Research
I have recently sent my first manuscript off to be copy edited. In the mean time I’m starting work on another novel, one that I originally drafted about five/six years ago. It was originally drafted to be a short but grew in size. However it was never big enough to be considered a novel. A few months ago I read over this novella again and decided that the time had come to finally have a go at making this into a proper full novel.
I love the feeling of just starting a project, the thrill of starting something new. The research stage is usually my favorite stage as everything is so free following and you can really let your imagination run wild. Every new piece of information found gives me a new idea.
However when I sat down to research my novel, I panicked. I had no idea where to begin. Eventually and after a strong cup of tea I firmly told myself to stop floundering and do something. so I did the simplest thing and goggled a topic.
6,000,000, results. All of them saying something different.
Without giving too much away one of my main characters is a deity. Looking up this deity has left me buried underneath pages and pages of conflicting information. Some people say he was the deity of thinks, others disagree and say he was actually the deity of something else entirely. Some call him one name and others another.
Research I quickly decided is harder than it seems.
However after researching research (lol) I have come up with a few basic rules to follow.
1. Research your source.
a. This is perhaps the most important rule. Always use a reputable source.
2. Always check your websites if you use the internet. Anyone can create a website, there are no credentials needed to do this.
3. Always use the latest edition books if possible. New info is being discovered all the time, best to keep up to date.
4. Look for more than one source repeating the same information.
5. Keep your research organized - while it might be tempting to simply throw it all in a pile and leaf through later. This is not a good idea!
This is by no means an exhaustive list. If anyone has any hints or tips to make researching easier then please share!
13 Comments
I am waiting for books on 1970's popular culture in New York, the heroine trade, gang war fair and the Russian mafia - happy researching!
Most museums might well do the same thing but I found that one local museum request a donation to pursue a line of enquiry but these museums are often run by volunteers and have charity status, This is not the case with your local reference librarian who is paid to look up things for you.
Most local historians deal with family research so they might well be interested to get other sorts of enquiries.
It helps to know something about your subject *before* you research or write - that way you know what you're looking for and can evaluate the material more quickly. Or read general books about it, so that you can get a feel for the subject matter, without getting bogged down in detail too soon.
I wrote a book once that depended heavily on something that had interested me greatly a few years before. I wrote the relevant passages first from memory, so that I knew the whole story arc, then went back and read the books I'd read ages ago, to check my facts and to find anecdotes I'd forgotten that I could use.
When it came to a couple of smaller areas I needed to research, I was much more twitchy, since I didn't know anything about them. My solution was to keep them brief in the story; and vague where I didn't know the answer. One area was a Japanese wedding and I found the internet quite frustrating: I wanted to know what a japanese wedding dress looked like so googled 'japanese bride' - and received all sorts of offers of marriage, friendship or other, from oriental lovelies.
Your list is a good one, but I'd be wary of Number 4. I used to do scientific research for a living and if one academic paper had an interesting tidbit in it, that tidbit might proliferate throughout the later literature simply because people had read the original paper and repeated it. Didn't necessarily mean it was true.
As you say, your source matters.
Anyway, good luck Kate. Just don't get swamped.
You mentioned a deity. I've researched deities myself and the information is often contradictory. This is because a deity means different things to different people throughout history. A benevolent deity can be incorporated into a religion which then depicts it in a hostile light, etc. I often find this an advantage rather than a disadvantage because I can pick and choose what particular version of the god in question suits my particular story.
Skylark: I’m in exactly the same boat. I spent a bulk of last year editing. I tried to keep my hand in writing new stuff by writing short stories. I thought it would work, but it doesn’t seem to have as I’m sitting at the start of this rather large job and I’m feeling a little intimidated. I’m also starting my dissertation now and am floundering with that one as well. Hopefully one I can get it all organised it will work. I like your idea of going to the museum, your war museum sounds interesting, have you been to the one in London, it’s really great. I may have to look around and see if there’s an Egyptian exhibit near me.
Tenecityflux: You’ve given me a good idea; it is easier to research when you’ve got a better idea of what it is you want to know. At the moment I’m just researching in general but I may tinker more with my story first and see what it is I need to know. I am planning on using my library eventually as what you’ve said is right, it’s harder to publish a book than a website (oh how I know that!).
Stephenterry: Youtube? Can’t say I’ve ever used it for more than watching cute animal videos or listening to music for free.
Mike: I’ve never thought to use a reference Librarian. I may have to look into this. Thank you :)
Caducean whisks: I do feel like I’m drowning a bit. There is just so much information I really need to get my head on straight and start focusing in on the bits I need. Lol I was good at timetables as well, it’s a wonder I managed to get anything done. I think I am going to lay off the research for a bit and instead plan my story from the very rough draft I have at the moment, then go from there and expand my knowledge on what I need to know. It’s a good idea to keep things brief, I would rather people focused on the story and not the ‘mythology’ it is after all meant to be a work of fiction not a reference book. Thanks for the tip about number 4 I’ll keep that in mind.
Aonghus Fallon: I’ve noticed what you said about deities changing or meaning different things to different people throughout history. I noticed it a lot with the Egyptian god Set, he’s portrayed as evil a lot but he didn’t start that way, he started out as a protector. So like you said I’m going to pick and choose what aspect I’ll go with. After all like I said above it’s a work of fiction not a reference book.
Kate. I know you're writing about Egypt and I'm reading an amazing book at the moment called 'From the Ashes of Angels.' It's not a novel, but more a reference book following 10 years of research by the author. It references the Egyptian Genesis and claims that recent researchs puts the Sphinx some 2,500 years earlier than claimed. These findings were by archiologist, Robert Bauval. Andrew Collins seems to have a real interest in Egypt and has published many books about its history. I'm not sure if this may help with your own research.
Seriously, I find the idea of heavy novel research a bit daunting. I most usually write fantasy, so I don't often have to worry about things being factually correct, but even then, sometimes you have to know things about things, and it's hard work! Any kind of historical fiction is a lot of work, so well done to you for taking it on!
MinxieAD: I liked the reference librarian idea as well. Thanks for the book title, I’ll have to look it up
Valkia: I would like to go to the British museum, I rather enjoy museums. The book this is for is a fantasy novel, but it leans heavily on Egyptian mythology. So I’m researching the pantheon but the information conflicts constantly. So I’m pretty much just going to pick and choose what fits the story. After all it’s called fiction for a reason.
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