: Re: Interviewing a person for a character So I'm building a character who works in a particular field of science and I found an e-mail for a scientist on the internet and emailed him. I described

@Welton431

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Speaking as a research scientist, I cannot really explain to you "how things work in my field."

What things? There are myriad things, like in any other profession. How to propose experiments, how to limit research, how to manage students, how to manage professorial duties besides dealing with classes and students, how to get on committees, how to propose collaborations, how to apply for funding, how to help students choose PhD research topics.

You have to limit your questions to specific things I can answer. I would propose you have a list of potential things you WANT to do in your story, and ask me if those are plausible, or not.

e.g. Could a researcher actually discover a new advanced form of AI, and keep it a secret, to make a fortune off of it privately? Yes. Unless she had collaborators, like other professors or her own graduate students, then the answer is likely No, not for long anyway. Research like that is just not compartmentalized in that way.

Pick things relevant to your story that you want to sound plausible, even to actual scientists, and ask about them. That will be entertaining to the scientist you are questioning. You can offer her credit as a consultant for certain questions you had within the story.

Do not try to base your character on her without written permission, as I commented above, you risk a lawsuit if you do. Professors are not generally wealthy, but they are upper middle class, and reputation is paramount in the academic fields; do not assume they won't protect themselves and their reputation.

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