By John Gilstrap

Let’s talk research.

I’ve never been a proponent of the old adage, write what you know.  In fact, I think it’s kind of silly.  It’s the rare crime writer who has witnessed a crime, let alone investigated one.  I’ve been fortunate in my own life to be able to look back on some exciting times in the fire service, and in the hazmat business, but those are not the exciting times I write about.  While I’ve been shot at, I’ve never been a position to shoot back.  Basically, I am the three-time survivor of poor marksmanship.  There is a point in every book where at least one of my characters is scared shitless, and those are by far my most autobiographical passages.

Yet I’m pleased to report that I frequently get emails from readers who live the lives I write about telling me that I got it right.  Those letters are always thrilling—way more thrilling than the emails I get about the typo on page 237.

It’s all in the research.  So let’s talk about that.  How can writers learn what we need to know to make our characters smart enough to do the things they do in the stories we write?  It doesn’t have to be as difficult or complicated as some might have you believe.

Research Hack One: Cheat.

The easiest way to pull off the illusion of knowledge is to eliminate the need for reality.  For example, despite have lived pretty much my whole life in Fairfax and Prince William Counties in Virginia, I choose to play out my Northern Virginia police work in Braddock County, Virginia, which does not exist.  That way, I can develop whatever standard operating procedures best serve the story, eliminating a huge research burden.  I don’t need a tour of the jail, I don’t need to know which firearms they carry, what the command structure is, or how shifts are organized.  Do the cops carry their shotguns propped up vertically, or under the front of the seat?  I can make it however I want it to be.  Because the place where the story takes place does not exist, neither do the police agencies, so I can by definition never get any of those details wrong.

Research Hack Two:  Stick to the coast you know.

More times than not, it’s the smaller details of research that screw an author up, and even if you make up cities and counties, you’re going to have to root the reader somewhere in the world.  I’m very comfortable making up locations in the South because I’ve lived here for so many decades.  It’s always the tell of a West Coast writer when a character looks for a “freeway” and gets on “the 495.”  In Virginia, we look for a “highway” and get on “Route 50” or just “50.”  Heading north or south on the Beltway says little unless we know whether you’re on the Inner Loop or the Outer Loop.  For natives, the airports are “National” or “Dulles”.  Maybe DCA for frequent travelers.  Never “Reagan.”  At least not for true locals.  Oh, and we “go to” meetings or “attend” them.  We do not “take” them.

Places like New York and L.A. (and every other famous city, I suppose) have traditions and colloquialisms that can get you in trouble.  So, stay close to home if you can.

Research Hack Three: Think like Willie Sutton

When the gangster Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks, he replied, “Because that’s where the money is.”

So, where are the repositories for the information you want to know?  Let’s say you’re writing about a cop.  To be sure, there are great established resources available to you, such as a citizen’s police academy, but remember that there you’ll be getting the view of the agency that the public affairs office wants you to see.  A better choice, in my opinion, would be to attend a conference like Writers Police Academy, where you can get to know the far more interesting underbelly of police agencies.  Exchange business cards and you’ve got contacts.

Can’t afford the money or time to fly to a conference?  Try chatting up a cop.  The less formal the circumstance, the better.  In my experience, everyone—Ev. Ry. One.—likes to share stories about what they do.  Find out where cops gather for drinks after work and go there.  Just hang out and listen.  Actually, that’s a strategy for just about any specialty.  Want to write about quilting? Go where quilters go and then shut up and listen.

When I’m in DC, one of my favorite places to go for soft research is Union Station, the AMTRAK/Metro terminal that is maybe 500 yards from the Capitol Building.  There are restaurants there.  If you park yourself near a couple of Millennials in suits, there’s a 90% chance that they’re oh-so-self-important staffers to a member of Congress, and the inevitable one-upsmanship is fascinating.  The best eavesdropping spot near the White House is the very cozy bar of the Hay Adams Hotel, though given the proximity to the presidential palace, the gossip there tends to be less juicy.

One bit of advice for eavesdroppers: Don’t take notes.  For the ruse to work, you’ve got to seem disinterested.

Research Hack Four: Get a superfast Internet connection and use it.

I understand that professors are loathe to accept Wikipedia as a legitimate source, and when the time comes for me to submit a dissertation, I’ll keep that in mind.  Meanwhile, I’ll remain devoted to it as a bottomless source of really good information.  Never once have I been disappointed when seeking the finer points of weaponry, for example.  I don’t get into the depths of gun porn in my books, but when arming my good guys and bad guys, it’s good to know how much the weapon weighs, how many rounds it holds and what it looks like.  Want to see the same weapon in action?  I guarantee that YouTube has at least two videos of somebody shooting something with it.

Google Earth and its Street View feature are a godsend.  The closing sequence of Final Target includes a chase down the rural streets of Yucatan.  Thanks to Google Earth, I was able to travel the entire route with a three dimensional view, all without the burden of having to go to a place where I’d rather not be.

Research Hack Five: Know the difference between a research trail and a rabbit hole.

