Tracey Lee Writes

As a writer, you often find yourself delving into the most unexpected topics. It may surprise you, but queries like ‘What does it feel like to stab/be stabbed’ are quite common in our line of work.

Today’s research journey took an unexpected turn as I found myself crafting a climax scene where my characters confront a group of shadow realm creatures. Picture my main character, navigating a cavern, desperately evading a gremlin hot on her heels, only to spot one of her allies riding another gremlin.

So why did this spark a research diversion (and a procrastination blog post) you ask. The first phrase to come out of my tipy-taping fingers was “like a nightmare rodeo clown”, which sounded cool at first pass, but then, of course, I realised that I didn’t know if rodeo clowns even rode the bulls. Was there a term other than “rodeo rider” for the people who risked entry to the Darwin Awards for the thrill of being thrown through the air by a raging behemoth and possibly gored by those wicked horns? This realisation led me down a rabbit hole of rodeo research, and I found myself fascinated by the bravery and skill of these riders.

And so, I present to you today’s episode of ‘Things I Never Thought I’d Need to Google’: Rodeo Terms. This is a testament to the lengths a writer will go for authenticity (even for a single line).

The fine folks at Silver Spurs Rodeo had a handy list of 22 Rodeo Terms To Know. I’d like to thank them for providing me 10 minutes of procrastination.

Wikipedia has added some further delightful minutes of procrastination, valuable reading, with delightful accounts of the sport from a Scottish noblewoman, Frances Erskine Inglis, 1st Marquise of Calderón de la Barca, and a Jesuit priest, Rafael Landivar.

While interesting, neither source divulged any secret terms I could use. It seems that although we have “Pick-up men,” “Heels,” and “Hazers,” the rider is just that—a rider.

Perhaps my character should dispatch his gremlin and then try to distract my main character’s adversary after she takes a tumble, and thus, I can use my “nightmare rodeo clown” phrase.

What’s the most unexpected thing you’ve had to research for your writing?