Research
So I'm doing research on a book today and end up on a page showing cisterns. This one happens to be in Istanbul.
I love doing research. I constantly learn new things, which in turn inspires new characters, stories, and books. Kind of like being in school all the time. Only without the tests and grades. Unless you want to count whether or not that research pays off in a book deal.
Anyway, as it turns out cisterns came from both Middle Eastern and Greek cultures. All those countries ended up in areas where keeping good water was problematic. So they dug huge holes in the ground, walled them in with fired bricks to keep bad stuff out, and set up underground reservoirs for cities to use.
Underground.
That caught my interest at once today and wouldn't let go. I was a kid. I went places I wasn't supposed to. So I started wondering if kids in those cities got down in the cisterns when they weren't supposed to.
I figure they probably did. I can't imagine them not going. And I figure there were a few fatalities, just as we had fatalities during the storms in Oklahoma this year.
I got to thinking about kids who might have wandered down in the cisterns when no one was looking. HUGE cisterns that were hundreds of years old.
What would they find?
What would find them?
And then there are the urban spelunkers, guys and gals who crawl around in abandoned areas. What if they went into a cistern looking to see what they could see?
That's how it is when you're a writer. Suddenly one thing gives you about a million ideas.
I'm going to do a little more research, poke around a little, and see if I can't come up with a good story or two. Maybe an adult novel and a juvenile novel. I'll let you know.
So I'm doing research on a book today and end up on a page showing cisterns. This one happens to be in Istanbul.
I love doing research. I constantly learn new things, which in turn inspires new characters, stories, and books. Kind of like being in school all the time. Only without the tests and grades. Unless you want to count whether or not that research pays off in a book deal.
Anyway, as it turns out cisterns came from both Middle Eastern and Greek cultures. All those countries ended up in areas where keeping good water was problematic. So they dug huge holes in the ground, walled them in with fired bricks to keep bad stuff out, and set up underground reservoirs for cities to use.
Underground.
That caught my interest at once today and wouldn't let go. I was a kid. I went places I wasn't supposed to. So I started wondering if kids in those cities got down in the cisterns when they weren't supposed to.
I figure they probably did. I can't imagine them not going. And I figure there were a few fatalities, just as we had fatalities during the storms in Oklahoma this year.
I got to thinking about kids who might have wandered down in the cisterns when no one was looking. HUGE cisterns that were hundreds of years old.
What would they find?
What would find them?
And then there are the urban spelunkers, guys and gals who crawl around in abandoned areas. What if they went into a cistern looking to see what they could see?
That's how it is when you're a writer. Suddenly one thing gives you about a million ideas.
I'm going to do a little more research, poke around a little, and see if I can't come up with a good story or two. Maybe an adult novel and a juvenile novel. I'll let you know.
2 comments:
Love the picture. It does give you all kinds of good ideas, huh?
there is a series on the history channel that deals with the underground history of different cities. I have no idea what the name is.
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