Researching for a Young adult novel…or…
Posted: January 14th, 2010, 9:54 pm
Researching for a Young adult novel…or…What I learned from watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Whenever I heard about people researching for a book, I always thought of them spending days and nights in libraries crouched over countless books, visiting archeological digs to learn about a culture, or spending endless hours talking with people that lived through significant events. Little did I know that my research would include watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
To be clear, I have invested a small fortune in young adult novels this past year to get a feel for the genre but overall, I think many of those stories have some of the same features that I noticed in Buffy. Having avoided the show when it originally aired, I was able to watch the entire series over a few weeks in an ongoing marathon each evening. It made me appreciate why the series became so popular and why people were so upset when it finally went off the air.
The side benefit of claiming it was “research” was that I could justify watching the show to colleagues who would have otherwise thought I was regressing in my mental capacity to stay up late watching multiple episodes of a teenage vampire series each night. ;)
So what have I learned?
First, the inaccessible love interest. Ah, Angel. How can Buffy be with anyone else but her first real love? Alas, challenges kept getting in their way (like Angel’s happiness causing him to turn evil…oops!) However, I doubt the show would have been as interesting and successful if they had stayed together once they were in love. So, what does that mean for me? Well, it makes me wonder what I can do in my stories to authentically keep the couple I *want* to see together from immediately falling in love and being disgustingly romantic from the get-go. After all, isn’t there supposed to be teenage angst in the story? If the girl gets the guy right away, where’s the challenge?
Second, the “bad guy”, Spike, was a more interesting and complex character (to me and other Spike fans) than many of the others in the series. Reading the Buffy message boards (for research of course…yeah, research) some people were upset about the extent that Spike took over the series towards the end. But, there were reasons why he had such a presence. To have a character that was originally perceived as bad struggle with his identity and ultimately save many lives was more interesting than if he had simply been portrayed as “good” or “bad”. Plus, Spike was definitely easy on the eyes. (Hmm, perhaps that last line was a bit off-topic.)
Third, the characters had plenty of other challenges going on in their life that they had to deal with in addition to finding love. They didn’t simply wait around to find the girl or guy of their dreams, they had to face down their own demons (or vampire, werewolves, zombies, etc); grow up and find jobs; and handle enemies that didn’t forget them just because one episode ended and another began. Just like I don’t want a one-dimensional character, I don’t want to have a one-dimensional story either. Teenagers have a lot going on in their life: family/friend issues, challenges at school, and other personal crises. They have to deal with multiple things going on at the same time and so should a realistic character.
Fourth, Good friends, a wooden spike, and holy water can come in handy…Well, maybe I should just stick with the first three things I learned.
Your turn – tell me what you’ve learned from your research.
Whenever I heard about people researching for a book, I always thought of them spending days and nights in libraries crouched over countless books, visiting archeological digs to learn about a culture, or spending endless hours talking with people that lived through significant events. Little did I know that my research would include watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
To be clear, I have invested a small fortune in young adult novels this past year to get a feel for the genre but overall, I think many of those stories have some of the same features that I noticed in Buffy. Having avoided the show when it originally aired, I was able to watch the entire series over a few weeks in an ongoing marathon each evening. It made me appreciate why the series became so popular and why people were so upset when it finally went off the air.
The side benefit of claiming it was “research” was that I could justify watching the show to colleagues who would have otherwise thought I was regressing in my mental capacity to stay up late watching multiple episodes of a teenage vampire series each night. ;)
So what have I learned?
First, the inaccessible love interest. Ah, Angel. How can Buffy be with anyone else but her first real love? Alas, challenges kept getting in their way (like Angel’s happiness causing him to turn evil…oops!) However, I doubt the show would have been as interesting and successful if they had stayed together once they were in love. So, what does that mean for me? Well, it makes me wonder what I can do in my stories to authentically keep the couple I *want* to see together from immediately falling in love and being disgustingly romantic from the get-go. After all, isn’t there supposed to be teenage angst in the story? If the girl gets the guy right away, where’s the challenge?
Second, the “bad guy”, Spike, was a more interesting and complex character (to me and other Spike fans) than many of the others in the series. Reading the Buffy message boards (for research of course…yeah, research) some people were upset about the extent that Spike took over the series towards the end. But, there were reasons why he had such a presence. To have a character that was originally perceived as bad struggle with his identity and ultimately save many lives was more interesting than if he had simply been portrayed as “good” or “bad”. Plus, Spike was definitely easy on the eyes. (Hmm, perhaps that last line was a bit off-topic.)
Third, the characters had plenty of other challenges going on in their life that they had to deal with in addition to finding love. They didn’t simply wait around to find the girl or guy of their dreams, they had to face down their own demons (or vampire, werewolves, zombies, etc); grow up and find jobs; and handle enemies that didn’t forget them just because one episode ended and another began. Just like I don’t want a one-dimensional character, I don’t want to have a one-dimensional story either. Teenagers have a lot going on in their life: family/friend issues, challenges at school, and other personal crises. They have to deal with multiple things going on at the same time and so should a realistic character.
Fourth, Good friends, a wooden spike, and holy water can come in handy…Well, maybe I should just stick with the first three things I learned.
Your turn – tell me what you’ve learned from your research.