How to pitch a romance novel

I know it's after RWA Nationals and many of romance writers have this step behind them, but since I couldn't go to NY this year and I'm going to our local RWNZ conference next month, I've decided to give pitching a go.

I have never pitched in person before, but I'm no longer a pitching virgin - at the end of an e-course on pitching I did last month we had an opportunity to pitch to an agent. My pitch didn't get me any requests, but I got very valuable feedback.

From what I have learnt from different sources, although a pitch should always contain the essence of your book, what is that essence varies according to the genre. This is a summary of how to pitch a romance novel.

1. Finish the b***y book. Finish and polish. And polish more.
It has to be ready for submission at the time of query/pitch.

2. Find an agent/editor. Search Writers and Artists  Yearbook, Writers' Handbook etc, browse the Internet (check Chuck Sambuchino's Guide to Literary Agents website), check your favourite authors, writing communities; go to a library or a bookshop; possibilities are endless. You need to end up with a list of agents (editors) who accept books in your genre, preferably with some similar (not necessarily exactly the same) novels published or accepted recently.
If you can compare your writing/your novel to one of the authors/books represented by the agent you're approaching, mention it in your pitch/query. If the agent was recommended to you by your writing friend - mention it.

3. Write your pitch. The length of your pitch depends on the circumstances (see great post by Nathan Bransford), but the one I'm after is so called 'elevator pitch'.
Christine Withhohn at Pitch University suggests that you ask yourself what your book really is about (the hook), while keeping your audience in mind (genre). Write it down in 1-3 sentences. Check if every piece of information is necessary (i.e. the story wouldn't be the same if this element was changed or deleted).
Tidy it up, e.g.
1st sentence - enticing incident, story premise
2nd sentence  - internal conflict of your main character (characters)
3rd sentence - end with a hook; don't tell how the book ends- the pitch is a teaser, designed to whet the agent/editor's appetite for more.

Don't abuse semicolons, don't try to cram too much info into your pitch.
Don't forget to include the genre and word count in your pitch and whether or not the novel is finished (it better be finished - see p 1).

4. Polish. Polish. Polish.

5. Practice - in the shower, with a friend, ask your critique partner or someone form your writing group for feedback.


6. Get ready for the day. Perfect your style.

photo by Ambro
www.freedigitalphotos.net

7. Follow through. If you're lucky and the agent is interested in your book, they usually ask for a partial (usually synopsis with the first 3 chapters, or the first 50 pages) or a full manuscript. Usually it should be send within 2-3 business days after the pitch was requested. So there is enough time to check the agent website to tweak details like font type and size, margins etc, but NO TIME for finishing the book (see p. 1).

Include a brief letter, reminding the agent where and when you've met; how you enjoyed the meeting; it's a good idea to include your original pitch to refresh the Agent's memory.
Include a short paragraph with some details about you - your previous publishing successes, professional affiliation (e.g. RWA, RWNZ), any other credits (e.g. writing contests won).
Thank the Agent for their time.

8. Wait.

In the meantime, you can practice pitching and pitch online to a variety of agents and editors - there is a number of websites where you can do it, e.g. Savvy Authors and Pitch University


Have you got any tips for pitching virgins and second timers? Share them!

How to build believeble characters- part 1. Emotional baggage

photo by africa
http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

This is my second post on building characters, whose past, persent and future fit together and make sense.

Emotional baggage, when handled well, can be a great source of internal and external conflict. It's what has formed your characters' motivations and will provide fertile ground for them to grow.
However, it is important not to overdo it, as you may end up with someone who has more than your novel can handle.

If you want to use emotional baggage as a tool to build your character you need to remember these simple, general rules:

1. Age
Personality needs time to mature. It's different for different people, but as a rule of thumb people are rarely mature by the age of 20, most people would achieve maturity in their mid- late twenties. Does it mean you can't have an 18 y.o. mature, responsible young man? Well, you can, but make sure you give him enough life experience to back up your claims.

