Friday, May 13, 2016

New Story - New World by Diane Burton

A couple of weeks ago, I talked to a group of readers at the Saranac (MI) library. One fan asked if I would set any books in a different world from those in my Switched and Outer Rim series. I’d already written a short story for The Roses of Prose blog set in a different world. Afterward, I thought why not expand the short story into a novella.

Since I had the main characters—not fleshed out—and a basic plot, I could think more about the world. I’m a pantser, and that means I build my world as I write. Again, the basics were already in place. In the future, Earth needed to do something about the effects of population overload. NASA’s successor had already transformed Mars with domed habitats, but it was time to expand beyond our solar system to find that Goldilocks planet where humans could live free of artificial atmosphere. A planet that is not too hot, not too cold. A planet that is just right for humans.


The story begins on Titan, Saturn’s moon, the jumping off place for the Goldilocks Mission. There, three teams train, preparing for the trip to their designated planet. What did I know about Titan? Not much. So research became really important. Even though my characters couldn’t go out in the methane atmosphere I still had to write what the outside world was like—preferably accurate, because sharp readers will let you know mistakes, often in reviews.

I needed to know what would the habitats be like. Again, imagination along with what I could find out from the Mars One project filled in the details.


When I was in high school (college, even), I hated doing research. Dry texts, boring subjects. That’s what happens when you don’t get to choose your own topics. Or get to decide what about the topic you need to know. That’s how I research. I get to a spot in the story that needs more detail than I know. I can’t move on until I find out. Some writers advise inserting "[add more detail]" then keep going. Something in my makeup won’t let me.

If I plotted first, I would do all my research up front. I might even draw diagrams of the habitats. Alas, if I did, there might still be little details I hadn’t thought of. Or, I would have too much info and be tempted to include it in massive info dumps, as my critique partner often says.

I think my way is more practical. I look up what I need for that part of the story. But you know what happens when you research on the internet? You read the article, get what you need then—oh my goodness, links. Ooh, that one sounds interesting. Click. And that interesting article has more links. Click, click. Oops, I forget to check the other links attached to the original article. Click, click, click. So easy to get sidetracked.

Besides the internet searches, I found (to my dismay) another terrific source. The Great Courses. Their catalogs include videos and books on every possible subject. I need to warn you, though, don’t click on that link.  If you do, you’ll learn why I’m dismayed. Because after you buy one item (not that I’ve only bought one), their catalogs keep coming. Some days that’s my only mail. Still, they offer great discounts and the topics are so interesting . . . Maybe I need to check  out . . .

What’s wrong with doing all that research? I’m not writing the story. While it’s great to learn so much, especially about our solar system and the search for Goldilocks planets, I still need to finish the novella.

Here’s a little excerpt from Christmas on Serenity. The science fiction romance novella will be released before Christmas. I hope.

As I make my way down the corridor to our quarters, I stop at the narrow walkway between the Admin section and Crew Quarters to look out the viewport. Through the lighter-than-normal smog, I think I can see the hills of Xanadu near Titan’s equator. The techs say we’re too far away. Even so, I always search for landmarks when the smog lightens. This land is as foreign as that around Ares Station. From the pictures sent back by the probe of the Earth-like planet my team named Serenity, our new home will look as natural as Earth itself. I want so badly to believe the reports that the surface will have breathable air, that we’ll be able to walk outside without our enviro suits, that we can live there as we live on Earth.

Do you like to read a lot of info in a sci-fi romance story?


Diane Burton writes romantic suspense, mysteries, and (her favorite) science fiction romance. She blogs here on the 13th of the month, on The Roses of Prose on the 30th, and on her own blog every Monday, where she talks about any topic from baseball to mothers to Disney cruises.


16 comments:

Nancy Gideon said...

Great way to reuse, repurpose, recycle, Di!! Story sounds great. I hear you on the research. When I used to do it upfront (back in the go to the library days!) I always had 85% more than I ever needed. But in that 15%, therein was the foundation . . .

