Narcissistic behaviors in relationships
When I wrote the villain in my first book, When Love Won’t Die, I based his character on several different people, both real and fictional. As I figured out how to write him, it became obvious to me that he was a narcissist, so I researched the different behavior patterns attached to narcissism, which allowed me to build his character traits of manipulation, arrogance, control and emotional and physical abuse.
Mental illnesses as a result of trauma and loss
The protagonist (main character) in my horror novel (that I’m querying to agents) had a child go missing and not too long after, a husband, who also went missing. She hears voices that communicate with her and these losses drive her into deep depression and mental distress. Years later, her other daughter develops similar symptoms. Upon doing research, I was able to incorporate fear, anxiety, anger, depression and guilt into these characters.
The effects of living near wind farms
In my horror novel, my protagonist and her family have an acreage that borders a wind farm. I needed to find out what, if any health effects could contribute to my character’s behavior and set up the events of my plot. Some of the effects I used were sleep disturbance, dizziness, headaches, nausea and fatigue.
Behaviors of someone hiding a secret past
The backstory on my protagonist in my first book was that she escaped from an abusive ex. She changed her identity, and the book opens several years later when at first peek it looks like she’s living an idyllic life in the country with her wonderful lawyer husband. But upon closer look, the reader sees that she often looks over her shoulder, she doesn’t like being home alone at night and she struggles with what would happen if her secret past was ever exposed. She even has moments of being distant, secretive and evasive.
Police procedures relevant to each book’s location
My first book is based on a location in Canada (NW Ontario). Small communities are policed by the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) so I interviewed a sergeant who helped walk me through some of the procedures that came up in some events in my story. My horror book takes place in the United States prairies (N. Dakota), so I had to research how that country, and specifically that type of location, handles law enforcement.
Expected Tropes for Genre Fiction
I found numerous sites online that provided lists of the kinds of things readers expect in a genre. For example, in psychological horror, there are the emotional expectations, places that induce fear, isolation, the fear of being watched and people getting split up, all of which I’ve used to some degree. In the suspense/thriller genre, I used a missing person, a flawed protagonist, red herrings (clues meant to send the reader in the wrong direction), deadlines (like a ticking clock), hidden identity, woman in peril and secrets, which were all things readers expect in a domestic suspense/thriller.
Standard word counts for specific genres
Believe it or not, the word count for the type and genre of book you’re writing matters for a couple of reasons:
1. Those who read in your genre have expectations of the length for those types of books.
If they’re expecting somewhere around 80,000 words, and your book is only 50,000, or
if it’s 120,000, they aren’t likely to pick it up
2. As for publication, longer novels cost way more to print and books that are way off
the word count of a particular genre won’t sit well in displays and bookshelves in
bookstores and libraries.
Since my genres are suspense and horror, the standard word counts are:
Suspense/thriller: 70,000-90,000
Horror/gothic/supernatural: 70,000-100,00.
Specific characteristics/places in my book’s location
Although I invented a small town for my horror book’s locale, it still had to stay true to the topography of N. Dakota. Luckily, I have a writer friend who actually lives in N. Dakota, so I asked for her input and she provided me with plenty of details. But my suspense book takes place in Thunder Bay and Toronto, two cities in the province of Ontario. Luckily, I grew up in Thunder Bay so any locations I used there were places I’d been many times. I have been to Toronto as well, so it wasn’t too difficult to combine details I remember from my trip and a bit of google maps and whatnot to make sure I used the correct street names and place names for that part of the novel. Believe me, you will have readers who know your locations, and they won’t hesitate to call out your mistakes in their reviews.
What it’s like being in jail
Having a character who is sentenced to serve a jail term means I not only had to decide on a prison location, but also find out what day to day life would be like for him, as well as other general situations associated with life in a prison. Between pictures, contact with someone who used to be a prison inmate, and websites, I was able to construct a believable environment in my book.
Agents to query
This is a big deal for any author seeking traditional publishing who’s looking for an agent. You have to do your research. Which agents represent the genres you’re writing? Are they open to queries? What are their wishlists? What are their specific submission guidelines? Who are their clients and books they rep? It sounds like a lot, but it will eliminate unnecessary rejections because you failed to check all of this before sending your query. A couple of helpful websites (besides googling the agent and going to their agency website) that are free to use for doing agent research are:
If you’re a writer, comment on something unique to your book that you had to research.