What are the characteristics of mature personality?
Mature people have sense of self, ability to evaluate themselve without bias and are realistic in judging other people and situations. They are emotionally secure, are capable of forming loving, reciprocal relationships and have a philosophy, which gives their life a purpose and allow to decide about their long term goals and behaviour. More on earmarks of  mature personality here. And here you can check how mature is your character.

2. Family
There is a good reason why probably all languages have their own versions of 'Like father, like son'. We learn how to live, interact with other people, think about the world, react to it, etc  from our parents, and other close family memebrs. Even if you do everything to not to be like your father, it's your father's personality that is shaping you.
If you want to have a heroine who has problems in relationships with men, you have to think why she has a problem with men. The most likely reason would be not good relationship with her father.
If you give someone a family where no one is normal and make your character completely normal, you have to give this guy a chance to learn how it is to be normal. Send him to a boarding school or foster family perhaps?
It's the same the other way round - I haven't yet seen a person with serious emotional problems and a normal family.

3. Previous relationships.
In romance it is important that the relationship between your heroine and hero is unique and special, like never before. While they may have (and in typical modern adult romance they even should have) been in previous longterm relationships, this one is unique. If you decide to give them previous relationships, you need to think about the reasons why they have failed.
The trouble is, when you come to a certain age, a string of unsuccesful relationships becomes a pattern and hence a traits of character. A typical example is a woman who gets trapped in a series of abusive relationships (tip: look at her relationship with her father!), or a man who always ends up 'under the thumb' (tip: look at the relationship between his parents)
Generally speaking, if someone hasn't been able to form succesful, longterm (over a year) relationships by the age of 30, there is a good deal of chance that this person have a deep rooted problems with forming loving relationships.
If your character's longterm relationship ended, you have to think about a reason why. In relationships things don't happen without a reason, and 'it takes two to tango'. If one of the partners had an affair, it means something in this relationship was missing, so they needed to look outside.

4. Childhood trauma
If you decide to give your character an experience of childhood abuse, be very, very careful. Not only it's a sensitive issue you need to address within what your genre allows you, but also you may create potential pitfalls for your character development and your ending.
It's probably easier if you write literary fiction or women's fiction, but if you're writing in romance genre, bevery careful. Childhood abuse particularly repeated, whether physical, emotional or sexual, leave effects impossible to erase. 80% of young adults who were abused as children meet the criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder.
Love heals - that's right, but an adult survivor of childhood abuse who has never been able to form a loving, trusting and nurturing relationship will not be able to from one without long term therapy (or a therapeutic relationship, not necessarily in professional sense).
Here you can read more about lasting impressions of childhood trauma and causes and effects of child abuse.

5. Outlook on life
Your character's outlook on life hasn't been born in vacuum either. Whether you believe that your outlook has been shaped by your experience, or that your outlook shapes your experience, you need to make sure these elements are consistent and logical.
Of course, there is the evergreen debate nature versus nurture, but even if you don't want to go that deep, make sure that the way your character perceives life, people and themselve is consistent with their past experience.


These are general rules, as as usual there may be exceptions to them. Remember the more emotional baggage you give your character, the more difficult her/his change will be. When writing romance, make sure that your charatcer has time and opportunity to grow first before jumping into relationship. If there is no change within the person, new relationship itself is not likely to bring about the change. The change has to come from within.


Have you encounter any of these problems while creating your characters? Is there anything else important I haven't talked about? Do you have any more questions?
Please, ask. if not under the post, feel free to email me and I will do my best to answer your question.

Developing believable characters - my 2p worth

photo by Idea goat http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

I have been struggling to find a voice for this blog since the beginning. There are so many writers' blogs out there. There are so many excellent writers and published authors sharing their knowledge of the craft and their tips on the industry. Who am I to compete with them?

I like Suzie Quint's idea of presenting careers for characters. I think it's quite original. I wanted to do someting like that.

Jody Hedlund's article 'How to avoid becoming another boring writers' blog' got me thinking a little more.

