The place for readers in all genres to come together and discuss what books they like to read.

Before we divulge into the important details for writing a great book, let me ask you the following question: Which of these two sound better?

1. The terrible bridge nicknamed the Galloping Gertle famously collapsed.

2. When it was made, it was well known that the bridge was not sturdy. It was one of a kind, the design never tested. In fact, it swayed so much that the builders dubbed it with the name of Galloping Gertle. On windy days, they noticed, the bridge would literally sway. It was predicted that it would not hold up. However, no one suspected that it would be so soon, just months after its inauguration. It was a particularly windy day, and the bridge was not stable at all. It moved so much that it collapsed into the river below. No one was hurt, but one guy who was stupid enough to drive over the bridge after he heard what was happening narrowly escaped death, and his dog did not make it. He received $1,000 for his loss. However, after they found it what was wrong, they quickly fixed it, and designs like it stand today.
Maybe the second one was a bit too detailed, but I would guess that most of you would think that it is a much more accurate description than the first.

The reason for this is there is a huge difference between the two, something that any good writer (and perhaps even a bad writer) should be able to figure out: The first is missing details, while the second is chock full of them. In fact, unless you’re a bridge junky, you probably couldn’t find many more things to say about it.

Sure, you go on about tension and compression, how they work together and how they combat each other. But unless the audience is interested in the details of how the bridge collapsed, then that’s unnecessary. All it does is take up space.

Now, we all know that in non-fiction pieces, even the best writers take up space, but in fiction, it’s irrelevant to the story. Here, it might be better if I gave you a fiction piece, as I’m aiming this for you fiction writers:

1. Shockingly, a kid ran for president and won.

2. In a surprising turn of events, a twelve year old kid named Charlie Sawyer ran for the highest office in the country: The President. Sawyer’s momentum was so spectacular that although the Constitution states one has to be thirty-five to take the position of President, it was amended in an overwhelming vote. After that, all the attention turned to the kid, who did not disappoint. Debate after debate, he stunned everyone at how much he knew and how thoughtful his ideas were. In fact, people were so impressed that they voted for him, and he became the most powerful person in the country.
Okay, well, you get the point; the more details, the better. It is so much more interesting to know what is really going on. If one writer mentions a sunset and the other doesn’t, the sunset will most likely win out on you. Without details, the story will be very vague and…what could you say but un-detailed?

Two Types of Details

In my opinion, there are two main types of details:

Time and Place Customs
Unless you’re writing your book in setting of your town and your time period (pretty rare to have both for action/adventure), this is one of the most crucial elements that your story must have.

Without the customs of time and place, your book will not sound authentic.

For example, remember book six of The 39 Clues, In Too Deep? If not and you’re a kid, then get off this site right now and buy the book. It’s truly excellent.

If you’re an adult, just try to visualize with me:

They are in Australia, and the writer is from America. If she did not know the Aussie customs, then the book would sound like it was in America, which would ruin the whole book. A lot of the fun is learning different languages, customs, etc. of both the country and the time period.

Read the following paragraph:

Nellie to Amy and Dan: “I’ll just put on my sunnies. I’ll spit the dummy if you ankle biters take too long, but if you don’t, she’ll be apples!”

For me at least, that is entertaining to read. Imagine how fun it would be if it was 100 years ago in Australia. I can only imagine all the wacky words they had then if they have these now.

Even if it’s in America (most probable), it may be in somewhere like the mountains, another state, etc. Or it could be a different time period. Knowing all of this is crucial.

Topic
The topic is at least as necessary as the customs, if not more so.

The topic is what the whole story is focused around. It may be diving, climbing a mountain, or hockey. It could also simply be a heist. Whatever it is, you have to be an expert on that topic.

Take for example, the Everest series by Gordon Korman. If you’re a kid and haven’t read it, again, go and do that now. It’s amazing. If you’re an adult, I’m sure you can understand from my description.

Well, the book is about a team of kids who attempt to climb Mount Everest. It’s all about their climbing and the squabbles that go on amongst the climbers. Gordon describes in great detail the names of the mountains, the shapes, the people, the camps, the climbing equipment, etc. You get the gist.

Now, he is not a climber, and even he was, he probably still wouldn’t know all this about Everest.

Imagine if he not known anything (an accurate description before he wrote the books) about climbing. The book would be very vague; it would not tell how they got up the mountains, even the names of the mountains, or the equipment they used. Basically, it would be a book on nothing, and I don’t know anyone who would want to read nothing. It’s crucial to know these.

So, how do I get all this Information?

Okay, so now you know what information you need, but it’s not enough to just know it; almost everyone does in life. One of the things that separate successful people from non-successful people is that they know how to do it. So, naturally, that’s the question you’re asking, if you haven’t figured it out.

Research

Yes; research.

I know, I know; who wants to do research, right? Unless you’re in a small minority (and I’m in that minority), you most likely dread doing research. However, when there are things that you need to know, there’s only one way to get it.

It’s Not Fun

I understand that for most of you it isn’t fun (and if you do like it feel free to skip this portion), but really, work is never really fun; it’s simply work. And as I pointed out here, hard work is needed to get wherever you want.

I remember on numerous occasions Gordon Korman talking about his research. In fact, on the 39 Clues Agent Training Video (again, watch it if you’re a kid, it’s great), they even had an entire segment dedicated to their research.

I challenge you to find any action/adventure author who didn’t do research; just Google them. If you find any, tell me in the comments.

You probably want to be where those guys are, and to be where they are, you have to do what they do. Not in terms of actual writing; that’s your own style, but if you don’t do research, I guarantee that your book will come out sounding very vague and undetailed.

So, over the next week or so, I’ll post on how to do research. Stay tuned and subscribe to the RSS Feed at http://feeds.feedburner.com/Readersandwritersparadisecom or e-mail me at johnstondaniel4@gmail.com to get daily blog updates!