Monday, August 7, 2017

Strangest Browser Searches Tag

Madeline J. Rose created a tag and tagged me! This is going to be a fun one, folks.


The rules:
-Access to your browser history and look through it.
-Pick at least 5 of your strangest searches you’ve had to look up as a writer.
-List them below with a short explanation as to why exactly you had to look them up.
-Tag 2-5 other bloggers.

1. "stab wound scar"
Google Images greeted me with some grisly pictures after searching this. I think I was researching scars because one of the characters in my fantasy novel has one and I wanted to make sure I was describing it correctly. Around this time, I also looked up "how do scars work" and "keloid scar" (which is a type of scar that grows on top of the injury. They are firm, rubbery, and raised).

2. "furious violin piece." And when this yielded unsatisfactory answers... "violin music angry"
Unsurprisingly, this was for a short story I wrote about a musician. He gets angry at his mom, grabs his violin, and goes outside to play away his frustration. I ended up choosing "Summer" from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi because I was already familiar with it.
Also searched for this short story: "saint-saens pronunciations," "shag carpet 80s," "how do middle school orchestras work," and "black silk dress."

3. "beauty pageants in ancient greece" 
Apparently, they were called "kallisteia." I may or may not have been researching this for a retelling of Snow White which I may or may not be writing in the next few months.

4. "how to tar a road/what is the machine that tars a road called"
I never found out the answer to this and had to use a different metaphor for my story. If anyone knows what these machines are called, please let me know!

5. "simple explanation of gravity"
I usually write/edit my church's VBS skits, and this year the theme was science. I figured that the kids would need a simple explanation of scientific principles because, y'know, they're kids (NOT because I know very little about science and needed a simple explanation myself *COUGH COUGH* Ahem).

6. "ugly color"
<Context not found> (but I know it was for a story)

7. "book about women working for boeing/women working in factories in WWII/rosies wwii"
This is research for my next book. Don't worry, all will be revealed soon! Anyway, I found only one book about women working for Boeing, but I found a lot of books about women working in factories during World War II. I read a few of them for general information. When I start writing, I will go to the Internet for more specific research.

I tag:
Jack Lewis Baillot
Kendra E. Ardnek
Zachary Totah
DJ Edwardson
and anyone else who wants to do the tag!

What's the strangest thing YOU'VE searched on Google for research?

6 comments:

  1. Haha! I love the stab wound one. I think the weirdest thing for me was stuff about hacking. For a book, obviously, but... yeah. Also how long it takes to bleed out if you're stabbed in the leg.

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    1. XD That's a little sketchy! I hope no anti-virus technologies were stalking your browser history on that day!

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  2. Awww...you did my tag! *grins happily*

    Haha, I look up stuff like stab wounds and scars too...I'm usually met with some disgusting images, but hey, a writer has to do their research, right? XD

    And I'm sorry, but I have no idea what those tar machines are called! It's like I know I've heard what they're called before, but...I just can't think of it! :P

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    1. It was so much fun!! :D
      Right! I'm always scared to venture into Google images when I have to look up that kind of stuff, but, sometimes, you have to suffer for your craft!
      EXACTLY! That's how I feel, too. It's right on the tip of my tongue... and then the name "Bessie" springs to mind (I guess I've seen the movie Cars one too many times).

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  3. These were really entertaining to read. Great idea Madeline! Seriously, what did writers do before the internet?

    I think the furious violin one was my favorite. I can imagine the scene almost from the search terms!

    I did some searching and best I can tell, tarring machines are called, "asphalt pavers". Caterpillar shows quite a few of them on their website and that's what they call them.

    Thanks for tagging me! [Heads off to check search history...]

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    1. Haha, I have no idea! (But I'm put in mind of a quote from the show Frasier...
      Niles: *wants Frasier to write a book with him* It has always been my dream to walk into a library and go to the card catalog and see my name listed under mental illness.

      OH MY GOODNESS. Thank you, DJ!! You have my eternal gratitude.

      I can't wait to see your post!

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