Why Research is Important when Writing Fiction
by Ellen Buikema
Whichever genre of fiction you are writing: fantasy, historical, horror, literary, mystery, romance, science fiction, or thriller, getting the facts straight can make a difference between satisfied and disappointed readers.
A fictional story doesn’t need real-life investigation, right? But it does! Research for fiction gives writers the knowledge-base to create a story that resonates with readers and may assist the writer’s creative process—gifting them with more ideas.
Research:
Adds authenticity to storytelling
Research helps writers develop believable characters and worlds. While learning the details, you can weave facts into your narrative adding accuracy to the tale. Whether it’s the realistic depiction of a historical battle or the subtlety of a character’s job, research adds realism readers enjoy.
Enriches the narrative’s detail and depth
Research infuses life into a story. It adds depth and feeling to your writing. It helps with sensory descriptions—the sights, smells, and sounds of a setting. This allows readers to feel a part of the story, making it more memorable.
Shines a light on inaccuracies and keeps the readers engaged
Use research to avoid errors that pull the reads out of the story. Most fictional stories require at least some willing suspension of belief. However, if you weave in some true concepts, customs, or events that really happened, your story will be more believable. That will make your readers happy.
4 Types of Useful Research for Fiction Writers
How you conduct your research is totally up to you. There is no one best method. Your exploratory work depends upon your needs. Here are some suggestions.
Character Research
Do a deep dive with this type of research. For example, you may explore a character’s cultural practices, hobbies, or profession. Understanding these details can help accurately portray character details that will make your narrative blossom. It’s a great way to create multi-dimensional characters who are believable.
If the characters are fictional be sure they feel real. For real people, their personal facts must be accurate.
Historical Research
Performing historical research helps a great deal with the culture of the time. You can find interesting events that may be woven into your story. Your characters might cross paths with a historical figure in the middle of a rebellion. Anything can happen.
This type of research can benefit all genres, not only historical fiction. Have a care though. It is easy to find oneself falling down rabbit holes, chasing topics.
Location Research
Look at the architectural and physical landscapes of the setting you’ve chosen for your story. The details of a location’s sights, sounds, and vibes carry your readers there. The setting can shape the mood of the story, much like a character does.
Technical Research
Getting the facts right is essential when your story involves legal matters, science, or technology—no matter the era. Researching helps you create a world that feels real. Learning the technical side helps you understand the basics behind these subjects.
How to Conduct Research for a Fiction Book
Define Your Goals
As a first step, decide what elements of your story need to be explored.
- Of what are you unsure?
- Do you need historical context for the story’s era?
- What about the character’s background?
Whatever you need to know, determining your goals early on will help keep you focused.
View Pertinent Materials
One of the best means of research for fiction writers involves reading. Browse the Internet for useful books, articles, and other online resources related to your needs.
Consider exploring documentaries, movies, and podcasts, for more perspectives on the subject matter. Reach out to subject matter experts, not just in an academic sense!
Contact people who may be able to give you information local to your search. For instance, I needed information about a bar in Wausau, Wisconsin for a historical fiction story. The bar, now named The Glass Hat was originally the Langsdorf Boarding House and Saloon.
I contacted the owner, and we had a lovely hour-long chat about the bar’s history. She sent me photos of ornate, copper ceiling tiles that once graced the saloon, along with several other photos. Knowing what the saloon looked like for the era of my story helped me write a better setting.
Fact-Check
Verify the accuracy of the information you’ve put together to avoid inaccuracies that undermine the credibility of your work.
This is an important step. No one wants to have legal problems. Confirm the accuracy of your research, particularly for real people.
List Questions That Come Up
While researching, make a list of questions that come to your mind. It might be about a person’s background, a particular location, technology, or machinery. This will ensure that you cover as much as possible and have a thorough investigation into all aspects of your story.
Ask the Librarians
If you are stuck, the library is a great place to go. Librarians can be wonderfully helpful for accessing information. You may come away with a plethora of information for your book.
Obtain Firsthand Experience
If it’s possible and legal, visit locations and engage in activities similar to your story. This will help with sensory details for better descriptions. Going to great lengths for authenticity’s sake can results in a better book.
Organize Your Information
Research Log
A research log can help you track your process, preventing duplication of effort and keeps your research organized. Keep your list of search keywords and links here.
Folders and Labels
Organize your articles into folders by projects. Use labels, putting articles in categories to find them easily.
Notes
Write short summaries of each source. This helps when writing your bibliography, if needed, as well as your acknowledgements.
Depending on what works best for you, consider:
- Digital tools. Some of these are free and have additional storage for a monthly fee.
- Physical notebooks.
- Color-coded sticky notes to be used on any surface.
Whatever way you decide is best, the goal is easy access and reference as you weave researched information into your narrative.
