Things are opening up and we now have more freedom to roam. For authors this means we can now turn our hands to research that doesn't involve the internet and electronic resources. However, the world has changed and so too has the way we now approach our research. Today, I give you an in depth overview of what needs to be done to manage research trips in this changed world that we now have to navigate.
Things are opening up and we now have more freedom to roam. For authors this means we can now turn our hands to research that doesn't involve the internet and electronic resources. However, the world has changed and so too has the way we now approach our research. Today, I give you an in depth overview of what needs to be done to manage research trips in this changed world that we now have to navigate.
Hi, and welcome to the writing and Marketing Show brought to you by author Wendy H. Jones. This show does exactly what it says on the tin. It's jam packed with interviews, advice, hints, tips and news to help you with the business of writing. It's all wrapped up in one lively podcast. So it's time to get on with the show. And welcome to Episode 74 of the writing and Marketing Show with author, entrepreneur, Wendy h. Jones. Today, I'm going to be talking about the nuts and bolts of researching your novel. Now this is in the sense of doing it in a physical sense, not just on the internet, and visiting places. And you're probably wondering why I'm focusing on this, because it seems a little strange really, to be focusing on that. But it's more tricky than you think at the moment. And you'll find out why I think so in a moment and why I know so actually, because I've just spent a week in Edinburgh, doing some research for one of my novels on Thomas Graham. And that doing it and sorting out and actually doing the research was a lot more tricky than you will think, because of COVID. But we'll get into that in a moment. So before I start, I would like to say it's an absolute pleasure to bring you the show every week. And I do so willingly and happily, and I love doing it. And I meet such nice people as well when I interview people, but it does take time out of my writing life. And if you would like to support that time, you can do so for just $3 a month. And it's little as $3 a month through patreon.com forward slash Wendy h Jones. And that would be helpful, it would let me know that you're enjoying the show, it would let me know that you want me to continue doing the show. And it would also help to support what I'm doing. And I would be very grateful. So let's get on to talking about the nuts and bolts of research. So now that we've said that, let's get on with the show and talk about the nuts and bolts of researching your novel. Well, as I say, last week, I went to Edinburgh for four days, and I did some research. Now, it's not as easy as it used to be before you could just leave on a train, go through to Edinburgh or a bus go through to Edinburgh. And you could tip apart wherever it was you wanted to do your research, you could usually get in on you were able to just do your research. It's no like mounting a military campaign, let me tell you. So in order for me to do four days art in Edinburgh, I needed to book five things. And these were first of all the National Library of Scotland. Secondly, they was the subjects home Museum in Edinburgh. And thirdly, it was the Nash, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. So that was three places I wanted to visit. But I also wanted to sort out hotel accommodation while I was in Edinburgh, and I had to sort out either a train or a bus to get through. So that was five things I had to do. And I had to coordinate the dates. Because the big issue now is you have to book everything in advance, you cannot just tip up. So everything has to be booked in advance. So you have to make sure that there are spaces available in all the places you want to visit. So I had five browsers open on my computer, and one for each of those parts of the jigsaw really. And then I worked out whether there was a slot available on the different days for all of them. So I was then able to book all five parts of my trip. So as I say it was a bit like mounting a military campaign, then you have to take into consideration things like for the National Library of Scotland, I actually had to not only book a table, but I had to book the books that I wanted to research while I was there. And it can take 48 hours for those to actually arrive at the at the desk that you are at. So you need to coordinate that as well and make sure that the books you've given plenty time so I would say at least three days 72 hours to allow time for the books to get there. But also you need to remember that they're not going to be fishing around for books at the weekend. So you again need to add the weekends into it. So all these things need to be thought about very carefully. So I managed to book everything and as you can imagine, you need to be places on time. These days, and you need to make sure that you chip up on time for your actual slot. So once you've coordinated everything, which isn't as easy as you think, but is still worth it, then you get through to Edinburgh. And as I say, you need to arrive on time for the different things. Now there are other things that need to be taken into consideration for the National Library of Scotland in particular. So the National Library of Scotland, first of all, as I say you need to book in advance. Now, the other thing you need to take into consideration is you are literally only allowed to book for one day a week, sorry, I'm going to take a quick drink, because I'm getting dry and I need to preserve my throat. I'm back. So you're only allowed to book a slot for one day per week. Now, that doesn't matter. If you're driving down from work to go to Edinburgh or to do it. If you're flying in from the Shetlands, nothing is taken into consideration, the computer will only let you book one day in a week. So if you want to visit the three different reading areas, so there's read books Reading Room, there's the reading room and the maps room, it might be worth considering booking something from the rare books Reading Room where you can actually get ordinary books from the ordinary Reading Room centres. Well, that could be one day, then staying over a weekend where you can visit the other places that you want to visit, and then booked for the Monday, so you could book for a Friday and a Monday and do the maps room on a different day. I didn't think of that. So I went for four days during the week, which meant I wasn't able to visit the maps room, and it means I need to go back. So as I say things need to be very carefully coordinated. Now when you arrive, there's a one way system in process. So there is no cafe, no bookshop, no gift shop nothing at the National Library of Scotland at the moment, it is literally only open for the reading rooms. And your reading, the slots for being in the library are staggered. And not soon, there's not a big queue of people going in and out at the same time. So