Is there anything unique I can offer to fellow writers? Do I have an interesting story to tell?

And then came Scott Egan's comments on characters he doesn't like. Scott is right, in an attempt to create powerful internal conflict, sometimes writes come up with characters who have just too much emotional baggage to be believable.

Characters have to be real. They have to have life experience which has shaped them into the person they are now. People don't become bad without good reasons. People generally don't get over a trauma in a blink of an eye, but their worlds don't fall apart without good reasons in the past and present.

And then I had a light bulb moment.
My day job involves a lot of listening to people's stories and trying to make sense of what I've heard. I have heard so many stories I can usually tell a real story from a made-up one. I am pretty good at guessing how certain people would react to certain events and attitudes based on their history. I can even, sort of, predict, what their lives may be like in the future.

No, I'm not a fortune teller. I'm a shrink. And this is what I can offer my fellow writers. I can share my experience of understanding human nature to help understand how to create believable characters with potential for powerful conflict but without too much emotional baggage.
Heros, villains, stereotypes or archetypes - you name it. Do you want to have an insight into human's mind?
Join me - I'll open the door for you.

Tone up those saggy middles

Editing and rewriting your novel part 2.

SoYouThinkYouCanWrite contest by Harlequin is nearly resolved. It seems that the organisers replied to the majority of participants. Although we all expected there would be rejections, the fact that there will be A WINNER came as a bit of surprise. I guess, the winner (and runners-up?) will be announced on Monday on Harlequin blog.

photo by Idea goat FreeDigitalPhotos.net

One of my eHarlequin and blogging friends, Serenity Woods, has already got her reply (you can read her well-balanced and thoughtful, if not serene reflections on her experience here).

I'm still waiting and trying to carry on editing my NaNo and SYTYCW novel, in case I've got a request for a partial (miracles happen :)). I've rewritten my opening chapter and the following two and now I'm entering the shaky ground of the middle.

Roz Morris have recently posted on her her 3 fixes to give a story a good middle, and here are mine.
How to write (and rewrite) a well-paced middle?

1. Think of your character arc. Where is where she/he needs to get by the end of the book? Where is she/he now? What are their motivations? What changes does she/he need to undergo to get there? What challenges do you throw at her/him to give her/him a chance to change? How do you show the change happen?
Repeat for any main character you have. Make sure their stories intertwine.

2. Think in scenes. Which scenes are crucial to your character and the story? Which scenes show the journey? Write these ones first, then the less important but still necessary ones. Link them. In genre fiction links can (or even should) be limited to a couple of sentences (e.g. When she got off the bus, he was already waiting with a bunch of flowers).

3. Plan for your climax. Is there anyway you can foreshadow your climax? Which of the middle scences could be used to hint the reader at what is to come? Make sure that you have shown all the skills, abilities etc your character needs for the final challenge and the climax (miracles happens but not in fiction, so no last minute secret weapons digged out of the pocket, unless you've hinted at the existence of this pocket and your character's tendency to hind things in pockets, and their mastery at using the secret weapon, and... )

4. Keep track of what you're doing and stay focused on the story end. Have a map of your hero journey or a plot line and tick the milestones along the way. Keep record of the number of pages you write every day. Get one of those word count/ writing progress meters widgets (you can get them e.g. from Writertopia)- I love them! - it helps me see the end.


Enjoy it!

How to revise your manuscript

Finally I've sent that nonfiction project off to the Publisher and here came time for revision and self-editing of my NaNoWriMo novel.


So I've read all the posts on revising and self-editing I've bookmarked over the last couple of months, read and made notes from a book by James Scott Bell 'Revision & self-editing' and, as advised, sat to print my manuscript off.
But my printer ran out of ink and I had to wait for a new cartrige.

In the meantime I've decided to collate advice on how to revise a manuscript / a novel.

Here's the summary of what I've found out:


Revising your manuscript in 6 steps:
1. Print your entire manuscript off.
Make sure the font is legible, with 1,5-2 spaces between the lines, margins ample enough to make notes on them; one sided preferably. Many revision experts advice to print your MS the way you would to send it to your publisher.


