Writing and Research

[Peg Herring]

I couldn't say which I enjoy more: writing or doing research so I can write. Whether it's looking up song lyrics for the silly game we've been playing for the last week or so or serious research for an upcoming book, I jump in with both feet and usually spend hours without realizing it.

A library pulls me in and keeps me all day, and suddenly I wake up and wonder whether I should have lunch, only to find that it's more like dinner time. I take ten times more notes than I can even use when I'm using a historical setting. There's just so much of interest, and writing it down seems the least I can do. Museums are another place where you'll find me digging in my purse for a scrap of paper and a pencil or pen so I can write down a stray fact that may fit somewhere. Even driving is research, because these days I really look at the scenery, setting it to "memory" with a small tape recorder I carry in the car.

Maybe it's because it all takes you away from the cares of life, maybe it's just plain fun. I just know that research these days is something I look forward to, and I don't remember that from the good days at U. of M!