There are so many things I want to know! The minutiae of details I’d like to put into my stories require a vast amount of research. While I enjoy doing most research, it’s not all easy. For instance, I’d dearly love to know enough about horticulture so that I don’t have to search for pictures in order to name the flora I can so easily envision.
Like this:

I’ve been living with this hedge for three and half years and do I know what it is? Not a clue.
I’m good with researching things like diseases, psychology, historical eras and objects, sexuality, (okay, that one’s fun), culture, geography – all kinds of things. But when it comes to botany…
It’s just real purdy.
(I did just look up the difference between horticulture and botany.)
What do you have a hard time researching?

May 25, 2013 at 1:31 pm
Well although there are millions of website out there I have problems when I’m looking for myths and folk tales! I don’t know why! And by the way try this http://www.flowerfile.com/ should be nice!
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May 25, 2013 at 2:39 pm
I think half the problem is the fact that you look up one thing and you get inundated with information. Thanks for the link. I’ll bookmark it. 🙂
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May 25, 2013 at 3:01 pm
No problem! 😀
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May 23, 2013 at 11:30 pm
I love research.
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May 24, 2013 at 6:30 am
Oh good, you can do mine! haha!
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May 23, 2013 at 1:54 pm
Many times I just want to write the story, and research feels like a chore. However, I have to remind myself it will make a better end-product, and is worth the effort. I prefer just reading non-fiction, and then letting my mind use those stories or facts to weave into a fictional universe.
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May 23, 2013 at 2:33 pm
Oh yes, definitely when I start writing a first draft the last thing I want to do is stop and research. It’s a good idea to read non-fiction. As long as it’s something that you’re already interested in, why not? 😀
Thanks for the comment 🙂
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May 23, 2013 at 10:50 am
A few years ago, I set out to learn Botanical Latin, because I discovered while researching something else, that if you know the proper Latin name, you can decipher whether the plant is tall or short, sun or shade lover, water or dry land, and so on –
I made it through page 3 of the 4″ volume obtained through Inter-Library loan – and decided I just needed new friends who were botanists…
🙂
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May 23, 2013 at 10:51 am
Haha! Excellent plan! 😀
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May 23, 2013 at 8:55 am
Amazing pictures:)
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May 23, 2013 at 8:56 am
Thank you 🙂
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May 23, 2013 at 12:02 am
It is a “Bridal Wreath Spirea”, a very fast growing hardy shrub, not a privet. They have different flowers and leaves.
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May 23, 2013 at 1:30 pm
I looked up the Bridal Wreath Spirea and the pictures match. Thanks for the input! 😀 I learned something new.
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May 23, 2013 at 2:52 pm
You are welcome!
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May 22, 2013 at 11:58 pm
I can relate completely with your post. I always wish I knew more so that what I write about has more credibility but its impossible to research and know everything. For the novel I really want to write I need to do lots of historical reserach which will probably be do-able, hard work but could be done.
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May 23, 2013 at 1:33 pm
Oooh, I’d love to write something historical but there’s soooo much work. The little that I had to do for my work in progress left me throwing my hands up wondering what to believe and who was correct.
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May 22, 2013 at 8:47 pm
It’s a Chinese Privet 🙂
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May 22, 2013 at 9:26 pm
Thank you. 😀 I was hoping somebody would tell me.
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May 22, 2013 at 9:26 pm
You’re welcome 🙂
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May 22, 2013 at 5:30 pm
Working in fantasy, there’s less to research. I tend to have issues with monsters though. Preexisting monsters are numerous and not all of the information is consistent on the same one.
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May 22, 2013 at 5:34 pm
That is a very valid thing to research though. I’ve come up in my mind with different creatures in the past thinking they were original only to look and find something very close already existed.
But you must have weapons and realms as well as substances and machinery to develop. That would take a major amount of knowledge to form.
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May 22, 2013 at 5:37 pm
Weapons do, but I’ve always been interested in them. So, that’s rather easy to research. The realms are from my own notes. A lot of it I make up as I go along too. At least the details.
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May 22, 2013 at 5:38 pm
Note to self: write fantasy novel.
😉
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May 22, 2013 at 5:42 pm
Good note. We always accept new applicants to the genre.
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May 22, 2013 at 5:44 pm
😀
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