KEEPING IT REAL: When Research Is Essential

By Writer X

When I wrote the last post about Book Slogging, one of the Commentarama regulars asked about the research involved in creating a novel. The answer: Not all books require massive amounts of research; it kind of depends on your story. And you.

Even though I write fiction and most of my characters and plots come from my admittedly warped imagination, that doesn’t mean I get a free pass on research. For example, what if I wanted my novel to take place in an outpost somewhere in, let’s say, present-day Antarctica. Well, I’ve never been to Antarctica. That doesn’t mean I can’t write about it. It will mean, though, that I’ll need to research the place so that I can write about it authentically. How cold or warm does Antarctica get? What does it look like, exactly? What about vegetation? Penguins? People? And doesn’t Santa Claus live somewhere around that area? For me, pictures are preferable to words and seeing a place up close and personal is always best but that doesn’t always happen. Thank goodness for Al Gore and his Internet. And National Geographic.

And, let’s say my main character at my Antarctica scientific outpost is from New Orleans. Maybe I might need to research New Orleans to get a better feel for my character’s background, speech, or favorite restaurants. Not all of your questions can be answered from research but the more you know, the more authentic you can make your story. And I’m not advocating that you create a completely clichéd character either; in fact, I would encourage you to create anything but a clichéd character. A lot of times I model characters after quirky people I meet—like in airports, at restaurants, malls, even waiting in line at the post office. Still, a little research can get your juices flowing and jump-start your writing.

When you’re writing fiction, you’ve got to reach a point where you can “see” your characters. They’ve got to become real people; you should have conversations with them, although not in public. And the more real they are, the clearer your story can become along with dialogue that will move your story along in a compelling way. (Creating believable dialogue as opposed to drivel is another topic completely.)

I spent about two months doing research before I sat down to write my last book. I had a rough outline of the plot and a few of the characters but the story had a historical setting, and I needed to learn more about the time period. Then as I wrote each chapter, I continued to do more research to ensure my descriptions—from everything to clothing to how food was prepared—were accurate. As an example, I wrote a scene where my main character had to start a fire without matches (matches hadn’t been invented yet). After researching it, I’m now fairly certain that I won’t freeze to death if I ever get stranded in the wilderness. And the character in my book didn’t freeze either.

I do most of my research online, although sometimes I venture to the public library. It’s quite helpful living close to a university, too. Sometimes, though, books don’t help and you might need to talk to an expert or even allow one to read your manuscript or parts of it if he is willing. While it helps to know your experts personally, most of the time that’s not the case. Again, any experts you choose depend on you, your book, and how deep you want to go with the development of your characters and your story. Example: If you want to write a thriller about a police detective, it might be helpful to talk to one. As an aside, I have found that most people usually love to talk about what they do. Finding experts isn’t as tough as you might think.

Finally, just because you do a lot of research doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to include every detail in your story. Not every bit of research will advance your plot; remember that you’re not writing a term paper. But you are attempting to create a page-turner, something that a reader will pick up and not want to put down until he’s devoured every last word of your story. And then cry crocodile tears because it had to end.

Learning that fine line that exists between over-writing and “just right” (like the porridge) will come with practice. I still struggle with it and work to perfect it each and every day. You must weave the researched details into your story as if they’re meant to be there. Your pages shouldn’t read like a throat-clearing.

For example, back to the Antarctica example, I wouldn’t just write an entire chapter describing the place. That would be throat-clearing and that’s usually rather boring. Instead, I might drop details about this frigidly cold and desolate terrain in lots of places—like in the dialogue between characters or a character’s actions (e.g. rubs hands together) or maybe it’s reflected in the tightness of the air or the wool caps they wear or the wispy clouds that float out of their mouths every time they speak…

See what I mean?

It just takes practice and some imagination. Even a little research can go a long way to helping you create a compelling story.