Home --> Reviews --> More --> Military, History, Etc. -->

Review of National Geographic Magazine

By Heather Grove
Copyright 2000 by Heather Grove, all rights reserved unless noted otherwise
First published 8/15/2000; last edited 1/6/2005

Previously published on Epinions.com

I have to do a lot of research for my writing. You wouldn't think so, would you? I write mostly horror and roleplaying game material. I know most people think it's floofy sitting around in coffee houses sort of work, but I do a lot of research.

Research Type A

I always need a collection of magazines on my shelves that I can thumb through. I need to come up with a certain type of spirit? Flip through and free-associate off of a random article. I need some unique history as a background for a group of people? Flip through and build off of an aspect of some country's real history.

Research Type B

The second type of research I do is background-related. Once I've decided that I'm going to work with a certain area of Africa, I need to know a lot more about Africa and the people there before I can make it sound even halfway reasonable. If I want a horror story to involve Native American rituals, then I need to be able to look up information on Native American culture.

For type A, and for most of type B, I find magazines more useful than books. Sure, I keep a couple of general reference books around, such as National Geographic's "Wonders of the Ancient World." And I always have a stack of history books around, and an Atlas (again from National Geographic). Yet magazines give me so much more bang for my buck. A few dollars and I have articles on 15 different subjects, cultures, and happenings to draw from, as opposed to just one. Besides, since I write short stories for the most part and not huge treatises, I don't need tomes of background info: just a few broad strokes of color to liven things up.

The Best Stuff

National Geographic is one of my two favorite magazines for research. I get New Scientist for the scientific stuff, and NG for the historical and geographical material.

Most magazines I try for a year and then don't renew. They tend to get repetitive after a while, or I find they just aren't useful or interesting enough to justify the subscription fee or the space they take up. "Smithsonian," for example, is dropping by the wayside. I suspect I'll always renew my National Geographic subscription, however. After all, here I sit, surrounded by the signs of yet another freelance project, and I have not one, not two, but four issues of NG lying open on my desk.

Where else can you find luscious pictures of the ocean depths by David Doubilet, right after an article on the lengths various cultures around the world go to for beauty? The next issue on my desk covers the Vikings, a plane trip from one end of Africa to another in a replica of an old plane, and Mount St. Helens, to name just a few of its subjects. There are fold-out vistas in these magazines that could inspire a wealth of stories with their beauty - just glancing at them makes me want to set a story there. Inside you'll also find magnificently detailed fold-out maps complete with charts and timelines.

Whether you're looking for some inspiration or just a little mental traveling, National Geographic is one of the best purchases you could make.