Tips for Applying Research to Writing
Blend in findings bit by bit
Instead of info-dumping all your research into the story at once, include it gradually so it feels natural to the reader. Sprinkle details. Torrential detailing is not as effective.
Find a balance
After many, many hours researching it is tempting to include a lot of details. My editor said, “You are showing off your research. No one wants all that detail.” She was right. Use enough information to make a vivid world and relatable characters. Your readers need the space to imagine.
Be flexible
Think of your book as if it were a house. Research is your foundation, ceiling, and walls. Your creativity and imagination provide the interior and exterior details; colors, textures, sounds, scents. Use creative liberties as needed. You can enrich the feeling of a scene for readers and still be true to your research.
Final Thoughts
Research is vital to the writing process. Even though the manuscript is your own creation, there are probably aspects of reality lurking about. A visit to your local library for research can send you further along the storytelling path and may help you find more of your writing community.
Do you use research in your books? Have you read stories that had too much detail? If so, did you have a difficult time getting through to the end of the story?
* * * * * *
About Ellen
Author, speaker, and former teacher, Ellen L. Buikema has written Parenting ... A Work in Progress, non-fiction for parents, and The Adventures of Charlie Chameleon chapter book series with stories encouraging the development of empathy—sprinkling humor wherever possible. Her Works in Progress are The Hobo Code, YA historical fiction and The Crystal Key, MG Magical Realism/ Sci-Fi, a glaze of time travel.
Find her at https://ellenbuikema.com or on Amazon.
Top Image by Dorothe Wouters from Pixabay
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Research and "getting it right" is key. Even the insider terminology or habits of a certain profession or advocation. I cringed all the was through a famous multi-million-earning thrill writer's book that featured horse show jumping because it was full of mistakes (including changing the gender of a horse with the wrong term) and other egregious errors. And that was a writer with an army of editors and advisors. Most horse owners I know won't read a book that gets all the nuances wrong.
Wow.
I hear you, Lisa! Same thing for trains. Getting it right is important, for sure.
Some of my novels required quite a bit of research, including interviewing people. I feel so much better if one can recognize the truths in my fiction.
Karen, that's a great point to bring up. Recognizing the truth in fiction. Profound.
Sounds familiar. As an equestrian journalist, I noted this problem as well. When my debut novel, set against the horse world, was written, I still had to do some careful research. This paid off, maybe not in sales, at least in all the positive reviews I received, except for one, which said I knew nothing about horses. Since then, I have erred on the side of spending a lot of time down rabbit holes. I just have to learn not to write detailed descriptions of the warrens.
Roland, there is always going to be some folks who decides to send a negative review. Happens to everyone. You are in good company.
I'm going to a Native American reservation for research in a few weeks.This could not have come at a better time.Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge.
Ooh! Have a wonderful time, Michael. Let us know how all things go.
Ellen, it's as if we were collaborating. Take a look at my post today on The New Daily Journal at HEStanbrough[dot]com.
The post is Chapter 8 of Author Intrusion:: A Writerly Sin | How Fiction Writers Kill Their Own Work.
Hi Harvey,
I guess we were sharing the same Muse. How about that. Nice web presence.
Thank you for the quote!
I love this, such a persuasive and comprehensive coverage of the topic. I also love research (maybe too much!) I recently read a mystery in which the vital clue that unmasked the killer was a piece of botanical nonsense. How no-one at any stage of the writing and editing process picked it up I never can know. Thank you for publishing these helpful posts
Thank you, Julia!
I'm glad the article is helpful.
Like you, I love research and sometimes take it a tad too far.
My favorite research was spending a week on a working cattle ranch "where the guests are the cowboys" and doing everything firsthand so I could get things right in my Triple-D Ranch series. So good that I went back a second time.
I'm forgiving if it's plausible, even if not 100% "right."
Hi Terry,
I seem to recall a similar ranch somewhere in southern Arizona.
Firsthand is best if it's available. I'm sure your experience made a positive difference for your readers!
I once read a book in which the protagonist regularly ate pain au chocolat and croissants during the Napoleonic wars, when most people were starving, AND 20 years before either of those foods was invented, in another country. Not only did I stop at the inaccuracy, but I felt the indulgence was disrespectful of the time and culture. I stopped reading.
Oh my gosh. I understand why you'd stop reading.
Did you contact the author?