you can book in from 10:30am to 3:30am 11, sorry, 10 to 311 to four. And I think it's 11.30 to 4.30. I think that's the last that you're allowed to do. But I might be wrong there because I booked for the 10.30 to 3.30 slot. When you get there, you're not allowed to take anything in, you need a reading card for a start. So you must be registered with them for a reading card which you can get at the library. But it would be helpful to register in advance and then tell them you're coming, it doesn't take long to get the actual card. So that's not a problem, you have to leave everything you've got in a locker. And again, ordinarily, you might have a pound or if you've got to show up and get a pound. That doesn't happen anymore, you either need a pound coin with you, which a lot of people don't have, or they will lend you a token and I got a token because I didn't have a pound coin on me, I don't use cash anymore. Now, these are things that you need to think about. Because all our habits are changing. Everything we are doing is changing and very few people have cash on them. So you put your things in the locker, all you're allowed to take in is your laptop. And that's another reason I'm telling you this is you can book two different types of seats in the reading room. It can either be with a plug, or without a plug. If you want to charge anything at all you need to book one with a plug. But all the ones with plugs might be gone. And you might only be able to on the day you're there be able to get one without without a plug. So these are things you need to think of in advance. I was fortunate I got one with a plug, and you get a lot of space. So when I went in, you go into the library, you're allowed to take your laptop, or mobile phone, and a notebook and a pencil, no pens, and that's all you're allowed to take in with you. So you get a plastic bag to put them in you go into the reading room. And you get a lot of space at the moment and you very soon realise why you need to book slots, because there are very few slots available. And there are a lot but there are not as many as there usually are because I sat in a corner in a desk at the end and the two desks opposite me and the desk to the left of me were blocked off. No one could sit there. So there are a lot less people can get into the reading rooms at one time is seriously reduced. So you fast understand why you have to book. And it's worth booking and doing it because I got my books, I was able to focus, it was peaceful, but you're not allowed to take any drinks. And so if you want to drink, you need to leave the reading room, you can't actually leave it with, you know, leave your stuff in there, it will be perfectly safe. I left my laptop and everything when I went to get a drink. And it was fine. When I got back, I just went outside if not outside, sorry, I went to their water fountain, which again, you're not allowed to use as a water fountain, you have to use one of the paper cups, which was fine. I had some water and I went back in. If you want lunch, you No need to leave the actual building itself, there is nowhere to eat lunch in the whole building. So you need to leave, I was fine. I'd had a big breakfast. But again, things you need to think about in advance because everything is different. It takes everything takes longer than you think it is going to even just getting in you need to be, you need to tell them your name, you need to and they will make sure that you're booked in for that. And now I haven't been to the British Library. But I'm going to talk a bit about the British Library again, because things have changed slightly. As I say, I haven't been to the British Library I'm hoping to go later in the year, but not quite at the moment. I'm just going to take another drink before I start on the British Library. There we are, we're back. So the British Library has literally just opened again. And you you aren't allowed to book a slot. Now you need a reader pass and the readers pass, they'll send that except any, even if they're expired as long as they expired after March 2020. So that's important to know, either the past has to expired after March 2020. So that's the first thing that you need to know. And the other thing you need to know is that you No need to set up a box office account, which is a separate totally separate account to your reader account. Because you do have a reader account for the National Library. And you but in order to book a slot, you need a Box Office account. So I haven't set up a box office account yet because I'm not quite going down to London yet. But remember, this is things you need to remember in advance. You can't think at the last minute, I'm going to visit the British Library and then just expect everything to be normal because it isn't. And no I said there were three reading rooms in the National Library of Scotland. There are numerous reading rooms in the British Library. So you need to think about what you actually want to book and where you want to book because the National Library sorry the British Library is not only just in St Pancras, but also in Boston spa. So St. Pancras the reading rooms are the Asian and African Studies, business and IP centre, humanities, one humanities to manuscripts, maps, the newsroom, rare books and music science to science three, and social sciences that are also public desks and a members room. No before you could tip up, you could write in the coffee if you wanted to. You could write at the public desks without booking. You usually did have to book the books for the reading rooms in advance the same as the National Library of Scotland. You need to book them in advance so that they're there when you get them. But I don't know what the process is when you get there. No. So what my I'm saying the reason I'm telling you