2. Get mentally prepared for revisions - this is going to make your book better, stronger, punchier. Janice Hardy has more advice on how to put yourself in the right mood before revisions on her blog The Other side of the Story.


3. Get ready to read: get a pen (why not a red one?), a comfy chair, a table, good lighting, a bit of peace and quiet.
Holy Lisle also suggests a notebook and nerves of steel.

3a. At this stage is also good to remind yourself- what is the theme of your book- who are your main characters and what are their emotional journey- what is the conflict about


4. Read your manuscript.
JS Bell advises to read MS in a couple of settings, as a reader would; don't make any changes at this point, just make comments on the MS (red pen comes handy).

You may want to use shorthand markings to make comments about the changes you may want to make.
The best way of going about it is to have your own system.
I'm going to use:
-  V to mark places where story is dragging on (the more VVV, the worse)
- [?...] around passages that feel unnecessary/ in the wrong place
- [ more!] where I feel I need to add something
- underlining and a circle for potential plot holes (green or amber eyes??)
- circle around the name of a character / an event that I've decided to change or may not otherwise suit the plot, emotional arch or the story theme


5. Analize your
- story (does it make sense? is the plot compelling? does it flow nicely? Are the stakes high enough?)
- pace/flow ( is the pace right? does every scene is a story in itself and does it end with a mini-climax?)
- characters (do they jump off the page? are they tri-dimensional? do they grow? what are their motivations and does it make sense?
- setting (does it add another layer to your story? does it change? do you use all 5 senses?)
- dialogue (does it sound natural? does it move the story forward or help building your characters? is it rambling?)
- voice/style (show vs tell? active verbs or passive voice? does the opening paragraph introduces the main threads of the story?)
- technicalities (lenght of the manuscript and chapters, ponctuation, grammar, formatting etc)

More advice on specific aspects of this stage: Fiction Editing Checklist by Sherry on Dark Angel's Blog and A self-editing checklist by The Book Doctor


6. Implement the changes in your manuscript.


The process can be repeated until you are happy with the final product.


What are your revising and editing tips?

I'm off to find a comfy chair.

How to get feedback on your manuscript

So you have finished your first draft (just like me) and now are getting ready to take it to the next level (a.k.a. second draft - I'm still letting my MS ripen)?
Have you thought of getting feedback on the quality, sellability, brilliantability  brilliantness of your manuscript?
I have, and I have also thought about how to get it done.

Here's 9 ways of getting feedback on your manuscript:

1. Join a writers' group, whether in real life or online. One of my favourite writing communities Chapter79 has a few sub-fora dedicated to novels.

2. Enrol onto a writing course; there are several writing courses available online and in the real life; I've done Fiction Writing with Writers' News; but there are many out there, including university courses (at some point I thought about enrolling on OU Creative Writing course.
Downside: they can be expensive and of variable quality; I would suggest checking the reputation within the writing community before investing any money.

3. Join in one of the feedback sites, like YouWriteOn, Critique Circle, Authonomy or have a look at NaNoWriMo Critique, Feedback and Novel Swaps forum.
The downside: you may discover that not all reviewrs are as thourough and honest as you would like them to be.

4. Pay for a professional manuscript assessment and editorial advice. Again, there are many agencies and individuals who offer this kind of service, use Google and recommendations by your writing friends. I have read a lot of positives about Cornerstones and The Literary Consultancy; Joanna Penn used The Novel Doctor)
Downside: expensive

5. Find a critique partner. I have found one thanks to RWNZ critique partner scheme. If you are a romance writer, have a look at eHarlequin Community site - there is a thread for writers seeking a critique partner.
Read an interesting post on What makes a good crit buddy.
Downside: can't think of any, once you've found a good match!

