It's Cheat Code Week. Today We're Speaking About Research

I have a cognitive disability. My short and long-term memory has been crushed beneath the wreckage of decades of seizures. I don’t process ideas well. I’ve forgotten most of the knowledge I’ve gained. I’ve lost some of my most important writing tools, and knowledge is not the least of them. I still produce writing to the same level I might if I had a healthy brain because I have tools.

I have dictionaries of phrase and fable for times when I can’t come up with extended metaphors.

I have The Shorter Oxford Dictionary to tell me when words were coined when I’m writing historical fiction or using etymology as a metaphor.

I have books (plural) on punctuation.

I have a rhyme dictionary. Yes, they exist, even online.

I have The Associated Press style guide and, most importantly, I have Google.

I call these sources my cheat codes, but even my mentor, who had a powerful intellect and a flawless memory, kept the same books. He’s the one who bought me the dictionaries in the first place because he knew I couldn’t do my job without them. Research is the skeleton of your writing. If it’s lacking, the entire thing flops to the ground immobile. You. Can. Not. Walk. Without a skeleton. You. Can. Not. Write. Without research.

These days, Google can fulfil all those roles on its own, so if you need to remind yourself what the hell a dangling modifier is or when an Oxford Comma is appropriate, all you need to do is type your question into a search engine. There is no longer an excuse for not knowing. If you have Google, you have access to everything you could possibly need.

Research your syntax. Research your subject matter. Develop depth of knowledge on the themes you write about. Learn. All the information you could possibly need is just a click away. You don’t even need to walk to your bookshelf two miles barefoot in the snow. All you need is Google and a willingness to do the work.

Writing about a whaler? Find out what the work entails.
Writing a sonnet? Read some.
Writing free verse? Find out how to punctuate it.
Writing a metaphor about the sun? Go and learn more about the sun so you can add depth and originality to your imagery.
Writing slang dialogue about a character who lived in the Twenties? Check which words applied in those days.
Confused about syntax? Look it up in one of the major style guides. (We'll be covering this in more depth later in the week.)

Learn, learn, learn.

Learning is the best cheat code that ever existed.