Research for Writers: Keeping it Real

Thank you for visiting! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to this Blog's RSS feed or join the Forum for exclusive articles, updates, stories, news, tips, and useful information for ameteur and professional writers alike.

Research and development is a vital ingredient in the creation of any new product. Being able to show and tell a story in ways that make the words fly off the page is one of the highest compliments for any writer. It means that the reader was able to feel as if they were actually experiencing the sensations and emotions, the life and atmosphere, depicted by the author.

Showing events through active characters, vivid imagery and real dialogue instead of merely using informative language to present people, places, things and events would also suggest that the writer was able to immerse himself in the world of his story and became very familiar with it.

Keeping it Real
As a novel loosely based on my childhood and set partly in England and Jamaica, my current work in progress also requires some degree of research. I am familiar with life in England, of course, but I left Jamaica as a ten year old many years ago, returning only briefly on holiday a few times since then. To write well about the government funded Bodles Banana Breeding Station & Research Centre where I spent some of my most formative years, for example, it would be useful to revisit the place and spend some reflective time there.

A diligent research trip can pay off in many ways:

1. Writing with confidence is one of them.
2. Getting your facts straight – especially in relation to dialect, people, geography, nature, characterisations, occupations, history, politics, language and procedures, is virtually priceless.
3. The information you can pull from interviews and on-site tours will make you book all the more credible and compelling.
4. Keeping a journal or blog of your evolving thoughts as you plough through the process from start to finish may also crucially act as a guide for anyone who wishes to commit themselves to the task of researching and developing a novel.

Successful completion of R&D activity through the “go see” and “go think” approach is a valuable way for a writer to fill gaps in his or her knowledge and breath new life into the writing process.

Research Methods
In my case, I want to put flesh on the bones of people, events and places that are still alive in my memory of the past but sketchy. Particular areas of interest and research include:

• Culture
• Language
• Geography
• Nature
• History
• Life experiences – remembered & revisited
• Police procedures
• Politics
• Professions
• Sources
  • Internet
  • Interviews
  • Tours (on-site)
  • Photography - taking incredible images that can give a thumbs-up to descriptive passages
  • Libraries
  • Life experiences
  • Travels
• Use of assistants
  • Researchers
  • Local guides
  • Driver(s)

You may have different priorities and interests and may only use some of the research methods above. In any event, literature based on the principles of good research is an important factor in keeping it real as well as helping the reader to ’see’ and understand the world you create in your writing.

Selected Research Grants & Bursaries for Writers

• Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowships
• Grants for the Arts
• The Royal Literary Fund
• New Writing Development Grants

Related Reading:

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers

Research for Writers (Writing Handbooks)

Mla Handbook for Writers of Research Papers

MHRA Style Guide. A Handbook for Authors, Editors, and Writers of Theses. Second Edition.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Join the forum discussion on this post - (2) Posts

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...