Pamela S Thibodeaux said...

Amazing where those ideas come from and how we develop them!

Good luck and God's blessing with this story!
PamT

Alicia Dean said...

Sounds like a great novella. Sci-fi is not my favorite, so I can't say I would like to read a ton of detail, but I would want enough to feel familiar with the world and the premise. I am a plotter, but I don't do a ton of research up front. I plot my story, then start writing, and research as I go. Ha, but I DO get really distracted when I research. Like you said, all kinds of interesting links pop up, and I can waste hours. :)

Leah St. James said...

I too get sucked into research, and I think that's common. I mean, you're already interested in the topic, at least to some extent. I get really into the weeds sometimes--like what does a specific model of a handgun feel like to fire. One time I put out a call on Twitter for users to let me know what a cigar tasted like and felt like to smoke. It's fun!

I don't usually read SciFi, but I do like a pretty deep level of detail. Example: I enjoy the nitty gritty details of Clair's healing methods in the Outlander series. Some people get bored with it.

Good luck with the new story. Like Nancy said, great way to repurpose it!

Diane Burton said...

LOL, Nancy. You never know when you'll use the research you've done for one book. Every little bit of detail helps.

Thanks, Pam.

Alicia, I'm with you about huge amounts of detail. Without meaning to sound sexist, I think guys like all the scientific details. My eyes glaze over.

Leah, what a great idea for cigars. Never thought of that kind of research. I think detail is great if it's presented in an interesting way. Talk about walking a fine line, though.

Thanks, ladies, for stopping by.

Lucy Naylor Kubash said...

I know what you mean about getting so involved in the research you stop writing. The story I'm working on involves an unlikely cougar sighting in Michigan. I have old newspaper clippings I saved about this but decided to go online and see what was out there. I think I read reports and comments about incidents for several hours last night! But they were so interesting...
Have fun writing your Christmas novella!

Susan Coryell said...

Oh, I can so relate to the when-do-I-quit-researching conundrum. My Civil War background Gothics/cozies require extensive research and you would not believe how much has been written on the topic--especially in Virginia where so many battles took place. I actually had to delete 10,000 words from one ms. because it was "too historical." Sigh. Thanks for the thoughtful post.

Diane Burton said...

Lucy, what a way to spend an evening. LOL

Susan, that would be awful to delete 10k words.

Maureen said...

Great Post, Diane! I'm not much for research, but when I do, it's usually for unusual odd things and then it's kind of fun! :)

Diane Burton said...

The unusual and odd always lead me astray. LOL

Maris said...

I love doing the research, and sometimes more than necessary isn't so bad. Even though I may not use all I've discovered, by knowing more, I think I have a better understanding of the (landscape, occupation, disease, etc.). Sounds like this story is going to be another winner, Diane.

Diane Burton said...

Thanks, Maris. Sometimes, the research leads me into a different direction, one I hadn't thought of.

M.J. Schiller, Romance Author said...

I'm with you, Diane. Too much detail, I feel, detracts from the story...but I guess it depends on what story you're setting out to tell. Sometimes the detail is the story, sometimes the story is made more real by pertinent, sprinkled details. I find the idea of Goldilocks planets intriguing! Thanks for sharing!

Diane Burton said...

Excellently put, MJ. It's like walking a fine line.

Hywela Lyn said...

What an interesting article. I have to say I can relate to getting 'sidetracked' when researching, it happens to me all the time *sigh*, It can also have its good points though. I write SF Romance too, and when researching book one of what became my trilogy, I found some fascinating information, which I actually used as an important part of Book II, although at the time I found the article I wasn't sure if I would ever actually use the infomation, but as it turned out it formed the basis and rationale for the planet I was writing about to be the cold and inhospitable place it was when first colonised.

Isn't reasearch fascinating!

Diane Burton said...

It really is. I always save my research (or at least the links) because I know some day I'll need it.