all of this, it is well worth looking at the library website carefully and making sure you've got all your ducks in a row as they say that your military campaign is squeaky clean so that everything is coordinated, and they're where you want it now in Edinburgh at the National Library of Scotland, the books are actually physically on the desk number that you have booked when you arrive. So that was amazing. I was really good. I just went to my desk all the books I wanted were there. And it was phenomenal. It was easy. I could get started. There was no drama. I wasn't hunting for a desk. I wasn't hunting for a desk with a with a plug or anything like that. So just check if you have to do that at St Pancras in Boston spa. They have two different reading rooms. One is the Boston spa reading room and the other is the Boston spa newsroom. So and that's in New York. Sure, so if that's closer to you, and either of those are suitable, then it's well worth visiting. No, once I started with the books, it was amazing, I had a fantastic day, I learned so much, so much from the books i'd ordered. And thank goodness, they were actually books that I needed. Because I only ordered four, because I only had from half 10 to half, three. And I didn't have a lot of time. Now in the past, you could actually leave the books with them, take them back to the desk and say you needed them the next day, and you could get them the next day. That's no longer possible, because of course, you have to wait another till the next week in order to get back into the reading rooms again. So it's really important to think about things like that, and make sure that the books are really what you want. No, they were, unfortunately, you cannot guarantee that until you open the books. But do look them up, do try and do some research to make sure you have the correct books that will help you research in your novel, I'm going to take another drink, if it goes quiet for a nanosecond. There we are, I'm back. So these are my hints and tips to you for doing research in the reading rooms, either the National Library of Scotland, or the British Library, at the moment, make sure that you've got everything in place. And then you will have a very relaxed time when you get there. And it was phenomenal. And I could have gone back the next day and done a lot more research. But I couldn't. But I am going to go back to the marks room. So I might consider going over the weekend, I will do the maps room on the Friday. And then on the Monday I will book a couple of the books out again and another couple of books that will help me and I will do more research. Now this was for historical research. But remember, it's not just historical books that they have, in these libraries. They have every book that's ever been written in these libraries. So you can actually go and research more modern texts, more up to date text, even if you're researching for a novel that you're doing note, so if you wanted to know the ins and outs of the sewerage system in were Dundee, I'm sure there's a book about it or the sewage system in Scotland or the sewerage system, or the history of the sewerage system. You must think I'm obsessed with sewage here. I'm not, but there will be books about them. And the historical stuff might come into it. Because if you've done the sewers, and there's a killer dumping bodies in the sewer, sorry, I'm a crime writer. So my my mind automatically goes towards sewers, not sewers towards dead bodies. So there's a killer dumping or this clues down there. And the police need to go down there for whatever reason, you might need to know why the sewer system is the way it is no. And what is going on with it or the underground system or anywhere else you can think of, you know, electricity substations, an oil rig, you may not want to buy a book on it, but you can go to these places and you can research any amount of books that you want to research for the for your, your book, so is where we're thinking about the National Library of Scotland on the British Library, even if you're not even if you're not writing historical books. So next, I also wanted to book such as Hall museum. Now such a total museum is basically it's based around the it's in the old sergeant's hall where medical students used to train and I learned all sorts of amazing things there. Now I needed to do it because I'm writing a book about a young man, Thomas Graham, who went to medical school there, and he went to medical school and became a doctor then joined the Royal Navy. So I went there just thinking I would learn about the medicine of the time, what diseases were prevalent, what sort of training he would have, but do you know what I was blown away, because I learned all sorts of quirky facts there. And I also learned all sorts of quirky facts in the books I was reading. It was unbelievable. I could the things that I can bring into my into my writing are amazing. Now did you know that in the early 80s, mid 19th century sorry, that 95% of all doctors trained in Britain, trained at the surgeons Hall, they trained at the medical school in Edinburgh, which was the first medical school in the UK. And in the early 18 and early 19 1800s. Every single person, every single doctor who joined the military, trained at Edinboro 100% of all military doctors trained in Edinburgh as surgeons, whoa, I was blown away by the facts and figures I heard there. But it also let me think about the medicine of the time. Now, you may be thinking, Well, I'm writing contemporary books, and I don't need to know about the medicine, medicine in times gone by? Well, you might, because we're in the middle of a pandemic, at the moment, you might be talking about, you know, someone who's saying, I'm fed up with this pandemic. And the grandmother might say, I remember the Spanish flu, and you might want to research the Spanish flu, you might and then she might say, but it wasn't just the Spanish Flu that was going on, then we had this we had that you don't know how lucky you are, that you've got all these medicines, that things have moved forward, you know that you've got the NHS, it is really worth exploring things like this, don't dismiss them out of hand, just because you're not writing historical books. And again, I had to book a turn, it does say on the website that you're booked in for an hour, no, but you don't have to book Surgeons Hall. I did book because I was travelling from. I was travelling from