Youtube

Where do you go when you want to know what a jungle scene looks like? You can always say, "the tangled brush," or something like that, but that feels a little cheap. There's got to be some detail that will separate your scene from every jungle scene ever written. If you could only get there!

Actually, you don't have to go anywhere these days. Youtube has done all the work for you! Suppose you're writing about camels in the desert. Go to Youtube, type "camel" in and you'll plenty of video footage. You'll be able to see, and hear it and guess what the texture is like.

This isn't a perfect tool. It's not as valuable as actually going to the jungle, but those who us are poor and can't afford a cruise :), Youtube will have to work. You'll to guess about smells and humidity, ect.

BE CAREFUL! Although you can glean a lot of useful information, Youtube also has enough garbage to sink Titanic again. Generally it's clean, but know actually what you're looking for. Don't start random searches, or put something in that could be perverted. I've never searched "fantasy" for good reasons.

If anyone has some comments about Youtube, you know where to find me.:)