Just sort of a random topic. Do you ever get the impression that if your government suddenly grabbed or looked through your browser search history they’d get an odd or even disturbing impression of you?
I’m kind of asking because I’m currently researching certain things for a book I’m trying to write. And well, one of my main characters (technically a good friend of the main heroine) dies violently. So I’m trying to research how dying like that would cause someone to act in their final moments (keeping him in character). Also, his body is burned, and since I’m writing in a world with no modern incinerators I’m looking into things as to how to make a traditional pyre, what’s the best wood for such a thing, which forest ecosystems this wood is found- how to collect ashes etc afterwards.
There are also various things I’ve looked into for this story which are rather weird to tell you the truth. And yeah, dark.
Which gives me abject paranoia at the idea of someone WATCHING and thinking what on earth is this deranged woman even PLANNING and maybe even considering I’m a threat to the public.
Anyone else like this? Especially any aspiring writers?
I do this all the time! Sometimes something really random springs to mind and I google it, no matter how weird/embarassing/disturbing it comes across. Also I’m the kind of person who has to research everything that interests me to the last detail, so my browsing history often looks rather occupied with the same topic…
That’s happened to me too TSS, sometimes. Not too long ago my mother had to get a picture of something for her Children’s church class the next day (in her and dad’s church they circulate those kind of duties). I was already online, so I decided to look it up for her, see what came up. (I mean I’d be sleeping in on sunday like the little heathen I was, and she wouldn’t be so…)
I can’t remember the exact phrase or words I used (just more or less what she said she needed), but it seemed innocent enough.
Somehow, while, some were okay, some images which were rather random and didn’t make sense. Others were things which are awkward enough to come across by yourself, let alone when your mother is in the room asking for nice pictures to show to 8 year old children.
Well yeah I really dislike Google’s autocomplete function because it begins searching for stuff I don’t even want even before I have finished typing… so annoying. Luckily I’m pretty good at typing quickly and I didn’t even have lessons on it. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog!
^ I would only say it’s crossing the line when you start searching for their addresses and stuff.
Samesies. Any question or I have or something I’m unsure of—google it! That’s the wonderful thing about Google: assuming we’re not talking about researching how to build a large bomb or dangerous things like that, I can look up answers to things that may seem silly, unimportant, or downright embarrassing.
I Google a lot of strange stuff, especially when I’m writing. I want my work to be as accurate to the setting, time period, location, or personality traits of the events or characters I’m writing about, so like some of you have said, I’ll research every little thing down to the minute details for accuracy.
It mainly happens when I’m writing Ratatouille fanfiction, though; for whatever reason. I do lots of research on the French language because I want the French phrases I throw in there to be as accurate and grammatically correct as possible. I remember spending literal hours researching French wines and famous French bars for a scene in one of my one-shots that was only a few paragraphs long. I did so much research that I ended up with information about how much some of the drinks at certain bars in France cost.
Strange as this sounds, I also Google various medical or psychological conditions and deeply research them when writing. The only other time that I really use Google is when I’m looking up reference pictures for artwork. That usually proves to be a lot more awkward and uncomfortable than regular Google searches are.
