Getting Inside
As long as I can remember, I have loved to do research. In my college psych classes, having the same prof was at times an advantage. He asked the same question in each of the classes “Who would rather write a 20 page research paper in lieu of taking an exam?” My hand was usually the first one up. My final class with this laid-back intelligent Jewish man was Adolescent Psychology which I took as an independent study. He looked at me during one of my orals with him and reminded me of this question in the other classes. He said that in all the years he had been teaching and of all the students he asked that question of, I was probably the only one who answered honestly. His reason for this question was in asking students who had test anxiety. Yes, I do.
To me, research is as natural as breathing. You don’t learn if you don’t seek and ask questions. Since being thrust into a life of freelance writing I have learned something new about myself and about research. Generally, I look at research as a way to learn about something that interests me. Now I see it as something so much deeper. When I wrote my book, Through God’s Mercy, I just sat and wrote. The research I conducted was first of all finding an empty spot in the ocean to place my island country. The rest of the research was using French/English, Spanish/English and Portuguese/English dictionaries to create some words for usage in this country. My newest book has taken me into the research of the history of Ireland as well as watching Irish movies and seeking out those who live in Ireland to get a better grasp on the verbiage and speech to use.
I still don’t consider this outrageous research. It isn’t even rating near the kind of research I may do to find out about doctors and lawyers I decide to hire. However, I have been doing some research lately that has taken me to a whole new level. I embedded so much of myself in TGM that at times when I read it I have to stop and shake myself off because I am so attached to the dept of it. I am currently working on some research that has given me the same feel. I love history and museums. I determined that as a freelance writer I would write about museums and historical events. Now the fun begins.
I wasn’t interested in writing the usual things that the whole world already knows. I wanted to find the hidden treasures. The little nuances that are not widely known. I knew that The Crockett Tavern Museum would be my first. I used to live just a couple miles from this museum and had visited there before. Then in July just past, I learned a hidden gem about Mr. Crockett and was given permission to use it and create from that. I knew I would be doing research, but I did not know then, how deep this would take me. I have begun to feel an almost intimate bond with an American legend that is bigger then the state he gave his life for. And yet, I know that even as I read his words and examine his prized rifle, I am hardly scratching the surface of who he really was. But this research has shown me that until I get inside the heart, mind and very essence of the one I am researching (much like I got into the minds of the adolescents I used to counsel) my research will be utterly incomplete. If the research is incomplete, the story cannot be told in a satiating manner to fully fill those who read.
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