6. Use Beta readers (like Joanna Penn).
Downsides: Anyone knows of any?

7. Join a reputable writing organisation, like Romantic Novelist Association, Romance Writers of Australia, or any other, preferably in your favourite genre; many of them have contests (e.g. Golden Heart by RWA, or The Clendon Award for members of RWNZ), schemes (e.g. fantastic New Writers' Scheme by RNA) or critique groups, which offer the members opportunity to receive feedback on their manuscript.
Downsides: it can be expensive, but my RWNZ membership is my best invested money in 2010.

8. Send your manuscript to a contest.
Keep your eyes open - there are many of them. Choose those which will send back the feedback sheets to you, so even if you don't win the contast, you win the feedback.
I have sent my work in progress to Strictly Single and Get your Stiletto in the Door and although I didn't win, or even got to the second round, I have recieved lots of invaluable feedback (interestingly most judges agreed on what's good and what needs more work).
If you win/get shortlisted you may (or may not, as Scott Eagan points out on his blog) even get a request for a partial/full or The Call!
Downsides: can be expensive

9. If you feel your novel is perfect (or near perfect) submit your manuscript to the chosen agent or publisher.
The upside - if it's brilliant, you may get a publishing deal.
The downside - if it's crap not so brilliant, you are unlikely to receive any feedback at all.

Whichever way your choose, make a good use of the feedback. Read it (and reread as many times as you wish as I have done with mine), but let it rest for a while and then come back and think again. Here is a piece of advice on handling conflicting critiques..
If it feels right, follow the advice, it if doesn't - don't.


Good luck!

Writing synopsis (2)

I'm writing synopsis for my NaNo novel to submit to SoYouThinkYouCanWrite contest. As I find writing synopsis much more difficult than writing the actual novel I've tried to gather advice on how to do it first.
There is a summary of what I've found.

5 rules of writing a synopsis:

1. Synopsis is narrative summary of your novel; it tells the story, hence goes beyond the plot, introducing your characters and showing the conflict and the main emotional arc; the events of the story should be shown as they appear in your novel

2. You need to start with a good hook and end up showing the resolution of the story conflict (no cliffhangers allowed!); include major plot twists and turns, but not every detail

3. In the next paragraphs you introduce your characters showing their goals, motivations and conflict; you need to show how they change as the effect of the emotional journey they embark at the beginning of your story (action-reaction-decision); focus on the main characters, introduce secondary characters only if necessary and relevant to the emotional journey of your H&H

4. The body of your synopsis should have three major parts: Introduction (The precipitating event, which sends your heroine and hero on their journey), The Bits in the Middle (the journey through obstacles and escalating conflict towards the Resolution), the End (the Resolution of the conflict); remember to show how your characters develop and are tested during their emotional journey towards the resolution

5. Be tight, use strong verbs and cut extra adverbs and adjectives; try to reflect the pace and style/voice of your novel; write in present tense, third person and format your synopsis as per your targeted publisher requirements (or other publishing standards).

ps. more resources on Lou's blog. and there is more on writing the dreaded synopsis by editor-at-large Leslie Wainger at eHarlequin website.

The importance of happy endings

Photo by graur razvan ionut
at freedigitalphotos.net

Happy ending is one of the ingredients that define a romance novel. Although the story doesn't have to end with the wedding bells, a satisfactory ending incorporates at least an assumption that Heroine and Hero will live happily ever after. You need to give them a good chance to stay together for the forseeable future. This is what your reader expects from your novel.




Kate Walker says (in her fabulous 12 Points Guide to Writing Romance) that
- your first page sells the book you're writing now, but
- the ending will sell your next one.

Enough to say why a satisfactory, believable, resulting naturally from your characters happy ending is vital to a romance novel.


I have a bit of a problem with endings, so I've been worrying that my characters will never make it to the end.
I can't believe I did it!
Not only I won NaNoWriMo (that is wrote 50,000 words) but also finished my novel.

