My new book, Sunny Days and Moon Cakes is out next week – exciting. It was great fun to write and even more fun to research. Sunny, the main character in the book, has a condition called selective mutism which means she finds it difficult to speak. In order to write her story I needed to do a lot of research. I was lucky to meet a mum early on who has daughters with the condition and she was really helpful, reading my manuscript and talking to me about her daughters’ lives. She was really kind to share her family's stories with me.
Research Tip No. 1:
Nothing beats talking someone with specialist or personal knowledge of a subject.
I also watched a lot of documentaries about selective mutism and read academic books. An expert in the field, a UK speech therapist called Maggie Johnson was also a great help. I read her wonderfully clear and well written book on the topic and also emailed her. It’s amazing how kind people are if you ask them for help with research.
Research Tip No.2:
Ask for help. Don't be afraid to go to the top. People who are fascinated by their work and love their subject are generally delighted to talk about their work.
In the book, Sunny's little sister, Min has a terrible accident and has to be airlifted to hospital in a helicopter. Now, I've never been airlifted, thank goodness, so I had to do more research. I wrote to the Irish Coast Guard at Waterford and they arranged for me to fly in their rescue helicopter with my daughter, Amy. It was a remarkable experience and made the cliff rescue scene in the book truly come alive.
Research Tip No.3:
Never say never.
Never think 'I'll never find someone to take me up in a helicopter/out on a super yacht/meet a lion'. Ask around - you'll be surprised how willing other people are to help you track someone useful down. My contact in the Irish Coast Guards came from an old school friend who is now a fireman. I put a call out on Facebook and he stepped in to help connect us.
I'm working on book three in the series now and it's all about dolphins and sea mammals. That has been a lot of fun to research too. I can't wait to share all my newly found animal knowledge with young readers. This photo of a Humpback Whale breaching was taken by Simon Duggan, an old school friend of mine who lives in West Cork - isn't it brilliant? My research is throwing up all sorts of ideas for this and future books.
Research Tip No.4:
Research can play an important part in the writing process.
It can trigger plot ideas and inform your knowledge or feel for a character. If your book is set in the past, research is a vital part of the process. The adult novel I am working on at present is set in the 1930s and I found reading novels set in this period particularly helpful, as well as newspapers and magazines from the time.
Research Tip No.5:
Don't let the research slow down or stop your writing.
It's important to get your book finished. So no matter how interesting the research is, you must know when to stop. If you've started coming across facts you already know it's time to get back to the writing. You can always go back and check details after you've finished your first draft.
Yours in writing,
Sarah XXX
A version of this blog first appeared on Girls Heart Books.