Research is part of both fiction and nonfiction writing. From biographies, to science fiction novels, to textbooks, making sure you know your stuff can help increase the quality of your published work.
Why is this step so late in the process?
It doesn’t have to be. Some people start their book planning process with research. But, this is the latest point at which I would recommend doing research on what you’ve written. Even when you’re making things up, there may be philosophical principles, technical processes, or historical events it helps to better understand before writing certain characters or scenes in a fictional work.
Getting Backup
The vast majority of research has to do with finding credible experts who agree with whatever you’re saying. If you think that the planet is a cube and not a sphere, finding some geologists, astronauts, and other experts who agree with you makes your reader more likely to believe in your argument and trust the rest of your opinions or insights in their own right.
Spewing a bunch of random thoughts or opinions can be fun. However, when you are attempting to convince someone to adopt a certain idea or make a particular lifestyle change, “because I said so” probably isn’t going to cut it. Showing how your method or idea gets results and / or follows commonly accepted logic makes your argument stronger and increases the chances that someone will take you seriously.
Adding Realism
Especially as it relates to genres like hard science fiction, understanding how certain technologies, jobs, and relationships work in our current reality helps your fictional reality seem more believable. But this isn’t something that every fiction writer does for a couple of reasons.
First, not everyone is picking up a book to read about reality or realistic things. The entire purpose of reading for them is entertainment. They want to be taken away from the troubles and considerations of their daily life and plunged into a world that isn’t like their own. Therefore, some fiction writers don’t do a lot of research because they are writing something that is highly speculative or complete fantasy. They actually use their lack of knowledge as a starting point to help not get too close to reality.
Second, the writer may not be writing in a genre in which research is vital. For example, a genre like poetry would not necessarily entail that research be done. Children’s books are another. They often fall under the ‘fantasy’ category and, unless they are focusing on teaching something like math or history, there’s no research that needs to be done to create the book.
How to Research
Say what you will
When writing something about a theory or perspective you have (seafood causes diabetes, there’s a herd of unicorn living in Tampa, you can survive on $20 per month, etc.), go ahead and write out the theory or clarify your own beliefs first. Both of my college degrees involved a great deal of essay writing and this method kept my anxiety low and my grades high. That’s because it’s nearly impossible to hold an opinion or believe in an idea that not a single person in the world agrees with.
Generally speaking, experts who are formally trained or educated in a specific field are going to be the first people you want to look for to support your ideas. If you think seafood causes diabetes, find an endocrinologist, registered dietitian, marine biologist, or chef to back you up on that.
A NOTE ON QUOTES: You might not always easily find someone you can quote to support your theory directly. Meaning they may not have ever said or written the words “diabetes is caused by seafood” anywhere. However, they may have said something that most people could conclude is in indirect support. For instance, if A = B and B = C, we can deduce that A and C are the same (A = C), even though that isn’t what’s written or told to us. In the same way, you can use the logic of someone’s quote and apply it to your theory as closely as possible. In this example, if an endocrinologist stated in a journal that “People who eat more shellfish tend to have higher rates of diabetes,” that can be used to help support your theory about diabetes being caused by seafood, even though that isn’t exactly what was said.
Internet Research
The fastest and easiest way to do any kind of research is to look it up online. From videos of people with mental illnesses to books about decomposition, you can find it all online.
I use Google for all my internet research, but the tips below often apply to other search engines as well to help you make your research faster and more accurate.
Quotation Marks
Putting anything in quotes on Google means you’re searching for that exact phrasing. For instance, if you’re looking for quotes from a specialist on unicorns, you might put in a search like
unicorn expert says there is a herd of unicorn living in Tampa
and that can get you a lot of irrelevant results (such as cartoon unicorns who are experts in various fields of knowledge). Whereas, searching for
unicorn expert “PhD”
is more likely to give you results featuring people with doctorate degrees discussing unicorns because Google will only show you the results with “PhD.”
health benefits of “black garlic”
will return results specifically about black garlic as opposed to any other type.
earth shape “pyramid” argument
will return results specifically about the idea of Earth being shaped like a pyramid, as opposed to any other shape like a sphere or a cube.
