Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. One image from CFT archives.
Every writer has to carry out some research regardless of whether they write fiction or not. As I mentioned in my History in Stories post last week, the need for research crops up in every fictional genre. It perhaps is a more obvious need for the non-fiction writer.
The Need for Research in Fiction
Often for fictional purposes, research is to ensure if something did exist at a certain point of time mainly to ensure the character could obtain what they need for whatever purposes, nefarious or otherwise, they’ve got in mind.
Maps and things like the A to Z can come in handy for working out how your character could get around. They can even help a writer plan out their fictional setting because you can base your imagined streets on something you know exists for real. You would, for example, know you could make a grid street system work. We have it here.
This kind of detail can help a story seem more real, even if it is set in the most bizarre of settings.
We know what makes stories work. We know characters need to live somewhere, they are going to need transport and/or to able to walk to places etc. So getting those details sorted adds backbone to your tale.
Usually it is a question of a fiction writer working out what they need to know. Sometimes you don’t know until you are writing that first draft even if, like me, you have a rough outline of your planned story to help you. (I do find outlines help. Not every writer does).
The Need for Research in Non-Fiction
I can’t think of any non-fiction work without research behind it. For blog posts like this, I’m checking out facts. Even where I’m writing from direct experience, the facts there are my direct experiences and my research is having gone through said direct experiences in the first place!
For example, I often flag up warnings about vanity publishers because I was nearly caught out by one. I carried out research by asking the Society of Authors to check out the contract I’d been offered. I then researched more about how vanity publishers operate and so on.
But I can draw on having gone through that to write warning posts now. Little is wasted in writing. I am glad something useful has come out of this particular case. At the time, it was disheartening to say the least because then I hadn’t been published at all. Nor did I have any prospects on the horizon.
Direct experience came into Phillipa Langley’s book The Search for Richard III given she was the one behind the search to find the lost king. But she would have spent years (and did) in researching likely locations for the king.
Biographers obviously need to research their subject. Any scientific book will not be given due credence without proof of the research that has gone into writing it.
The Joys of Writing Research
One obvious joy is when you find something which backs up a point you were making. Another obvious joy is there is so much more material to use as research and in different formats too. You can research old newspapers. There are audio files you can listen to. Then there are the reference books. There are CDs and video materials available for research purposes.
I share a link to the British Library further down. Do check out their whole website. They have links to moving image research files amongst much else. I’ve never visited the British Library. Would like to put that on my To Do list at some point!
Don’t forget the magazines. They too can throw up interesting information. The adverts in the old newspapers and magazines will also tell you something about the intended audience as well. Libraries are the place to head to for this kind of research and don’t forget the museums.
Some time ago I visited STEAM, a lovely railway museum in Swindon. You can walk under a locomotive there and admire the splendid construction from underneath. I did several times! But they also had their own library with a good range of old books and periodicals relating to their subject matter. My son and I had a good read in there!
Plus there is the internet. It makes a good starting point for working out what you need in terms of material and where you are likely to find it.
The advent of email makes it easier and quicker to contact people whom you might need to get research materials in for you. Bear in mind the Inter Library loan system. Do check out the British Library link for more information but the title sums things up pretty well!
The Pitfalls of Writing Research
Is there such a thing as a surfeit of riches? Possibly. With research, you do need to narrow down what it is you need to find out. I’ve heard research being described as “getting lost down rabbit holes” and I can see why.
One fascinating fact which you need for your article or story leads you on to finding something else out which might be useful, might not be, but you note it down on the just in case principle. It is frightening easy to spend so much time on research you don’t get the writing done!
A useful thought to bear in mind when researching is to ask yourself why do I need this?
It is crucial to note down your research materials as you go. If you are writing a non-fiction book and are aiming to get it out into the big, bad world, your publisher will want to see proof of your sources. You will need to know title of source, page number, publisher of that source, and year of original publication of that source. These things need to be checked.
This is partly for copyright reasons but I cannot think of any non-fiction book without source references in the back. These references add credence to what you are writing here. But it does make the non-fiction writer’s life considerably easier if they note resources as they go. It is time consuming. You need to allow for that. (Spreadsheets can be useful here).
Conclusion
It is a case of working out what you need to know, then research accordingly. You need to focus and having a list of priorities at least here will save you time in the long run (as will keeping a note of sources you use as you go. Trust me, you won’t want to go back and find it all out again later!).
Research can be fun. It can be too much fun at times if you get so engrossed with it, the writing lags behind. But the right research will give your writing backbone and credibility and the importance of that can’t be over-rated.
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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