I struggled through week 2 and 3 to the point there were days, when I spent 4- 5 hours in front of the computer and wrote only 500-800 words. That's pathetic, but at least I was moving on.
I have generally very low writing output - maximally 500 words/hour, which is much less than other people can.
But I wanted to get the Nano laurels, so uploaded the novel as soon as I reached 50,000 words, although I was still a few scenes away from the end.

What was really important for me was to finish the novel. It's my very first finished novel (my other novel has been work in progress for the last 5 or 6 years!).
I got my hero and heroine to their Happily-Ever-After yesterday morning. It's my very first happy ending.

Now I need to fix the plotholes, eyes changing colours, people changing names and the like - a.k.a. known as editing and revising process. I also need to write a synopsis.

I want to submit 1 chapter plus synopsis to The Final Challenge of SoYouThinkYouCanWrite at eHarlequin and the deadline is 15/12/10.
I also want to enter The Clendon Award 2011, which is a competition for members of Romance Writers of New Zealand.

Still a lot of work to do. But what a happy ending!


Congratulations to all NaNo Winners!

More on plotting your novel

NaNoWriMo starts in 2 days and the Web is teeming with advice on all aspects of writing a novel in a month, plotting included.

Dani Greer at The Blood-Red Pencil shows how to use a mind map to plot a novel.

In preparation for NaNo Paulo Campos at Yingle Yangle talks about outlining a novel worth reading, why outlining your novel is essential, and how to prepare for the moment when your outline will fail.

More on novel writing strategies at Burrowers, books and balderdash.

At Girlfriends Book Club Novelists Saralee Rosenberg and Ellen Meister discuss the neverending issue of what it takes to write a novel: Inspiration or perspiration?

My writing tends to be plot-driven, but classic romance is usually character-driven (more about it at editorrent), so I'd better read a little about plotting from character (Theresa at editorrent).

Ah, and then I need to think a little about my conflict.

Planning/plotting a novel

NaNoWriMo starts in a week. Time to start planning and plotting my novel.

There are several ways of planning/plotting a novel (e.g. The Snowflake Method, a four-steps one, and many, many others) and there is probably a book for every kind of writing and planning..Generally speaking, you should do whatever works for you.
For me it's James V. Smith's framework from his "You can write a novel" book (I own a You Can Write a Novel Kit - complete with Chapter Log, Major/Master and Minor Character charts, Scene Development and revision Tracker)

I am writing a category romance, so I have 50,000 words and 10 chapters to make a good use of.
I have used Daphne Clair and Robyn Donald's (Writing Romantic Fiction) tips to 'translate' James V. Smith's advice into the world of romance.


1. Opening scene, where my Reader is to be thrilled.
Well, apparently I have now only 300 words to get my Reader's attention, so I'd better get the opening scene right.
In romance this is Their First Meeting, that First Sparkle between Her (beautiful, smart AND caring) and Him (Alfa male, no doubts!). Best is to have it happen on the first page, and ever since none of them is allowed to leave the page (= if one of them is not physically present on the page, he/she must be present in the other's character's mind).
As far as I've noticed category romance have POV switching between hero and heroine.
This will be Chapter 1 of my NaNo novel

2. Pivotal setup complication, where the action can fall a little, but never below the point of interesting
This part is simple - I just need to come up with enough conflict (source of tension), internal (emotional) and external (life circumstances), to keep them apart for something like 180 pages. Easy-peasy, isn't it?
well, we shall see ;-)
This will be Chapter 2 and 3

3. Point-of-no-return complication, where the action rises to reach the thrilling level again
In romance this is usually the moment when they fall for each other and despite all these things in point 2 realise they can't help the attraction
In Chapter 4

Points 4, 5, 6 - pivotal complications with the action rises and falls swinging my Reader between Interested, Excited and Thrilled
The consequences of the conflict as laid out in point 2, plus some minor additions, usually of external type; a jealous ex jumping out of a box maybe?
Chapters 5, 6,and 7

7. Worst complications possible, where my Reader should be more than Thrilled
It's all about that conflict, really.
Chapter 8

