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Anatomy of a Novel Part 3 11/29/2004 10:35:20 AM
I hate research. Some folks love it. I wish I did. I would rather just write the book than go poring through mounds of paper, stacks of books or lists of web links. But it's a necessary evil, and at this stage of the novel, where I have only scattered ideas and a plot line that will in some ways hinge on the actual events and modus operandi of a serial killer, I have to fill the coffee filter if I want something to start brewing.
Since this book does involve--loosely--Jack the Ripper, my first target is Ripper material. I don't really want far-out theories on Masonic plots or how he might have been some member of royalty whose bats started fluttering about his belfry. I want the meaty stuff, the inside scoop.
My first mode of attack was to search for Ripper links on the Internet, any site that might provide me with at a least a basic knowledge of which Ripper books were recommended as the most factual and accurate. Popping the name "Jack the Ripper" into Google yielded immediate results. Top of the list provided a site laden with facts and a single recommendation for Philip Sugden's The Complete History of Jack the Ripper. Being an underpaid writer--and given the book itself, once written, wouldn't offer a huge advance--I went through Amazon's secondhand books and came up with a remainder copy for about $5. I waited about a week for the book to come (I highly recommend Caiman Books, incidentally, fast and inexpensive) and was a bit surprised to find the thing was 550 pages of small print. The book itself is one of interest to probably only the most serious Ripper students (if you are interested in way-out theories you won't find them here) and provided detailed analysis of all the victims, the major suspects and all the minutia a researcher could hope for. The book is excellent for discounting the myths surrounding the killings. The photos are not for the timid, nor the full of stomach.
I discovered a number of useful tidbits, names and inspiring tidbits within the book, more than enough to spark ideas for various scenes, which led to notions for linking scenes that involved my two main characters. I got a number of possibilities for auxiliary characters, good and bad, as well. So while I dislike research, gluing myself to a seat and doing it proves invaluable every time (just make sure if you love research it doesn't become an excuse not to start your actual novel! It's happened, believe me.)
This book alone gave me all I needed on that particular aspect of my own book. However, I was mildly intrigued by Patricia Cornwell's recent assertions on the identity of the murderer, and with my newfound background on the killer, curious how her work corresponded with the actual facts. So about halfway through the book I located a used copy of her Portrait of a Killer: Case Closed.
The book proved basically a work of fiction, with huge leaps of logic and assumption, but it added a a Ripper suspect--an unlikely one based on her suspect "facts"--to the fodder.
The Ripper research basically tied up, I am left with other aspects of the western that would need researching, such as what type of town? Fictional or based on a real town? A collage or more precise representation? I almost always build my own towns. It makes getting the facts right an easy matter, because you're constructing them. If you were doing an Historical Western, then the research in that area would be deeper. Since Black Horse Westerns are shorter, action-oriented, I play architect and carpenter. That and the rest of the western aspect of it involves general western research, meaning sifting through numerous volumes of Old West history books such as the Time-Life series on the Old West, Life in the Old West books, historical costume books, etc. A lot of this I don't research very heavily until after my first draught, because inevitably things come up that are unexpected and--at least for me--would stop the story momentum (writing it, I mean) if I halted writing every time I needed a detail. It's far easier to insert those after a draught is down. It simplifies the process of getting precise facts.
I also had a brief scene in mind that took place a bit outside the Old West, namely at a harbor in New York or Boston, involving the boarding of a steamship. I ran into a lot of dead ends trying to research this, but luckily I run a yahoogroups for Black Horse Westerns that includes a number of writers and readers of Black Horse westerns, westerns in general, and also historians. A simple query produced a couple experts on the subject, and they have my eternal gratitude. One further question was answered by another historian on another group called All About Murder, which includes a wealth of mystery writers and readers. (A great bunch, so if you are interested in mysteries check them out!)
I guess my advice boils down to research just enough to give you what you need to start and finish your rough story, but not too much to prevent you from writing it or killing the energy (unless you love research and know precisely what you will need).
All my preliminary research for this book is now finished. I need to add some research for the second novel I am planning, NIGHTMARE PASS, but I am not sure of the story behind that book yet. I know it involves ghosttown and my two characters, essentially an escalation in their romance, and a mission to find a kidnapped wife. So after the next phase of RIPPER PASS I'll likely be taking a few days or a week to develop an idea for the story and notion of what I need for research on that book. But first, onto the next phase of RIPPER PASS....