Top-Level Domains
Another useful tool for finding reputable sources is to specify the kind of sites you want results from. A top-level domain (TLD) is the set of letters that come after the “dot” in a URL (web address). Walmart.com has a TLD of “.com” (commercial), while Emory.edu has a TLD of “.edu” (educational), and Copyright.gov has a TLD of “.gov” (government).
So, if you want Google to only return results from a certain kind of TLD, you can tell it to do so using “site:” before listing the TLDs you want returned. If you only want results from a specific website, you can enter that full domain instead, such as typing
“green apples” site: sprouts.com
to return mentions of the exact phrase “green apples” on the Sprouts website.
health benefits of “black garlic” site: .edu, .gov
will only return results specifically about black garlic and only from educational websites or government websites. This can help you avoid some of the .com sites that might not be as reputable.
earth shape pyramid argument site: .org
will only return results broadly related to the earth being a pyramid from sites with a .org TLD (reserved for non-profits).
books by “biracial authors” site: goodreads.com
will return results specifically for the phrase “biracial authors” and only from the Goodreads site.
Narrow Results
Sometimes knowing what you’re not looking for is a lot easier than describing what you are looking for. In this case, use a hyphen before a word to exclude any results that contain it.
“serial killers” -ramirez -gacey site: fbi.gov
will return results that do not contain Ricardo Ramirez or John Wayne Gacy, and it will only search on the FBI website.
health benefits of “black garlic” -psychological site: emory.edu
will return results specifically about black garlic from the Emory University website so long as those results don’t mention psychological benefits.
earth shape pyramid argument -flat -cube site: .ky.gov
will return results for arguments for Earth being a pyramid that don’t include mentions of the world being flat or a cube, but only from Kentucky government websites.
With these simple tricks, you can make your web research move a lot quicker and get you more precise results.
Experiential Research
Sometimes there are things that are difficult to convey online, even using video and audio files. But you can usually get around that by simply volunteering to dive into whatever it is you’re trying to research. If you want to write about police realistically but don’t know the first thing about policing, request a ride-along at your local department. If you wonder what it’s like to live on campus at a present day university (even though you haven’t been a college student in quite a few decades) offer to give a student some (extra large, double toppings) pizza money to shadow them for a day. You might even get away with offering to give them credit in your acknowledgements when the book is ready for publication.
If you have strong reservations about getting the real-world experience you’re trying to put your characters through, you’re welcome to simply do your best with research.
Consultations
Another option is to buy lunch for someone who knows about or has been through what you’re trying to write about. If you’ve never been a college sociology professor, consult with one about the character you’re writing. If you don’t quite understand the daily grind for an EMT, consult with one about what their day looks like and the scope of what they’re responsible for during their shifts.
With Research in Hand
Now that you have the information you need, it’s time to incorporate it.
For Fiction
Research done in the planning stage of writing means that you’re now ready to adjust your Five Ps of Premise Prep based on what you’ve learned about the character’s mental illness, education, occupation, upbringing, etc.
Research done after developmental editing means adding in a few details here and there to add to the feeling of authenticity for a setting, character, or situation. No huge overhauls needed, in most cases.
For Nonfiction
Research for nonfiction related to your ideas (self-help, how-to) or memories (autobiography, memoir) can be dropped in wherever needed. Maybe you thought a million people across the country believe in unicorns, only to find out there are three million. Maybe you thought you first met someone in the summer of 2005, but it was actually 2004 based on the date of the concert you went to see together.
Citing Sources
How you cite your sources can vary based on your preferences, your audience expectations, and the style guide you choose to adhere to. Click on the links below to explore some of the more popular style guides:
American Psychological Association
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