Researching. I never really considered how important it is to do this before beginning to write a story. Sure, you've got to know a thing or two and eventually have it all laid out in that final draft. But why put off writing the amazing story idea to study? Couldn't you just skip it at first and figure out the information as you go along? Couldn't you add it while writing the first draft?
Yes, one can do that. I tried it, but it ended up taking me over a year to finish that manuscript with the proper research, and when I eventually go back to edit it, there'll undoubtedly be a whole lot of inconsistencies.
Not that something like this will happen to everyone who doesn't take days to research. But still, taking at least a few hours to diligently learn about subjects in the story (like technology or climate or diseases) would probably be a good idea. Here are a few of my own ideas of how to research for a story:
Books. There's nothing like 'em! Longer than articles and dedicated solely to one subject, it's a valuable resource to read and reread. When one goes to the library in search of books, they can find numerous different books on the subject, a wider variety of useful facts. And if one actually owns a book on the subject, they can annotate it and highlight key portions, which makes finding the information again easier.
The Internet. The Internet can be such a well of knowledge. Doctors, engineers, scientists, historians, and other experts publish articles and have blogs on which they provide priceless information. Though on the other hand, there are a bunch of things posted on the Internet that aren't true, written by people with serious misconceptions. Articles or statements that don't cite sources or mention anything that authorizes the information might not be accurate. And of course, while the Internet is a well of knowledge, it is also the home of an abundance of ways to get distracted for hours. Self-discipline might need to be exercised in order to stay on track.
A similar novel or movie. This method of research is fun! Watching and re-watching a cool movie, reading and re-reading an awesome novel, writing and thinking about them while taking notes . . . There is a lot that a person can learn by analyzing a similar work. Dialogue in accordance to genre, sequence of events, character relationships, and lines or moments that were memorable are all useful to have in mind while writing. Of course, in this form of research, a person has to be careful to not copy the other work, or to think more about the published work than their own story. Then the similar work becomes a distraction instead of something to learn from.
Field trip! Field trips are basically when a person plans a small excursion either to a place or to focus on an activity. If there's a woodland setting in the story, and there's a forest-like park near where you live, you can take a walk there. It'll be a great opportunity to write a description of the setting, or even to record part of the walk for future reference. As for the other field trip method, it can be done almost anywhere as long as the necessary materials are there. If you have a character who makes or uses a paracord in the story, you can get instructions and a few ropes and learn to make one. The experience can give vital information that one wouldn't have thought about if they'd never done it themselves (like in the paracord example; usually you have to solder the ends of the rope to keep the completed cord from unraveling, and soldering isn't something anyone can do at any time).
Find an expert and chat. This might not always be doable (particularly when the subject or research is a little out-of-the-ordinary, like daily life in the 1800s), but if you can find someone who knows a thing or two about the subject, their knowledge is pure gold. Taking notes is a must, but since a person usually can't write as fast as one can talk, recording the conversation (with permission) is ideal.
Taking notes throughout the whole research process is important, and so is keeping them organized. Because what good are twenty pages of notes if you can't find them? It might help to have a folder to hold all of the research information, and a place to put that folder so that it won't get lost.
So there are my thoughts. What do you think? Have you ever undertaken a period of research before diving into writing an awesome story?
No comments:
Post a Comment