Sunday, February 28, 2016

The finer points of an end zone dance: In the name of research, part II

A few months ago, I wrote a post with the intention of scratching an inch I feel frequently while writing: the itch to say, "I'm finding myself researching x for the sake of my writing. Isn't that funny?" Well, I think it may have to become a regular-ish feature. When Writing Time rolls around, I expect that I'll be spending time with MG-aged characters in classrooms and homes and summer camps, all places I know pretty well. It blows my my every time the story goes somewhere that requires me to educate myself in:

-The finer points of an end zone dance
-The finer points of a grand jeté
-How to type an accented e on a PC (what has a year+ with a Mac as my work computer done to me?) 
-Whether the word hallelujah appears in a service I've attended many times
-Whether kids still play Concentration
-How counselor sleeping areas are set up at various summer camps (this one took crowdsourcing; thanks, all!)
-Fifth grade curriculum
-What might be in a gluten-free school lunch
-The release date of a movie featuring the first name of one of my major characters--before or after she was born? (I couldn't reach a conclusive answer without knowing the book's release date. She said optimistically.) 
-How old boys usually are when their voices change
-Causes of lisps
-When school budgets are announced 
-How to write a good last line (okay, this one's less surprising)

To write is to learn, and relearn, and realize how much you don't know for sure.

And what have you Googled lately?