What kind of research did you do?

Doug is fighting a stomach flu and will be checking in soon....
geoff gevalt
ywp editor

Hi,

For Falling, I did several types of research -- but the most important, as with The Revealers, involved talking with and gathering true stories, suggestions, and criticism from real kids.

When I had an idea about a book that would deal with a relationship -- basically, a first-love story -- between a middle-school boy and girl, I knew who the main characters would be, in a general way. I knew that the boy would come from the more affluent part of town, and I knew that the girl would come from the more low-income part; I knew that the boy's older brother had become a heroin addict, and that the boy was isolating himself to protect this very scary secret in his house; and I knew that the girl had a very protective single mother and three very close friends, whom she was feeling very conflicted about outgrowing, and needing something more in her life.

I asked for time with kids at Rutland Middle School, where I had done volunteer work with a teacher for several years, helping to lead an after-school writers' group. She gave me three eighth-grade language-arts classes, one day in spring 2003. When those kids came in, we had posted big sheets of paper on the walls, labeled "Boy," "Girl," "Boy's Brother," and the names of the boy's and girl's closest friends. I gave the first class a briefing on the story idea and the characters, and asked them to tell me about the boy. They had a lot of ideas! I knew they would know him (especially because my story is set in Rutland). What kind of music does he listen to? What was his relationship with his brother like before the drug problem? And so on. The ideas they had that I liked, I put on that sheet.

The next class, I asked to tell me about the girl, and about the boy-girl relationship. How would they communicate? How would they get together? How far would they go? We had a very frank discussion! The third class told me about the supporting characters. The kids each went to the sheet for the character that they related to most, or found most interesting, and covered it with ideas and suggestions. I went home, typed up those sheets, and wrote character sketches that I submitted to those classes, and used as the bases for the characters in the book.

When I was producing first drafts of the opening chapters, I asked another RMS teacher for a group of good eighth-grade readers. She organized about a dozen kids, and we had lunch once a week. I would bring printouts of my first chapter, the next week my second, and so on. They would read, eat, and give me honest feedback, on which I would take notes. Those kids were very key advisors!

I also spent a lot of time talking with a Rutland City police detective, and with a young adult who is a recovering heroin addict. I mainly asked about the drug-scene and police-work aspects of the book, and they were also extremely honest and helpful with me.

Those are the most important and most productive types of research that I did for Falling. Thanks for asking!

best,

Doug

Wow. That must have taken a lot of thought. The research you did really shows in the book. I am only a little bit in but I am really enjoying it!