I'm glad someone has finally written on the importance of research in writing fiction. Years ago, I always heard the advice "Don't research more than you need to." When I began writing historical fiction, I discovered just how misleading that advice was. It's impossible to know how much you need to research before you start writing. It would not have occurred to me in advance that I would need to know how much 2,000 French Charleville Armory muskets would weigh (and how many wagons would be needed to transport them) or the interval between the priming charge and main charge of a flintlock pistol. My advice is, question everything. If your character is holding up a lantern, do you know if it's an oil lantern or a candle lantern? How far can a horse gallop before it needs to rest, drink water, and eat? For writers of historical fiction, I have two suggestions:
1. You can find amazing period books not available elsewhere digitized on Google Play. Many are free.
2. For goodness' sake, make sure you know what people ate. It isn't what you grew up eating. If I read one more pre-very late 19th century book in which people are eating chocolate bon-bons or the kind of scones we know, I will scream. Cookbooks (from virtually all periods when there were cookbooks) are available on Google Play.
Hi Kathleen,
Question everything is great advice, no matter what you're writing.
Thank you for suggesting cookbooks and where to find period texts. Food, clothing, and transportation are topics that come up a lot and need to be accurate for the times.
So true about not knowing what you need until you're writing. I've found that with research, too. You can research and research and research before you write, but I've found that I always need to stop in the midst of writing to research a detail I hadn't thought to research prior or stumbled across while doing preliminary research. There's truly no end to the research, especially if your writing includes things you don't have personal experience with.
Even books that don't take place on Earth need research. Terrain and climate have to feel real. Creatures evolve with their habitats to fit niches. It's not just about knowing what. It's about knowing why and how? How does this alien race survive? Why did they develop this habit/ritual/appendage/etc.? Research can help you determine what actually makes sense based on other planets and our own. If I'm in a Sahara-like desert and take one step into a swamp with no transitions territory, you better give me a good reason the swamp water doesn't seep into the desert. That's what research does for us. It lets us make it real.
All excellent points, Debbie. There's much to consider for an earthly book and more so for alien worlds.
Great share!
This is so true. A writer using creative license with some things when it fits a story well is one thing, but I've been appalled at how bad some authors are at even basic research.
One that still stands out to me was a book I read wherein the author had a drive that takes less than 1.5 hours require a full 8 hours. In fact, if the character had driven 8 hours in ANY direction from the airport in question, she'd have left the state. Given it was modern day and she was driving a car, zero excuse for that.
That author also had an out-of-stater walk into a gun store, slap cash on the counter, and walk out 5 minutes later with a handgun. 100% not legal, and no gun store is going to allow that, unless they're selling guns illegally. The author would've known that if they'd bothered to actually research gun laws, both federal and state, or even talked to someone who actually owns a legally purchased firearm. I would've just rolled my eyes and moved on, but she actually made a snide comment about how it was a good thing she had only good intentions (self-defense) because it was SO easy to buy a gun that ANYONE could do it with no questions asked. Blatantly wrong.
Those were only 2 of the issues I found in the first 6 chapters of that book, almost all of which were due to lack of research. I stopped reading and left a bad review to warn others about the lack of even basic research on the author's part. I've never read anything by that author again.
If an author gets one thing wrong, especially if it's fairly minor, I can suspend disbelief and move on, but it gets harder to stay in the story when issue after issue comes up, especially if they're bigger ones.
Thank you for sharing, Dawn!
We need to have a care and be diligent about research.
Doing the research as deep as you need to understand something - is important. But you also have to be able to restrain yourself from leaving info dumps in the story, like cowpats.
What the writer needs and what the reader needs are different. You should always know more in case you need it, and leave it out if the reader doesn't.
Alicia, I've been guilty of this. I clearly remember my editor saying, "Stop showing your research!" I was so excited about what I'd learned that it didn't occur to me that I was going overboard, so-to-speak.
Info dumps bad.
Thank you for bringing up this important point.
This is so true. I've read books where it seemed like the author tried to jam every bit of detail from their research into the story, when most of it didn't fit the story or characters. Ugh.
A writer friend once ask me about that after he'd spent a month doing in-depth research on something for one of his historical fiction novels. He was really struggling with how much of the details he'd learned to add to the story. I asked him one question that clarified it for him - "What does your character care about?" He realized he was looking at the situation from HIS perspective instead of HERS, and she wouldn't care one iota about all the minutiae he'd drafted out. What he ended up with was perfect for his story, and left out about 99% of the details he had on hand. LOL
Nice essay Ellen! I have two novels that take place largely in Bangkok. I've never been there. I used Google to explore different neighborhoods, parks, commercial areas, traffic patterns, hotel accommodations, etc. In the novel I made the various movements of the characters vague enough to obscure exact locations while still capturing (I hope) the dynamics of the city.
Thank you, Matthew!
We are fortunate to live at a time when it is easy to pull up a browser and find far-flung destinations and learn about distant lifestyles and cultures.
Some of my novels required quite a bit of research, including interviewing people. I feel so much better if one can recognize the truths in my fiction.
I love research and I try to balance what I write so it isn't information overload.