So today I sent an email to some random blog poster on the internet because he happened to have the same type of background/profession as my protagonist--a job I know relatively little about. Do you think that he'll think I'm crazy for emailing him questions out of the blue so that I can write a crime fiction short story? Have any of you ever done something similar in order to write about a setting/character that contains some unknown territory for you? Or am I the only one? BTW--if he responds, I'm assuming that I should give him credit for his feedback. How does one do this in a short story that is being submitted for publishing?
It's fine - you can blag your way many places by saying, "I'm a writer and interested in this". If you're polite people are generally pretty okay about it, as long as you're not basically using it as an excuse for intensive snooping. Asking questions or getting access to archives etc are all fine for writers to do.
I am writing about a violin prodigy I found great help from non writers on music forums who know rather than from writers who 'think' they know. These dudes feed me needle in the haystack info I would never have stumbled into. They think everyone who is not in love with the violin enough to buy one is crazy, but I can handle that in exchange for insider info....ya dig ?
don't worry too much about it. Writers understand each other. An outsider would view that as weird, but like I side, don't worry.
Interviewing people or asking questions is completely normal for a writer to do. It's really helpful to find a person that knows what they're talking about and have them explain things you don't understand. For example, if I was writing about something having to do with rocket science, I would try to find someone who knows about rocket science to interview, like a college professor or an actual scientist. I'm not sure if you're required to give them credit, but, depending on the amount of information they provide you with, it would be courteous to do so.
