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Wednesday, November 6, 2019

IWSG: Strangest Google Searches

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs. You can also join us on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG, or on the Facebook page.

Now, IWSG hosts have changed up the format in an effort to make it more fun and interactive.Every month, they will announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Don’t forget to visit others that day to see their answers. Want to join, or learn more? Visit our - Sign-up List.



NOVEMBER QUESTION: What's the strangest thing you've ever googled in researching a story?



MY ANSWER: That would have to be "ritual suicide by self-disembowelment on a sword; practiced by samurai in the traditional Japanese society. Synonyms: hara-kiri, harakiri, seppuku Type of: self-annihilation, self-destruction, suicide, the act of killing yourself". I did some research on these ideas when I was writing my short story "WIN". I only briefly mentioned a similar event in the story, but I can only imagine what others might think of writers if they see our search histories ;-)

How about you? What's the strangest thing you've ever googled in researching a story?

7 comments:

Sarah Foster said...

Ha! Yeah, I think my most disturbing Google searches are also about violent things.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I remember your story in the IWSG anthology. That's an interesting topic to research.

T. Powell Coltrin said...

Whoa! I love your research topics.

Teresa

Chrys Fey said...

I have researched a lot of weird, gross, and questionable things, but I'm not sure I'd be able to research hara-kiri. There's something about that tradition that bothers me. Actually, it's everything about it. lol

lostinimaginaryworlds.blogspot.com said...

Couldn’t imagine researching that - far too squeamish 🤭 Very brave.

Diane Burton said...

I admire you for researching those topics. Not sure I could.

examlabonline said...

This can seem like it's counter productive, satta king