Tim Greene asked the question:
How much research should you do before writing your novel? Also could you give some helpful tips for researching when it comes to getting interviews with people with people?
Randy sez: There are three classes of fiction writers:
- Writers who love research
- Writers who hate research
- Writers who insist on classifying all writers into three classes
If you love research, then you are probably doing too much of it and you really need to get out of the library and start writing your novel. If you have already done so much research that you know 100 times as much as you can put into your novel, then this means you. Stop researching now. Start the darned book. NOW.
If you hate research, then are probably not doing enough of it and your fiction writing is going to suffer in various ways. For example, you’re probably depending on “what everybody knows” which really means “what everybody learned by watching TV” which probably means “it might have been true in 1952, but it’s mostly wrong now.” If you have done so little research that you have to depend on stuff “everybody knows” then do some more work. Keep learning until you know at least 10 times as much as you can put into your novel.
One hazard that the research lovers face is that they want to put everything they know in the book. Don’t, don’t, don’t. If you’ve ever read a 150 page explanation of how a nuclear bomb works, nanosecond by nanosecond, then you know what I’m talking about. Your rule of thumb is to put in only about 1% of what you know. If you took my advice to learn 100 times what you need to know for the book, then this will work perfectly. Save the other 99% of what you know for your next 99 books.
If you insist on classifying all fiction writers into three classes, then you are probably a sick-minded person and you should probably go start a blog.
Got a question for the Advanced Fiction Writing blog? Don’t post it as a comment, because it’ll get lost in the shuffle. Instead, submit it on my “Ask a Question For My Blog” page and I’ll answer your question in the order it comes in.
I love this. I think I fall between the love and hate. I only research the info I don’t know. I like to stick to writing what I know for the most part. I probably should be doing more research thought. Thanks for the insight.
My inclination is to research just enough to know what I need in order to be accurate. And I’d prefer to find the Trusted Expert who has nothing better to do than tell me precisely what I need to know rather than read 47 pesky textbooks because I suspect my anal brain will absorb all the extra information I don’t need and explode and make a terrible mess.
Thanks for the info!
I think I have to sit down and do a little more research than I have. I tend to just research when I reach a point where I need it, but some additional information might come in handy. I guess I should know a little more than the essentials, but I’ll stop before 100 times what I need.
I tend to set out to dip my toe into the pool of knowledge and end up falling in head first! I set out to learn one little fact that I need to know for authenticity and end up stumbling onto so many interesting things I didn’t know before. Then I have to waste time figuring out what part of that research needs to go into the story.
Umm, say, where can I find that nanosecond breakdown of nuclear bombs?
Randy sez: I think if you read Tom Clancy’s novel, THE SUM OF ALL FEARS, you’ll find it there. I have a Ph.D. in theoretical physics, and so I found all the details somewhat interesting, but it pretty much stopped the story for a good long while. Clancy does a huge amount of research and he does a good job of integrating it into his fiction, but not all readers want that.
Your help & insight is always excellent & helpful Randy.
On research, just leave it all to TV, I say. Just kidding, I hate TV & rarely believe anything I ever hear from it 🙂 I think I’m more in Camille’s category. Just get enough of what I need so as not to sound like an idiot who hasn’t researched it at all.
Keep right on catergorizing us to your list of 3. What would we all do without being catergorized? Or without your really helpful writing help??
I love this question & answer idea. Will be participating shortly.
I am not a writer but a concept artist(I design, costumes, props, vehicles, buildings, too entire cities, worlds and cultures) and this is just as useful to know. I am often pressured to play the role of inventor, illustrator, botanist, historian, you name it to make every object have a story and history worth a thousand words, so research ends up being big part of it as it is hard to lie in visuals, but I can find myself spending a month 14 hours a day online and in museums/libraries researching for a single picture to point where I end up getting sick of the topic I am researching.
So thank you, I only end up using a fraction of what I researched anyway.