Research

Research, research is such a vital part of writing. I love reading old maps, looking into customs and phrases of another time period. But then there comes that point in researching when you are looking for a specific fact. Maybe the terrain of the area you are writing about. Or the distance one would have to travel on horseback

How I wish I knew someone from the time I am writing about so that I could just ask these questions. I would take great notes. Then I could get back to writing. 

Instead I am still researching. I need my heroine to ride from her home somewhere outside of London to London. So on horseback, I’ve found she could ride about 48 miles in a day. But I want her to arrive in London in 3-4 hours. Oh and the hero is with her—two people only one horse. So the horse although quite large would take approximately will take more time to get to London. So now I am looking for a town 25 miles outside of London.

Once I find the town, then I have to see what the terrain is like. What types of vegetation grow there. After that I need to decide if they took the main road or the side roads or if they traveled through a forest.

Above is a forest that I know well. I could write about this forest. But it is on the wrong continent. I know the wildlife that lives in this forest. I know what the weather is like. The chill on an October afternoon. But I'm unsure of the temperatures of the place I am writing. 

So that is where today October 10^th finds me . . . deeply embroiled in research.

Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:20-21