WritersServices Factsheet 4 by
Michael Legat
Research
Research is an indispensable part of
writing for most authors, and for many it is so enjoyable as to be a
danger – don’t get so absorbed in research that you forget to write
your story, or feature or book.
If the setting of what you write is not
familiar to you, go to wherever it may be, you can, to experience it
for yourself. If you cannot visit the place concerned (because of
distance or cost, perhaps), an alternative, which a number of
successful authors have used, is to capture the spirit and details
of the background by researching deeply in books and other sources
of information which are available in this country.
Without doubt the best source of
research material will be your local public library. Any librarian
will willingly help you in the retrieval of the knowledge that you
want.
Other good sources for research can be
found in specialist libraries, museums, county archives, church
registers, official census figures, etc. Your public library will be
able to suggest other sources.
If researching a period in the past
five hundred years or so, read books written at the time. They will
not only give you general background material, but any dialogue will
show you how people talked in those days.
Most people are happy to talk at length
and in detail about anything in which they are expert, including
their daily work, to an interested enquirer, especially if you tell
them that you intend to use the information in a book. A personal
interview is best, but if you are forced to use a written approach
give yourself a better chance of a reply by always enclosing a
stamped addressed envelope.
Research can be done during or after
writing a draft of your material, but it is usually better to
undertake as much research as possible before starting to write.
While you are gathering your thoughts about the work, make a list of
all the information you need.
One of the justifications for careful
research is that you may well learn things which will affect your
view of the matters concerned and will have a major effect on what
you write.
Once you have acquired the information
which you need, be careful not to insert it into your work in large,
indigestible lumps.
Build your own reference library if you
can, so that you can do much of your research at home. You should
have a good dictionary and an encyclopedia (comparatively
inexpensive in disc form), plus an atlas, and perhaps a book on
costumes through the ages, or dictionaries of music or literature,
and other similar publications which will fit your own specific
needs.
For more details see
Research
© Michael Legat 2001
