Perth Writers Festival - Part 2

If I Should Lose You - Natasha Lester

I think that there is one thing that is often forgotten about when we read books or watch tv and films, and that is, how long does it take to research this? How long does it take to make the characters’ experiences appear believable? A few weekends ago I wrote about the Not Just for Kids seminar at the Perth Writer’s Festival and it’s now time to explore The Devil in the Details.

To be honest, I am always surprised when I find out that authors have spent so long researching their novel, and at times, go to extreme lengths to make their work as accurate as possible. For example, Tara Moss has been choked to unconsciousness, been set on fire and visited morgues – all for the sake of her crime novels. At the seminar I listened to authors Andrew Croome and Natasha Lester as they discussed the journeys they undertook to shape and create their novels.

Midnight Empire - Andrew Croome

It was interesting how different their approaches were to writing and developing ideas. Lester said that she comes up with the idea for a story and just goes with it on her first draft, not worrying about whether things are incorrect until the second draft. That’s when the serious research begins. Natasha Lester’s second book If I Should Lose You follows the story of a heart transplant surgeon which ultimately resulted in Lester scoring a meeting one of the only six female heart transplant surgeons in Australia, as well as spending countless time reading and interviewing people. However, the story for Andrew Croome’s second book Midnight Empire occurred on a trip to Las Vegas when he developed an interest in the drones used by the military. Again, this resulted in seeking interviews and researching for ages. Apparently, it’s said that 80% of the research completed by authors ends up being unnecessary by the time they reach the final product!

In regards to detail, when I read a book I don’t even think about the time that went into moulding and crafting a novel, I just consume, obsess, and move onto the next one. I think this is why, from the outside, writing a book or creating stories seems easy (which it definitely isn’t). However, Croome and Lester said that that is the point, that reading a book shouldn’t make you think about how much research (or lack of research) went into the work. Rather, we should be thinking about the storyline and the characters and what’s actually happening. Reading shouldn’t feel like hard work.