We’ve all been there, I’m sure.  You start out looking for the year when the Ford Ranger went out of production, and an hour later, you’ve chased links to a sweet video of singing penguins.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

The secret to doing my kind of research is to abide by a certain self-imposed intellectual laziness. When I’m writing a scene and I come across a place where I realize there’s a hole in my knowledge, I drop out to the Interwebs, find out exactly what I need for that scene, and then back out.  Remember this: It’s not important that you know how to do all the things your characters do—or even to know everything they do.  Your job is simply to convince readers that the character knows enough to pull off the story they’re starring in.

Research Hack Six (and maybe it should be Number One): Respect your sources’ time.

As a weapons guy, I’m happy to help people choose a firearm for their characters, but it’s annoying when the discussion includes the difference between a pistol and a revolver.  That kind of basic information is available anywhere.  It is many times more fun to talk about important details with someone who has already done a reasonable amount of research.  Use your human resources for the esoteric details of verisimilitude, not for the 101 level of whatever you’re researching.

“Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you.” ― Jean-Paul Sartre

By PJ Parrish

I apologize ahead of time for being crabby today. Had two encounters with unpublished writers this month. This is kind of like a Yeti sighting but in some ways more terrifying. Because you never know if they’re going to turn on you.

I like helping folks get their manuscripts and careers off the ground. Maybe it’s partly because I set out in life to be a teacher but way back in 1972 when I got out of college, I couldn’t find a job. But mostly, it’s because I was an unpublished author once, rejected by every publisher in New York (yes, every single one) before someone took a chance on me. (Thank you John Scognamiglio at Kensington books). I know the heartbreak. I know how hard and utterly confusing this all is. But I also know — learned this through a couple decades experience publishing books now — how important having the right attitude is. In fact, attitude might be more important than talent in this game. So when I meet an unpublished writer with a bad attitude, I have learned not to waste my time or breath trying to help. Well, actually, this isn’t true.  I still haven’t really learned my lesson because it’s hard to know what kind of attitude you’re dealing with until you get knee-deep in their weeds and, as Jean-Paul says above, you don’t always know what’s been done to a person and how that will manifest itself in their attitude.

Back to the two writers. I had known both of them for a while and had even worked in the newspaper business with one for years (Shoot, he had even been my boss briefly).  I offered ahead of time to read the first 30 pages of their works in progress and give them my feedback. One lived nearby so we met for coffee. The second had moved away up to Pennsylvania but I told him we could talk via emails. Here’s the thing: I pretty much knew before I read their manuscripts which one was going to get published and which one wasn’t.  See if you can:

Unpublished writer A:

Wrote eight books.
Tried writing both romance and mysteries.
Has had all eight books rejected by editors.
Just finished a ninth book.
Queried 12 agents and got one to take her on.
Agent-submitted ninth book was rejected by five New York editors who all said book had promise but was too slow and lacked suspense.
Is still working on Book 9 trying to fix pacing problems.
Is reading books on how to write suspense.
Attended Killer Nashville over summer.
Is thinking she should submit the book to small presses instead of the biggies just to get her foot in the door.
Is working on a new idea and outline about a female PI series just in case an editor wants a series instead of a standalone.

Unpublished Writer B:

Finished one book.
Bought an established author’s critique at a writers conference charity auction. Established writer sent back critique of the first 50 pages with suggestions to improve book.
Didn’t change a thing.
Sent queries to agents. Was very offended by the “lack of personal tone” of the rejections.
Got an eager Florida-based agent to take on him on.
Didn’t change title after agent suggested it wasn’t very marketable.
Book was rejected after multiple submissions.
Didn’t change a thing.
Is looking for a “more connected” agent.
Self-published the book and sent a copy to the established author asking for a blurb. Finally started a new story.
Didn’t like my suggestion that he hone his story down to a single POV and make his plot linear, cutting the confusing flashbacks. Said the book “needed multiple POVs because of the story’s complexity demanded it” and that his book was “not really genre fiction but more literary, like Mystic River.”
Thinks there is a cabal in New York publishing designed to keep authors who have self-published from participating in the traditional system.
Has lots of ideas…

I think you get the idea. Too bad unpub B never will. Yes, you can still write the book you want to and get it published. No, you don’t have to sell out. But you have to be smart.

Being smart means learning your craft and walking before you run. (I’m guessing Unpub B never read the five Pat Kenzie Angie Gennaro books Dennis Lehane published BEFORE Mystic River…even though Mystic River was one of the first manuscripts Lehane finished.).

It means listening to good advice when you are lucky enough to get it.

It means not taking every rejection personally. An agent or editor sends out a hundred SASEs a week and when they say no they aren’t rejecting you. They are rejecting your work. There is a difference.

It means writing maybe ten books before you get it right.

It means not automatically expecting the “big” writers to reach down and pull you up. If it happens, consider yourself blessed and give back when it’s your turn. But don’t whine if it doesn’t happen.

It means increasing your chances by making your work as marketable as you can without being false to the writer you are.

It means not not looking for short cuts.

It means not giving up.

It means having the right attitude.

{{{Sound of me taking in a big inhale and bigger exhale}}}}

Wow. I hope that didn’t sound mean. Thank you, dear friends, for listening to me vent.

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Postscript: As I was finishing this Sunday night, I got an email from Unpublished Writer A. She got a nice response back from a small press asking to see a full manuscript. I will keep you posted. I think she’d going to make it.