Nobody manages to research every single thing they need to know for their story in advance. So what was the last thing you had to look up while you were in the middle of writing? for me it was a ballpark figure for the average number of people in a riding (that's an electoral district, if you are not Canadian.)
Some of us don't do any research for fiction in advance and do it all as we go, alternating writing and research days. Last thing I looked up really quick: a 1980 menu from a specific restaurant in my character's neighborhood to see what appetizers the characters would have ordered.
Hugh Grant's middle name is Mungo. Most of the stuff I research mid story is mostly fact checking things I mostly know, but would rather not be wrong about in print. Like the full names of public figures, and scientific formulas that I know the concept of , but can't express in mathematical terms on my own. Is the fantasy name for monkshood wolfs bane of belladonna? I'm pretty sure it's wolfs bane, but second or third draft is when I make sure I'm right.
This. The problem is that I have listened it twice and I still feel like I not getting some of the most important stuff. I feel myself stupid.
The difference between 'hesitance' and 'hesitancy' before that, it was very important that I know what Captain Picard called Riker when they were alone.
How big a Lorenz Water Wheel could be ... I never found an answer, but I assume size wouldn’t really matter. I was thinking of a water wheels from 200m to 500m high.
To add to your confusion, some horse people in certain regions of the US are really lax about using the proper terminology. When I was little and we lived in the Midwest, my parents boarded a few horses, including a couple of horse show participants. It wasn't uncommon for even the most knowledgeable horse people to say "That mare's about to foal" and then in the next sentence refer to any baby horse as a "colt" regardless of its gender...kind of like how in some parts of the South, any flavor of soda is a "coke". The people who were into horse racing were the exception, of course. Also, generally speaking, the more money the horses were worth in earning potential, the more precise the language tended to be. Were I writing a story involving horses, I'd probably cover all the bases by having a newcomer use incorrect terminology and be corrected by someone!
The range of a mortar. (7.2 km) Though I try to research ahead for the most part, if I have a general idea of what I need to know for the sake of the story.
The street price of drugs in the mid 80's. (between 300$ and 500$ per gram for cocaine as opposed to 100$ to 200$ today).
The appearance of terrain on the north-western shore of lake Superior. Don't you just love Google Earth? I got to walk along an actual road and look at stuff. It's a lot easier to describe stuff you've actually seen.
The last time I had to look for something quick was fighting scenes against lancers to pay attention to movement and tactics.
Those sound like cop prices yeah? As in 'drugs with a street value of half a million...blah blah...have been seized...' ...there's his weed plant in the pot/his greenhouse/the mortgage on the property/I think we made a million pound bust, sergeant, congratulations. Whereas my own associates would be paying fifty a gram back when I was a drug dealer, machine gun chainsaw broad in mafia-era Surbiton.
Maybe, maybe not. Probably you're including fuel from Mexico, & taxes. I'm not saying I'd throw your book at the wall, am I? What about firearms, how many bullets in your glockhammer? And culturally, was there punk rock in Canada 80s or skiffle still? Scene set with authenticity, otherwise I'm reading American.
"Oi, Hoser! Wanna grab me a Timmies, there and come try something that's at least two -- three times better than Maple Syrup?" "Oh, I don't know about that there, bud. But lemme throw Tom Sawyer on the turntable and we can giver a try, eh."
