Do you get everything you could out of the Internet searches you conduct or do you limit your potential for information, understanding, resources and perspective?
If you’re an author, you conduct research. Even novelists need to know whether camellias grow in Alaska before putting their main character in a charming home in Anchorage surrounded by lush camellia bushes. If it is 1997 and you say that Sunday falls on September 7, you better make sure that is correct. How? Through research. Maybe you want a character to suffer from a certain illness. What are the symptoms? Sure you may be writing fiction, but you’d better base the trackable details on fact. What? “trackable” isn’t a word? According to my spellcheck, no. But research shows that it is. So it stays in today’s post. Yes, even fiction needs to be believable—at least fiction that’s based on reality as we know and live it.
This post is dedicated to website research. So often, we only skim the surface of the websites we visit for research purposes. We stop at the home page and maybe click on “about us” and then leave. And often, in so doing, you’ve missed some valuable leads to other sites on the topic. Many serious sites have resource pages, for example. And if you are researching a particular topic, you could be remiss by not checking and printing out some of these pages. These pages found, sometimes, deep within the recesses of a website could be a goldmine to your research efforts. You might find directories of sites related to your topic, lists of recommended reading material (articles, books, reports…), etc. But if you neglect to dig, you won’t discover the pearls you are seeking.
Some websites are easier to navigate than others—that’s for sure. While some are a bit lame—they aren’t designed to do much other than promote a product or idea—others are absolutely rich in materials and information. But you have to be willing to search for them. Get used to searching beyond the obvious. You could be rewarded many fold.
Tomorrow we will talk about using Internet search tools to conduct research
Personal from Patricia
I continue to watch the Amazon ranking for my new novel, Catnapped, a Klepto Cat Mystery, rise, rise and rise. This book is on Kindle only. If you don’t own a Kindle, you can download a program (FREE) from amazon to your iPad, iPhone, computer or Android that allows you to read a Kindle book. Check out my new cozy mystery novel here: http://amzn.to/14OCk0W
If you are ready to publish your own book, but you have not had it edited yet, contact me here: plfry620@yahoo.com