Screenwriting : U.S. tax write-offs for research activities? by Rachel Metzger

I'm wondering to what extent - if any - burgeoning, unproduced, part-time screenwriters like myself are able to write off certain activities for research. In my case, I have an LLC for a small video production company that is currently not producing any videos (but could any time I pick it back up), and I do all my free-lance consulting work (my day job) under a dba of that LLC, so I have an actual business that I pay myself out of and pay taxes through. For instance, if I take a vacation to Scotland and I spend a considerable amount of time researching for a screen adaptation I want to write of a book set in 1930s Scotland - what of that trip could I legally write off? Full disclosure: the trip's first purpose is a vacation for my family, but the location is chosen in part because of the research I want to do. Same might go for a trip within the U.S. I don't want to try to beat the system - I'm just trying to be sure I take advantage of all legal breaks that I should get. Does anyone have any experience or especially legal U.S. tax knowledge on this subject? Thanks for sharing!