One of the strangest things about writing is research. Whenever I go on Pinterest, I see screenshots of Tumblr conversations where writers complain about how weird their search histories must look. They’re always funny to read, but they’re definitely relatable, because when you’re writing, you end up searching a lot of strange things. For instance, there was a time where I could list the types of rice that never expired and the types that didn’t, because some of my characters had to raid a Wal-Mart that closed half a century earlier. (If you were wondering, I think it’s white, arborio, basmati, and jasmine. Brown rice expires though.)

My school district recently became 1:1, so every student is given a school laptop. Because of this, they lectured a lot about “digital citizenship” and how careful you have to be with your digital footprint. I was thinking about this while I was researching today, because what would someone think about me if they just saw my random writing searches with no explanation? I was reluctant to even search online at all because of this.

But finally I caved and Googled what the best way to pick someone up was.

The first search was a mistake– I ended up with pickup lines, directions for the best way to rendezvous at LAX, and YouTube videos about how to lift drunk friends from the floor. Not what I was looking for. But the second search was better, and the first result?

A bodybuilder forum about the best way to pick up your girlfriend.

I needed the information, so I clicked on it, and it was probably one of the strangest conversations I’ve ever read online. It was a group of these super built men talking about how they like to lift their girlfriends like they’re lifting weights and the best way to give them piggyback rides.

It was very, very weird, but I got what I came for, and then I got off.

But I just think it’s funny all the weird things you come across while writing! This one time I ended up on some medical forum trying to learn about CPR; another time I was on some apocalypse prepper site (that was for the rice.) I’ve been on sites that convert numbers to binary code, looked up pictures of what New York would look like underwater, and read about the legal rights of extraterrestrials. I think it’s so strange that these things even exist on the internet, and that somehow I found them. They all just seem so out there, the kind of things you’d discover after clicking all the hyperlinks you can find, but they come up first thing when you search.

I guess my searches are part of what makes it so weird.

I mean, I probably sound like such a strange person because of this! I always think those Pinterest Tumblr people seem like they’re trying so hard to push the fact that they’re a writer and that this is what writers do, but it really is! It’s just so, so weird what you end up Googling when you write.

It’s so weird.

I don’t really have any advice about how to make your searches less weird, because usually you know what you’re searching for and you’re doing it for a reason. But I still just wonder what someone would think if they saw that I was on some bodybuilder forum. I guess just search what you need to, find the answer, and then go write.

So that’s my random research story! Have any of you had any funny experiences with this? Let me know in the comments!