When Life Becomes A Little TOO Much Research

You know how we are always told to throw our protagonists as much conflict as we can to keep up the story tension?

Whoever has been writing the story of my life lately had better be working on a masterpiece.

In the last two weeks I have experienced a hit and run, jury duty, a postponed check, X-rays, a complete electricity black out that rendered all the roads of San Diego un-drivable, a virus, getting lost on the freeway more times that I can count, missing class, and completely forgetting that I was supposed to have something brilliant to say to my fellow writers.

I'm just hoping its a comedy and not a tragedy. Everything eventually seems to have evened out ok so evidence supports the case that it is. But while I am making my apologies I thought I would ask:

What kind of places to you find unexpected research material? In those horrible, miserable weeks where nothing seems to go right? That's what gives you inspiration and fodder for fiction. That's how we connect to characters and empathize with them. We recognize those frustrations and admire their strength of mind to keep fighting. Sometimes they inspire us to fight back when we didn't think we could.

So find inspiration in the good things you experience -- the sunsets, the ocean, good cooking ---but don't discount the less pleasant ones. They give us strength and they make our stories stronger too.