Sourcing A Creative Reality: Research for Novelists
It all begins with an idea. That’s cliché, but clichés are often cliché for a reason. You’re likely here because you’re exploring my books, and maybe you want to know what a novelist might do to craft a reality that is cohesive and how research plays into that. This post answers questions pivotal to the research process of creating a novel.
Knowing what you need to research
Knowing what to research is as much of an art as the actual writing process itself. Of course, such advice like “write what you know” muddies the waters and creates a false sense of security for authors, especially authors of limited scope and experience. For example, one of my works in progress is an Aladdin retelling. Now, I’m not setting it in a real country, but it is definitely middle-eastern flavored. Now, while my grandfather was born in Syria and I’m a member of a middle-eastern religion, I have a fairly limited scope for what the culture actually looks like over there. You should absolutely use what you know as the basis for what you write in a creative space, but you should also be self-aware enough to know where the gaps in your knowledge are so that you can research those things to enrich your story.
Where sources are found
Where you look for sources will largely depend on genre. For example, if you’re writing a memoir, you’re going to have to rely on your parents or primary caregivers for details you may not recall, and you may want them to corroborate the memories you have in your head. If you’re writing a murder mystery with a reliance on forensic science and you don’t know much about that, well, you’re going to need to look beyond your circle for good information. Scientific journals, historical documents, newspaper and magazine articles, as well as primary sources like eye-witnesses and experts can all be incredibly useful. Search engines are your friend, and they can help you in finding not only documents and websites, but people who can inform your research.
Incorporating sources into the story
Obviously, its not standard to put in-text citations in the body of a creative work, but we incorporate sources in the heart of the work. Now, that sounds very high brow, so let me explain what I mean. In essence, your work should be fundamentally different because you did the research than it would have been if you had not. You should be so knowledgeable that the learning comes across in the writing without having to refer to specifics in the body of the work. Additionally, you may wish to incorporate sources into your acknowledgments or index.
Finding more information
In the spirit of research, I would be remiss if I didn’t offer other perspectives on this topic.
Catia Shattuck details 21 different ways to research your novel in different categories. If you have trouble visualizing exactly how or where you might go for your specific situation, this list/blog post can give you a broader range of ideas, and that might spark some inspiration about what you need.
Jake Wolff gives a very artistic approach to research. I’m very utilitarian in my approach, but we’re artists. Wolff can give you a right-brained approach on incorporating and applying research from a basis of expanding your own experience.