Dundee to Edinburgh. So I had to make sure that it wasn't full on the day I went, it's not at the moment because there's not loads of tourists around. But on a day, when there's loads of tourists, when the tourists come back, you could find it difficult to get in. So I needed to book to make sure I would physically get in, which I did. And, again, you need to do all the usual things, you need to use a mask, it says that you're booked in for an hour, they leave you for as long as you want in there. And I got to see things and seeing them as well as reading about them brings it to life. So I got to see the sort of anatomy lecture theatre that my young man would have sat in while he was having his anatomy lectures, and I have his anatomy notebooks, his original anatomy notebooks, the copies of them, but I have them. And he would have sat in that same lecture theatre that I'm sitting in. And he would have written those notebooks in a lecture theatre like that in surgeons Hall. And I was just blown away by how, how I felt closer to him, and how I felt I knew him better, because I done this. So I know I'm going away a bit, but I'm trying to explain why researching your novel doing different things will help you. So the last thing I'm going to talk about, what I wanted to do was I wanted to go to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Now the Scottish National Portrait Gallery is worth going to on numerous accounts. First of all, the building itself is stunning. It is stunning, the paintings that are on the walls inside our artwork, in themselves, the murals on the wall, and the ceilings of this museum are outstanding. So it's worth going just for that. But in terms of research, I was able to look at paintings that were done of people throughout history. And I could see how things changed. I could see what people looked like I could see what clothes they wore, I could see what was in the background, how they would pose the paintings in those days, which gave you an idea of the the structure of the time, flavour of society of the time. And you know, whether they've been painted on their own or whether they've been painted in a group and why was it a group and all that sort of things. It made me look at how fashions changed. Did men wear makeup in those days and they did. This was a thing you know, and these are things little hints and little ideas you can get that will help to bring your your book to life. Now I did book again, I booked a ticket to go into the National Portrait Gallery, Scottish National Portrait Gallery. And but it took me a long time to get in, because there were some other people that hadn't booked and I was queuing up. But again, I wanted to make sure I could get in again. said, One, you know, he actually said, you could have an hour, but they weren't bothered about that you could stay for as long as you want. And I'm not entirely sure how they would have been. They would have been monitoring not to be honest, because nobody was monitoring you. But there is a one way system. So you don't have the option, people are keeping an eye out, you don't have the option to think, actually, I didn't quite check in the painting in the previous gallery, I'd better go back, you will not be allowed to go back you have to go forwards. And that's the only way you can do it. So you'd have to go through the whole one way system, and then start from scratch to get back to the painting that you missed. I took lots and lots of notes. While I was there, I took lots and lots of notes at Surgeon's Hall Museum, you are allowed to take photographs in the Scottish Portrait Gallery, you are not allowed to take any photographs whatsoever in Surgeon's Hall. So you must take a notebook and pencil with you. Now you are never allowed to take photographs in Surgeons'sl. Because if the whole building comes under the human tissues act, because there is real human tissue in there, because there are jars of organs and different things that had different diseases. So the whole building is covered by that you're not allowed to take pictures anywhere in Surgeon's Hall Museum. So that's worth bearing in mind, take a notebook and a pen or pencil when you go to Surgeon's Hall Musuem. But I also did it when I went to the national National Portrait Gallery and scotch National Portrait Gallery. So I could take notes of all the quirky things, but I also took some photos. So that brings me to an end. And you've probably gathered to summarise that you you need to stay for longer. In order to make the most of a doll if you have to stay. If you happen to live in Edinburgh or London. You're quids in really because you can just go the next week. Or you can go in different days. But you need to work it all out if you're coming from outside the area. And as I say the next time I'm going to work it all out over the weekend because I can do other things at the weekend and use the National Library on the Friday on the Monday, which takes me over two weeks. And I'm hoping they do mean two different weeks or not, you have to wait another week before you can book. And that is something I will have to look into before I actually try to book anything because I need to know that. It's important because I don't want to stay in Edinburgh for an entire week in a hotel just so I can get back to the library. So these are all things that you need to think about. I hope it's helped you. And I hope I haven't put you off because I shouldn't put you off because it's absolutely phenomenal. It is absolutely well worth doing. And I would advise you to look into doing it and you will be amazed. absolutely amazed at how much you will learn about about your subject. So thank you for listening once again. I hope you've enjoyed the show. And I will see you again next week with another fabulous show. That brings us to the end of another show. It was really good to have you on the show with me today. I'm Wendy h Jones and you can find me at Wendy H jones.com. You can also find me on Patreon where you can support me for as little as $3 a month which is less than the price of a tea or coffee. You go to patreon.com forward slash Wendy h Jones. I'm also went to h Jones on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Thank you for joining me today and I hope you found it both useful and interesting. Join me next week when I will have another cracking guest for you. Until then, have a good week and keep writing. Keep reading and keep learning