For our third and final LitCrawl destination, we will visit the St. Louis Public Library Central location downtown.
Throughout the course, we have discussed how to brainstorm ideas, build a working outline, and decide which narrative arcs to follow or avoid. For this class assignment, you will take your chosen piece from our in class discussion and begin researching background elements for it. Research is the secret weapon of every storyteller, poet, writer, and journalist. How can we imagine the way the world might be in a different place or time if we have never stopped to consider how it is or once was? Consider works of fiction like the Game of Thrones series which draws on real events from the Wars of the Roses in medieval Europe and the climate change woes of today to ensnare readers and viewers alike.
For this class, you will use your character profiles and outlines to identify elements in your story that could use some fleshing out with a little background research. If your setting is in St. Louis during the 1900’s, then you might want to visit the library’s archives upstairs. If you are writing about the future, then you might want to visit the reference desk to request books, periodicals, and articles regarding futurism. If your main character has a fatal flaw that involves loss, then you might want to find medical journals and periodicals regarding psychology and the affects of trauma on behavior. Be it fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, you conduct research because you want to give your readers and immersive experience in which they feel they have learned or gained something from your work.
Please see the following links regarding the location, parking and hours for the Central library:
Ananse the Writer 