. We are social creatures, are we not?
So, the weirdest/coolest thing I ever did for a story was to research a bunch of British phrases and colloquialisms and what they actually meant. I definitely got carried away with it, making lots of notes and just (in general) having a lot of fun. And there was a pleasant side effect: I understood Doctor Who on a whole new level. My takeaway observation? It's really surprising how different American English is from British English. It's basically a different language with enough similarities that you aren't completely lost, if that makes any sense whatsoever.
Anyway, it's the first time I really felt that maybe I should study other languages, because I had so much fun with it. So I plan on exploring that soon. Who knows? Maybe I'll actually learn Japanese this time around.
The illustrations in this post are courtesy of Best of British.
I lived in London for a while and yes, the language is very different. But probably why I appreciate British humor more than most people I know.
ReplyDeleteLanguage is a very cool research subject, especially when you start getting into colloquialisms. I recently was Googling British swears. Not for a story, though. Just for fun.
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ReplyDeletePS this post was the mutts nuts.
DeleteI would like to grow Thyme, because I use that when cooking steaks and other meats. My friend Meg (who's a pretty good cook) will also be growing some herbs. I think maybe rosemary and garlic.
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DeleteYears ago when I was researching a novel I wanted to learn everything I could about plastic explosives, and I got tagged by the FBI.
ReplyDeleteWhen my son took Karate he had to learn how to count in Japanese and I ended up learning how too. We both could count to 100, but that was years ago. Now I can only count to six.
ReplyDeleteAs for research, I'm not sure, most of my research was about Mars. lol.
Watching BBC America can be an education. They really do speak a different sort of English. (Now try Australian English. My brother works with someone, and he told me that they'd say something to him with a "don't you use that term here?" and no, we don't.)
ReplyDeleteYou used your research well. Kolin is naturally authentic. I love all the places research takes me. I learn so many fascinating things.
ReplyDeleteI like being a bit nerdy, but it can create a disconnect with other less nerdy people. But I think it means we know some cool stuff and see the world in some strangely different perspectives.
ReplyDeleteI grew a garden once. Most of the crops failed, but I did get an abundance of assorted hot peppers and weirdly small cucumbers (suitable for pickles more than anything else). The peppers were easy to grow and I got more peppers than I could ever use on my own.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
I love the British accent. They make everything sound so dignified.
ReplyDeleteI love learning new British words and phrases! That's a great research topic. I've had to pick up bits of Spanish and Welsh for my stories, plus use a little of my French and Turkish. Every time I start a story I think, okay no research for this one write what you know -- and it never happens. There's always something intriguing to learn, or some place my character's go that I've never been...
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I have a favorite thing that I've researched, but the favorite thing I have done with research is to use google maps street view to look at places and get names of businesses, etc.
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