Non-Humans R Us Newsletters

Real Life Information

When you’re creating a story, sometimes it helps to research the creature or the people and time period you’re writing about- or are based off of.

If you’re going to write about a whaling vessel that is engaged in battle with a sea serpent, you have to research sea serpents, whaling, and whaling vessels of the time period the story is set in- a whaling ship of the 1820’s will be different from one from the 1980’s. Also, you have to know the people- in 1820’s you had a number of poor people, and African Americans, willing to take on hardships for money, and advancement. 1980’s are mainly Asians, along with others whose nations didn’t prohibit whale hunting. Some did it to make money, others to sell certain animal parts on the Black Market. Obviously, you’ll also need to know, and use, various ship terms- port, starboard, bow, stern, haul, forward deck, aft deck, and all the others, which change depending on the time period.

Now, what if you want to write about a genetically-engineered snake that’s a cross between a King Cobra, a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, and a Green Anaconda? Well, you’d need to research the three different snakes- know their normal diets, how they kill, effects the venoms have on their prey, perhaps even how they mate and reproduce- live birth or eggs. Then there’s the setting- Small town North America, jungle village in South America or Southeast Asia, or a Russian-built military base in Serbia? You need to research the location, culture, and perhaps the language. There have been many movies involving such creatures- some were a success, others were not, but this a mainly due to the quality of the special effects-but that shouldn’t be a problem with a written story.

Then, there’s the military themed stories- you have to know your rankings- Naval, Air Force, Army branches have different names for similar ranks- Private, Seaman, and Aircraftman are the lowest ranks. Highest ranks are Marshal/Field Marshal, Admiral of the Fleet, and Marshal of the Air Force. Now, is a Corporal higher rank than a Sergeant, or lower? You need to know that, or there’ll be a slight case of misconduct. Then there’s group numbers- squad or platoon- which is bigger? Which is smaller? It’s important, if only a dozen soldiers show up, or over two dozen, or even more. Then there are the weapons- areas that were part of the Soviet Bloc, or their allies, tend to have Soviet Union-style weapons, while those of NATO tend to have US-style weapons.

Any of these things can affect how people look at your story- a hint of believability can tell people how knowledgeable you really are, or if you need to do more research. This can make the difference between a mediocre story, and a great one.