So now I have to study charts, like this:
And I have to imagine myself here, dressed like this:
(Yes, I have to imagine myself a young man atop a fringed horse.)
It's nice to know that my year and a half in Bahrain and my seven months in Baghdad will come in handy. At least in Bahrain, I rode horses for six months, and they were Arabian at that. (My favorite was Clyde, a brown gelding. Cleopatra, an old mare, stepped on my foot on purpose, so she will be immortalized in my book.) In Baghdad, I only rode helicopters, which wouldn't be in my book. But wait...hmm...
Other things to research:
1. mythological creatures from the Arabian Nights
2. 9th century oceanic travel
3. 9th century music
4. how to Twitter for gold and rainbows*
*Ok, not really. There's my one attempt at celebrating St. Patty's Day. But did you notice, oh Twitter fans, how Twitter seems to deliver anything you desire? It's like a...oh, that thing in Star Trek that generates any food item you wish.
3 comments:
This is a new theme for your site, isn't it? I *like* it!
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Which do you enjoy more-- the research/imagining/prep like this, or the act of writing/story creating?
I will readily admit I like fantasy b/c you can tell so much story before you get to the nitty-gritty of detail research.
It's the telling that I'm in love with, and the details are definitely just the means to an end for me, so far from being entertaining in themselves.
It's interesting to hear you talk about imagining to be the prince. I can barely trust myself away from the computer to spend time in my characters or listening to them. I'm too afraid I'll forget something by the time I get back to the keyboard.
All I let myself do when I'm not actually writing is listen to my playlists (songs I've collected that match the emotional core of the character) or working what I call the "math" of the story-- trying to figure out things I'm stuck on.
But even then I have to run straight to put it down somewhere if I figure it out. I've proven too many (heartbreaking) times that even "if its important" I won't always remember it.
Do you think you have a good memory for that kind of stuff or do you write out of some kind of emotional "core" that imagining solidifies?
I love your "other things to research" list. What other job is this cool, eh?
Your story sounds intriguing!!
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