Blog: Weird Things You Google as a Writer.

One of the things that I do a lot of both in writing articles for this blog and writing my books is research. That’s really not one of those things you think will be a problem when writing, unless you’re doing something like an essay on world events. However, even when you’re writing fiction, research still has to be done in order to make things as believable as possible. So, here’s some stuff I’ve had to research for my books.

#1: Names

The number of new mom websites I’ve had to go to to find names for my characters is somewhat absurd. While some names just come to me and pop up in my head, other names don’t, which leads me to go onto Google for five minutes trying to find a name that fits the character, their personality, and the region they come from. For example, my books’ world is split into several different elements, which means that each group has a unique culture built around those elements and whatever god/gods the families worshipped. It can also determine on what species they are, such as dragon, fae, fairy, djinn, etc. For example, if someone comes from an area associated more with fire and they worship Apollo and are some sort of dragon, fairy, whatever, their name is going to be of Greek origin and have something in it associated with their element.

#2: Weapons

Most of my characters have a unique weapon or set of weapons that they carry around based on where they’re from, what powers they have, and what species they are. Swords are a popular choice, especially for a lot of the characters with wings, but some carry bows and arrows, daggers (another popular one since they’re so versatile), different types of spears and axes, etc. This has led to me not only having a better appreciation for sharp, pointy objects, but also finding some pretty strange weapons, some real and some that are dubious. Here are some examples:

Yeah…I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with these demented pieces of metal either.

#3: How do I Take an Axe on a Plane and How do I/ Can Smuggle an Axe Under a Cloak

That’s a real search term from a few years ago when I finished the third book in my series. And yes, I’m surprised that the FBI didn’t come kicking down my door with a few questions, too.

The story behind this strange query was that I was writing a scene in which one of my axe-wielding characters is trying to board a plane with the other protagonists and needs a way to hide her axe. Ultimately, this is solved through magic, but I was trying to figure out what other ways she could bring it on. For the first question, Google was almost entirely unhelpful and for the second question, it was similarly unhelpful. All it did was lead me to a Shadiversity video about whether you can carry an axe on your back and have it be accessible and a Reddit page of DnD players with a similar question trying to figure out how their characters could carry an axe.

#4: How Deep is a Shallow Grave/How Long Does it Take to Dig One

Yet another search that’s making me wonder how confused my FBI person or whoever watches my Internet search history is right now. There’s a story behind this one, too.

One of the characters in my books starts off as a bad guy working for the main villain and after one of his slaves kills herself, he needs to dispose of her body so he digs a shallow grave, hence needing to know how deep a shallow grave is (4’3″) and how long it would take to dig (with two diggers, about 4-5 hours). This also necessitated needing to know how long it would take for a corpse to start smelling bad (24-48 hours).

#5: How Quickly Do Bodies and Plant Matter Take to Decompose Underwater?

There was a tsunami that destroyed an area in one of the books and in the sequel the characters have to march through the wreckage a year later and one of the narrators is talking about what it looks like. I needed to know how much of the plant matter would’ve decayed by that point and if they would’ve found any bodies or bones.

#6: Can You Survive Having Your Throat Slit?

This one was more recent, and I had to Google it since one of the narrators gets attacked and this exact thing happens. However, since my books are written in the 1st person and if you’ve read my review of Divergent, you know I thought the end where narrates her own death was stupid beyond belief, I had to know if it’s possible to survive this experience before including it.

What I found was actually quite surprising. Under the right circumstances, you could theoretically survive a slashed throat. One case of this that I saw was the case of Susanna Birch, who, at two years old, had her throat slit by her mother during a psychotic episode and survived because her major blood vessels had been pushed into the back of her neck thanks to the way her mother was holding her head back. There were also a few other stories I came across of a few other people who had survived a slit throat. So, while it’s very rare that you could survive and if you do, you’ll be in for a world of complications, it is plausible.

#7: Can You Survive Being Stabbed?

Once again, another narrator gets stabbed in the abdomen and in my quest for anatomical accuracy in addressing various life-threatening wounds, I had to look it up, which lead to an interesting Reddit page where someone else was asking this question. There were a ton of EMS workers and nurses in the comments responding to the original redditor, and basically, the consensus was that it depends. For one thing, your survival rates depend on what’s been hit where, when EMS can reach you, and – apparently – your overall health points. Apparently, we all have the durability of an Apple phone where one second you drop it and it’s fine and the next minute it shatters, your house is burning down, your partner leaves you, and your car’s out of gas. One person commented about how in one day they saw a person walk into the ER with 12 stab wounds and walk out a bit later perfectly fine and another person die by falling and hitting their head on the curb.

Really reminds you that our days are numbered, doesn’t it?

#8: World Mythology

Mythology plays a big part in my books, so I’ve had to go ahead and Google and read a bunch of different myths while writing. Most of the characters are direct or indirect descendants of different gods, so knowing who those gods are definitely helps.

So now that you know that I’m definitely a normal person, it’s time to sign off.

Until next time,

M.J.