Allison stepped onto the patio, enjoying the coolness of the desert southwest evening. Saguaro cacti were silhouetted against the sunset, and a roadrunner darted behind an agave plant. A cactus wren perched nearby. Allison walked further into the yard and stopped to stand beneath a giant magnolia tree…
Okay, I won’t say research is evil, but it hasn’t always been my favorite thing to do. When I first began writing fiction, I didn’t want to be bothered with research. All I wanted to do was to get the story out of my head and onto the computer screen.
“Write what you know.” I heard these words repeated over and over by several seasoned writers.
So I began with something that was comfortable to me. I loosely based the setting of my first novel on my hometown. However, the subject matter required research on my part to make part of the story believable.
My second novel, currently in draft state, necessitated me spending time on the Internet, looking for information about arsonists. (Suffice to say if someone looked at my browser history, and didn’t know I was a writer, they might want to report me to the nearest law enforcement agency.)
It’s easy to slip into a comfort zone. Therefore, the “write what you know” advice only goes so far. If an author continues to use the same setting or story line, readers will quickly become bored with their work and move on. Even though we might write in the same (or similar) genre, we want to generate stories that continue to please our readers and entice new ones.
Hence the need for research. We want our fiction to be believable. So what’s wrong with my opening paragraph?
Saguaro cacti, agave plants, roadrunners, and cactus wrens all fit within the scene. However, magnolia trees do not grow in the desert southwest. A simple mistake like that can cause readers to lose interest and damage our credibility as writers. Worse yet, they could leave a bad review, and we all know too many one and two-star reviews can make or break a book.
How do we go about gathering information? Fortunately, we live in an age where we have instant access to almost anything we want to know. Google and Bing can be a writer’s best friend.
A word of caution—just because something is on the Internet, doesn’t make it true. It’s best to check several sources and/or websites. Wikipedia, while popular, isn’t always the most accurate source because anyone can post anything.
In addition to the Internet, talk with experts. Law enforcement officers, physicians and nurses, fire investigators, military personnel, etc. Most times people are willing to answer specific questions you might have. When meeting with these people, go prepared. Have a list of specific questions so as not to waste their time or yours.
Travel to locations where you want to set your stories. Look around, observe, talk with locals, get a feel of the area, and make copious notes.
I’ve come a long way in regards to conducting research since I started writing fiction. In fact, I’ve probably spent more time gathering information for a current short story than I did with both novels.
The reason? It’s a setting and a story line that is totally beyond my scope of knowledge. Hopefully, my research has paid off. On a recent vacation, while touring a former aircraft carrier turned museum, my husband was impressed that I was able to identify two types of aircraft without looking at signs. I admit that I’ve learned a lot of interesting things from doing this project.
What about you? As a writer, do you enjoy research? What are some of your favorite methods?
Pingback: Author Inspiration and This Week’s Writing Links | Staci Troilo
I am a sponge! I love learning about new things so I love research. My first few novels involved only a smattering or research, but the last several (and my current project) have required an abundance. I use online resources, and travel to sites when within reason, but I also love reading books on the subjects I’m researching. They have to be paperback or hardback, because I scribble notes in the margins, highlight passages of interest and mark pages with sticky tabs.
Something I really love today is how easy the internet has made it to find something in a hurry. When I’m writing a scene I frequently hop onto Google to reference minor details–makes of cars in a certain year, fashion, tools, etc. I love how easy it is to retrieve a random fact in a hurry.
Great post, Joan!
Mae, I love to learn new things if it’s a subject that interests me. I think that’s one reason I really got into the research for my short story. I’ve come a long way since those initial days of writing fiction and love the fact that we can jump on the internet and learn almost anything instantly! I’ve also read books about particular subjects. (I bought one about serial arsonists because of my WIP.)
I love research to the point it becomes a distraction. I had to do a bunch of it for my time travel short story. I also wrote a book called Arson that involved a lot of research.
We should have traded notes on arson. 🙂 And the research I recently did is also for my time travel story. Interesting!
I actually enjoy researching things. True, I do it most often on the Internet even though in person, hands-on knowledge would be more fun. But to me, learning is learning, and if I like the topic enough to include it in my work, I’m going to like learning about it.
I’m beginning to enjoy research. As I said in my post, the research for a short story has been fun. And I love using the Internet. Instant access to so many things.