A curious mind and a knack for research will make you a better writer.
One of the primary traits one must cultivate in order to be a better writer, a writer worth reading, is curiosity. Although curiosity comes naturally to most writers, it can fall by the wayside as life gets in the way.
Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers. Voltaire
Have you ever had the experience of anticipating a new novel by one of your favorite authors, only to be disappointed because the writer seems to be doing the same old thing? Or maybe the writer appears to have run out of subject matter, so puts out a novel about…a novelist. Or a professor of writing writes a novel about…a professor of writing.
There are exceptions, of course, and I imagine you may already be protesting, thinking of a terrific novel you’ve read about a writer! Paul Auster, for example, has managed to make fine art out of complex, looping repetitions in a body of work that often involves writers.
Often, however, novels about writers, or about writing professors who have affairs with their students (a genre unto itself), feel a bit lazy. When it comes to “writing what you know,” you have to draw the line somewhere. It never hurts to branch out, to know more about the world in order to be a better writer.
Today’s challenge: Cultivate curiosity.
One of the biggest challenges to my writing life is all of the time I spend following my curiosities, researching instead of writing. Some days, all that research feels like a failure. I may get to the end of a week and realize I know more than I ever thought possible about the neurological basis of memory, and I haven’t written a word of fiction. When I feel guilty about all those hours I spent not writing, I remind myself that none of my novels would have become novels had I not followed my curiosities (the memory research, for example, led to The Year of Fog, and my fascination with cults and authoritarianism led to The Marriage Pact.
- Today, make a list of ten things you’d like to know more about.
- Then, choose one.
- Write a list of questions you have about this subject.
- Spend 30 minutes researching the topic online.
- Find one book that will help you develop a deeper understanding of the topic. Either order the book so you’ll have it in your hands within the next few days, or write down the location of the book in your library and vow to get yourself there. (Although I love my library, I tend to find that, when I’m studying something, owning a copy is much more helpful, because I can notate the book as I please).
Learn more about how to bring your novel to life through research in my Online Novel Writing Class.
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