How to Distract Your Writing Time with Research

 By Elaine L. Orr

I love to dig into information. It's why I like to explore my family tree and pick sleuths who have interesting careers that I don't know a lot about. Lots to learn before (or as) I write. 

But there comes a point...

I've started the fifth book in the Family History Mystery Series, tentatively titled Long-Held Lake Secrets. The series is set in Garret County, the most Western of the Free State's counties. 

Until this book, most of the action has taken place on Meadow Mountain, a real place that hosts the fictional town of Maple Grove. I chose that mountain because much of it is parkland, so I didn't need to describe a specific town or its neighbors.

The crown jewel of Garret County, Maryland is Deep Creek Lake, created for hydroelectric power in the mid-1920s by building an earth and rock wall dam across a tributary of the Youghiogheny River. A source of fishing and some recreation, it's now a major destination with dozens of hotels and rental homes along the 3,900-acre lake. 

Boat Dock at Fort McHenry, on the lake.

My sleuth, Digger Browning, has driven on a bridge across the water in most of the books, but I decided the lake had to play a major part in the fifth book. I love water and learning about it. For a few years, I went to to a monthly watershed meeting in Iowa for heaven's sake.

But here's the rub. If my sleuth is going to investigate something that may be hidden in Deep Creek Lake (to say nothing of a murder) my instinct is to learn all about the lake -- how it was formed, what flora and fauna surround it, what the rules about boating and other uses are...I could go on. Think bear-proof garbage cans.

I've now learned a great deal about building the dam -- original plans for four -- only one needed. Lots of campsites, a largely groundwater-fed lake, and many kinds of fish (stocked annually).

Do I need to know all that? Wait, I can't stop going from book to website, to article. Do all writers have OCD?

Perhaps it's our primary fuel. I'm not sure. I'm still making pages of notes.

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To learn more about Elaine L. Orr, visit her website or sign up for her newsletter.