To Research or Not to Research?

     The other day a friend and I wondered whether a certain writer would make deeper exploration into some topics in her work in progress. “I certainly hope so,” my friend said. “But doing research is a curse to some people.”

     Say what? Despite my periodic reluctance (like when I’d rather sleep), I know that I must conduct inquiries into as much subjects as possible, no matter how long it takes. I want my historical fiction, my biographies, even my contemporary fiction to be authentic, believable, to have worth.  I sure don’t want my books to read like lies.  OK. I admit it. I like research.

      It’s OK to paraphrase a little bit of  material and place it in one’s books, within reason. But can -- or should -- you pull all your info from other people’s material, rewrite it and call it your own? I think that's lazy. I’m just saying.

     Examining primary material -- old newspapers, journals, diaries, letters (even on the Internet within reason),  traveling to places of origin when possible, interviewing folks -- aren’t these tasks and more still performed  by writers who are serious about their work?  

     I ask because a nubie  (and self-centered) writer told me, “I hate to do that.  I hate to read. I hate history. It’s easier to just get it from somebody else’s stuff.”

    Hmmm.  I even looked up “research” quotations  on the Internet to find folks who’d help me argue my point. Playwright Wilson Mizner said,  “If you steal from one author it's plagiarism; if you steal from many it's research.” http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/n/neilarmstr363171.html#9yKDQd2g3dvtdCMo.99

     I’d never heard of Wilson Mizner, but his quote made sense.
     Writer and folklorist Zora Neal Hurston, whose work I’m quite familiar with, said, “Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.”
 http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/z/zoranealeh132635.html#o3LTcJA9glC7TYiX.99

     Well, what do you think? How much research do you do? Is it worth your time, weary eyes, and hard work? Or not?

Plagiarism Controversy

There’s an interesting article in the NYTimes about a 17 year-old, Helene Hegemann, who has published a novel, Axolotl Roadkill. The novel is about a 16 year-old’s experience in the drug and club world of Berlin. The book has risen fast in word of mouth buzz, high acclaim, favorable reviews, and sales, and it is a finalist for a Leipzig Book prize.

However it’s been discovered after publication that many lines, phrases, passages and even entire pages have been lifted from the novel Strobo, by Airen, published in August of 2009, as well as passages from his blog.

The book is still up for the award and still well received. Heggeman defends herself by saying that she represents a generation that freely takes from all media and creates something new, and that: “There’s no such thing as originality anyway, just authenticity.”

Creative people have always been inspired by, and even stolen from, all that is in the world, but I’d say lifting an entire page from another novel is plagiarism. But that’s me.

Remember the Harvard student who plagiarized Meg Cabot (was it Meg Cabot? I know it was someone famous…) and the book never came out and the student is now hiding under shame and lawsuits? I can’t help but wonder since Heggemann has plagiarized a less-than famous work if that is why no one seems to care. In fact, some blogs out there say she has done that author a favor by upping his sales! Or maybe everything is changing and we now live in a world where nothing belongs to anyone anymore.

Oh, gee.

It’s an interesting article and worthy of discussion. Read it and tell me what you think. I really want to know.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/world/europe/12germany.html?hp



fyi: Axolotl is an aquatic Mexican mole salamander. It is on the verge of extinction.