by Sandy Vaile
One of the fastest ways to alienate readers is to get your facts wrong, which can feel like an overwhelming responsibility when writing a story. But how far would you go to bring authenticity and interesting elements into your story?
I’m going to demonstrate how research can benefit all stories, and then we’ll peek over the shoulders of a few authors to discover the lengths they’ve gone to, in the name of fiction research.
Do You Need to Research for a Fiction Story?
If you’re writing anything longer than a short story, you are bound to need to do some research.
For historical times or stories based on real events, it’s easy to see how understanding those times will add credibility to what you write, but the benefits aren’t as obvious if you’re creating make-believe worlds and situations.
The truth is, we can’t possibly know everything about everything. Each of us is limited by what we’ve experienced or have intimate knowledge about, which may result in missed opportunities to add authentic details to our story.
The right research can strengthen a story by:
- Incorporating the five senses to add vivid details.
- Setting an appropriate tone for an era or event.
- Helping readers feel confident in the believability of the characters and plot.
- Supporting the people, places and events in the story with authentic facts.
You might think if you’re writing a fantasy story or fictitious place, that you just make the whole lot up, but consider these situations:
- Another universe will still have plants and you may need to know the science behind how they grow or what the leaves look like.
- You may need to describe how an alien creature moves and could base this on watching real animals.
- A make-believe town will still have buildings and gardens, and drawing inspiration from locations you can see helps you add more than basic descriptions because you can better picture the colour of the bricks, the types of plants, the layout of shared spaces, etc.
The Bottomless Pit of Investigation
Some authors absolutely love surfing the internet and/or library to learn everything there is to know about a subject, while others prefer a minimalistic approach. Writers are inherently curious, so it’s no wonder we sometimes have a tendency to disappear down the rabbit hole of research. The danger is, never being heard from again!
“Research feeds the natural curiosity of an author. Use it to add authenticity to topics and places, and fill your pages with specific, vivid details that deepen the reader’s experience, instead of generalizations.”
Sandy Vaile
Out of the Box Research
Many authors expend a great deal of effort uncovering interesting gems to add that “special something” to their stories but the truth is that the really good stuff is buried deep. These days, anyone can Google a subject and come up with a list of common facts. To get to the hidden gems, you need to keep digging after most authors have given up.
An author needs to investigate obscure and forgotten aspects of a subject. Track mere traces of interest and root out the cause and effect. Go the extra mile and you will be astounded where those fascinating facts will lead, like previously unimaged details, subplots and descriptive layers.
For example, while researching the bathing habits of the 1400s, a friend stumbled across a newspaper article about a gentleman who drowned in his bathtub, with wet footprints that were too small to be his at the scene. By following this research trail, she discovered hearsay about a female serial murderer whose modus operandi was drowning. Now there’s a great story waiting to be told.
How else can you unearth those information gems?
Ride Alongs
Well, you might not be as lucky as Tara Moss and get to ride along with FBI agents and police officers, but you might be surprised at how willing people are to be interviewed about a subject they’re an expert in. Seriously, all you have to do is ask.
Interviews
I gleaned a wealth of knowledge interviewing a coroner, detective, and firefighter. All because I asked and was respectful of their time, knowledge, and privacy.
Don’t limit yourself to experts either. Laypeople with special skills or interests can be a wealth of knowledge. Put your feelers out with friends and acquaintances, asking if they know anyone with information about a particular topic. People love to help.
Travel
I know lots of authors who have travelled to the locations in their books so they can experience the sounds, scents and textures you simply can’t understand from photos. If you can’t make it to a location, you could walk along the streets using Google Maps or read travel blogs.
Historical Accounts
If you’re writing about the past, visit the archives or historical society and look for personal accounts of events.
Amass a Library
Many authors build a library of information that is relevant to their genre. For example, details about what existed at a point in time, cultural customs, police procedures, or body language. Every time you read an interesting article or come across a curiosity-inspiring news report, make a note of the details for a rainy day.
Books
Remember those heavy paper things that smell a bit musty? Visit a library and rediscover them, because there’s a book on every topic you can think of. Don’t stop there, delve into science and scholarly journals too.
Special Interest Clubs
If there is a minuscule interest in it, there is probably a group of people somewhere in the world talking about it. Search the internet, local councils and community centres for clubs and interest groups.
What have other authors done in the search for research gold?
Examples from Real Authors
Sandy Vaile
I like to be hands-on whenever possible (read – any excuse for an adventure).
One time I flew a jet plane in a flight simulator. Under the guidance of a genuine pilot, I took off and landed the plane from several airports around the world, rolled it midair, stalled and re-started it. I even performed an emergency landing on the Tamar River near Launceston — and didn’t lose a single passenger! 😊
One of the most fun adventures was a day at a local gun club. A writing group approached a local gun club to organize a hosted day, during which I shot thirteen different guns. It was frightening and exhilarating, but there’s one thing for sure, there is no way I could have understood what it felt, sounded or smelt like to shoot, without doing it myself.
That sort of insider knowledge enables me to add authentic layers to my stories and (hopefully) anyone who knows a lot about guns will appreciate the accuracy.
When it comes to writing, I am more aware when selecting the type of gun, the differences in bullets, the volume of the report, how they feel in your hand, how to load them, the gunpowder smell after they’ve been fired and the kickback. Oh, the recoil!
All of this information will enable me to take the guns in my books from props to realistic features.
Carla Caruso
Carla read a newspaper article about a local woman who worked as a professional organizer and said she often became an accidental counsellor for her clients because going through people’s possessions can also mean dealing with a tonne of emotional baggage.
This sparked the idea for a mystery series, which took hold and wouldn’t let go. I mean, what other job would let you see into the deepest, darkest corners of another person’s closet, under their bed or behind closed doors?
Before she started writing, Carla interviewed a few professional organizers to find out about the nitty-gritty of the job.
Rowena Holloway
undertook a time-consuming language study for her latest release, All That’s Left Unsaid. Now that’s dedication! She wanted to capture the cadence of the language so that her Italian characters sounded authentic and didn’t slip into cliché accents or overused Italian phrases. What Rowena discovered was so much more than verb drills.
Her teacher explained the language through examples of Italian culture: “I learned that cappuccino is only consumed at breakfast, that when meeting it is customary to shake hands over the phrase piacere, and that when first names are exchanged a native Italian will say ‘now we speak to each other as friends’—a sign to use the less formal tu forms of verbs when speaking. I also learned it takes more than a year of weekly lessons to master the language!”
Lillian Grant
Writer of erotic romance novels, Lillian once interviewed a real-life male stripper, Justin Whitfield. Thankfully, the interview was conducted via email, which avoided any blush factor. It gave her the courage to ask all sorts of probing questions.
The answers to many questions were surprising, like the reasons he started stripping, his usually shy demeanor and how they get those skimpy undies. All of this off-the-cuff information spawned multiple books.
Research has Benefits
I sure hope you see not only the benefits of going deep when conducting research but the potential fun adventures and unique storylines you have the potential to uncover.
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Are you ready to jump right into research and bring authenticity and interesting elements into your story? How deep do you go when you research? What is the most intriguing fact you've discovered? Please share it with us in the comments!
About Sandy Vaile
Sandy Vaile is a motorbike-riding daredevil who isn’t content with a story unless there’s a courageous heroine and a dead body. She writes romantic suspense for Simon & Schuster US and coaches fiction authors to write novels they are proud to share (and which get noticed by agents and publishers).
In her spare time, Sandy composes procedures for high-risk industrial processes, judges writing competitions, runs The Fearless Novelist Facebook group, and offers developmental editing.
Connect with Sandy Vaile on her website or social media.
