Hello, all! Well to start off today's post I would like you to watch one of my FAVORITE commercials featuring the Geico Cavemen above!
So what does this post have to do with the Geico Cavemen you may ask? Well Geico made these two Cavemen pretty perturbed when they ran a commercial without bothering to research if Cavemen existed, thereby offending the whole Caveman Community!
The same goes in writing, my friends. Research and how it effects audiences. Author's don't want to offend their audiences so they always research, research, research to not play on stereotypes or cliches.
Now in the writing world they say you should always "write what you know" first and foremost. So that's what I do personally. My stories will pretty much always be set in the Midwest or at least feature a character who has lived there at one time in their lives because that's what I know! I've lived there my whole life so I feel that that's a great starting point from me. But what do you do to supplement that with things that you don't know to get your story really amped up with variety? RESEARCH!!!
I call my friends, social network, head to the library, google, and all kinds of things to make sure everything in my stories can be the best that they can be portrayed to wide audiences and I love the process. I find out so many cool things about the world and how it works through the eyes of my characters. Heck, I grow as much as them :D I use my writing to explore new worlds, customs, and environments that I otherwise would have never been able to be introduced to before!
Now I ask you? What's your research process? Is there a common theme to your writing as well like my connection to my good ole' Midwestern roots? I'd love to here it!
Laterz,
