How far will you go when conducting research for your book?
Should you research a skydiving scene by jumping out of a plane? I don’t know
about you, but…um…my answer to the last question is a resounding NO! Believe me,
I’m all for experiencing life as long as it isn’t the last thing I experience in my life.
We do online research, visit museums, scour newspapers and
books. All of these are good sources, but sometimes, they don’t provide those
little tidbits of reality and description we want to include in our stories—the
senses so important to giving the reader an “in the skin” familiarity. Who
knows, maybe we’re just curious ourselves.
In my recently completed project, I included a dessert
called Pavlova. It was new to me, and I wanted to be able to describe it in
more detail than just writing the name. Pavlova is a meringue dessert,
traditionally topped with fruit and whipped cream. It originates in Australia and/or New Zealand
(they both take credit for its invention), and it is named for the ballet
dancer from the early 1900s.
Anyway, I decided to make it, for the sake of adding detail
to my story, of course. You may be thinking, “Seriously? You call that hazardous
research?” Well, you have obviously never seen me around an oven.
One of my favorite websites is Allrecipes. While I found Pavlova
on the American site, I went straight to the source. (Did you know they
actually have an Australian site?) It looked easy enough and involved a fairly
low-heat oven, which cut down on my personal risk.
It also called for caster sugar. I’m sure you ardent bakers
know what I’m talking about, but I had never heard the term, so I looked it up.
More research! Caster sugar is simply a finer grain of sugar than we generally
use. It can be described as being between regular white sugar and powdered
sugar. It can be purchased, but I made it in my food processor.
I converted the various measurements in the recipe to those
we use in the United States—grams to cups, etc. (In truth, the computer did the
converting. I plugged in the numbers. So much for all that math I never
mastered.)
Spreading the whipped egg whites and sugar within the
circular boundary marked on parchment paper,
Mmm… I smell the sugary sweetness. I peek into the oven on
occasion. Hmm…not quite as toasty tan as the photo. Seventy-three and a half
minutes pass. Hubby asks a question about the oven temperature. I say, “It
calls for 120—” Oops. “I forgot to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit.”
So, I did what any good researcher would do. I upped the
temperature, added thirty minutes, and crossed my fingers. After adding whipped
cream and kiwi, I cut into the thin crust of the meringue. Hubby and I chowed
down, for the sake of research, of course.
I must say, like the story, the researcher experienced a
happy-ever-after.
What have you personally experienced for the sake of research? How did it turn out?
~~~
Besides being part of the fabulous Seriously Write Blog team, Sandra writes Christian romance, with her focus on Historical Romance. You'll find her children's short story, "Get a Clue," in Family Ties: Thirteen Short Stories.Personal Blog: www.sandraardoin.com
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