8. Worse than even the worst complications possible - the climactic scene, where I should have my Reader blown away by the titanic, epic, final struggle of my hero/heroine facing their worst adversary; heroic conflict is resolved in the characters' favour, important lessons are learnt and no coincidence or divine intervention is allowed
Simply speaking: they both realise they can't live without each other, this is The Love Of Their Lives, so they have to do something about all them things laid out in point 2, plus the minor additions and get together
Chapter 9 and beginning of Chapter 10 (as I'm planning A Dark Night of the soul moment, when they realise there is no happy ending for them)

9. The End, where they live happily ever after and my Reader can wipe his/her forehead and sigh with relief
They get together; may sail off into the sunset, clutching their wedding invitations but no actual wedding is necessary on the scene.
The end of Chapter 10

10 rules for doing your research

picture by jscreationzs
via freedigitalphotos.net

"Thou shalt do you research"
As a Pattern Spotter and Theme Finder I decided that my recent struggle to get some facts right in the novel I'm currently writing, the setting I'm planning for my NaNoWriMo novel and three (Jody Hedlund, Helen Ginger for the BloodRedPencil and Mark Terry) blog posts enough to reflect a little on the importance of doing the research.
To be honest - I don't like doing research. I feel like I spend a lot of time browsing the Internet, composing fora posts, reading books, speaking to people  - and I can still get it wrong.




Here are my 10 rules for doing research (applies to fiction and non-fiction)

1. Write about what you know - you won't have to do much research, and you'll instantly know which sources are most reliable, be it books, magazines, places or experts.
Needles to say - it's my favourite rule.

2. Try to get information first-hand. If you can afford to go to a place where you want to set your novel - go, or write about places you have been too. Photographs can be helpful in getting geographical or seasonal info right. I know of authors who have enrolled on courses to have first hand experience and access to experts, or went on field trips (like Joanna Penn).
It doesn't have to be a big, serious course - a few weeks tester is sometimes enough to give you an idea, hands-on experience and some pointers. Check your local college, library or community centre for details of courses available.

3. If you have to get your information second-hand, try reliable and well tested sources first: books, libraries, librarians, experts.I have heard many positive and encouraging stories about helpful librarians all over the world (just email them; from what I've heard from other writers, librarians love being asked all these quirky details - it makes their job a little more exciting). When I was writing a short story set in a little town in northern Norway and needed some local info, I emailed the local council and got a very prompt and helpful reply.
Don't forget to mention particularly helpful people in your acknowledgements!

4. Ask your family, friends, work colleagues- people who, although not experts may have been to the places you want to write about (and have photos and little stories); attended those courses mentioned in Rule 2; or may know someone who has and put you in touch with them.
I prefer to 'innocently' steer the conversation towards the subject and weave my questions into the general conversation inconspicuously. It's happened to me that people refused to answer my questions once they knew it was for my novel or short story, often because they felt they weren't 'expert enough' to give me the information I needed (rubbish! If they weren't expert enough I wouldn't have asked them).
5. Use trusted web resourses: specialist websites, specialist fora, etc.
Writers are rarely only writers, they often have day jobs (like me), and from what I've found - they always more than happy to share their professional experience with you. And they live in different places on the planet, too. and you don;t have to pretend that this is for your cousin who's trying to adopt a disabled dog because her previous dog....

6. Use other brilliant tools available online, to mention only a few: Google Maps, photo libraries, webcameras placed in the place you're writing about

7. Use search engines wisely. Here's some advice on mastering the skill of asking the right question

8. Don't let the facts get into the way of a good story. Jody advises to "Go deep but stay narrow", Greg declared his duty to the Fiction. Ask yourself if you really need all those details in your book -can it be skipped or 'mumbled over' or happen in the background?
You can always consider getting someone to do your research, and pay for it.

9. If you're still not sure you got it right - get rid of it. Ever found any inaccuracies in a book? Have you put the book away? Well, you know what may happen if you get it wrong then.

10. Enjoy your research.
(I think I may skip this one though)



And what are your rules or trusted techniques?