Writing & Research - Do Your Homework Before Putting Pen to Paper

This may seem simplistic to many, and some of you may even be offended that I would bring up such an elementary part of writing. Before any of you condemn me to the dark confines of the writer's dungeon, let me remind you of what can and does happen. How many times have you heard of a school textbook having major errors? How often has a credible source in a major newspaper been discredited after the article goes to press? Have you ever heard of references in a PhD dissertation being manufactured or containing major research flaws?

Granted, the situations mentioned are extreme and rare, but they do happen. And when they happen, it's usually big news, really big news. Imagine what it would be like to be the author any of those works and have your research mistake, or lack of research, made public thousands, even hundreds of thousands of times in black and white? I'm not saying that there will never be mistakes. I am saying that mistakes can be minimized by diligent and repetitive research. Just as editing is a tiring and boring task, so too can be research. If facts and sources are not double checked and triple checked from different angles, wide spread unhappiness can be the end result, not to mention a major credibility gap on your writing resume.

If you are like me and research drives you absolutely nuts, you might consider hiring someone to do it for you. Make certain that they are trustworthy and diligent with their work. Make sure also that a price and time line are agreed upon up front. Picture the frustration you would go through if you and your researcher sat in his/her office after the fact, arguing price. All the while, that big stack of finished research sits on the corner of the desk, beckoning, calling your name . . . and you can't touch it until payment is agreed upon and put forth. Oh, the agony! Oh, the potential to be financially gouged.

Researchers can be found through online sources, service classifieds in the newspaper, literary departments at colleges and universities, through editors and literary agents, and on bulletin boards in local bookstores. Do your due diligence and ask for references and credentials. Don't be naive. You will not be insulting anyone to ask for the names of satisfied customers. If your potential researcher takes offense, then move on.

Research is essential even when writing fiction. If you think that you can write about some time travel device hurling your main character into the future, but the science it's based on has nothing to do with current theories of quantum physics, the space time continuum as described by Einstein, or multiple and alternate realities (possibly based on string theories and twelve dimensions), then you will lose half of your audience on page one.

Having solid research behind your writing will only enhance it and propel you faster toward your goal of publication. It will also give you confidence in yourself and your skills, which is a very important part of living as a writer in a world filled with day jobs, nay-sayers, and family schedules. Minimize your downfall risks by maximizing your research habits. Whether your genre be non-fiction or suspense, fantasy or horror, biography or short story, nearly all of it involves research. It's simply an essential element of writing. Even when you write a steamy romantic novel, there is research involved.

Suppose one of your characters has an accent that makes him difficult to understand. You will probably have to explain where that person is from, or what tribe or clan he supports owing to the tattoo on his shoulder. You may even need to talk about the terrain in the small valley he grew up in growing squash and eggplant to sell at the market to survive the lean times.

Don't skimp on research. You may feel smug about the time you saved, taking your book from start to press in a mere ninety days, but the one person that confronts you about the research errors in your publication will cut you down to size quickly. Although you might be able to bluff your way through a fictional village scene, you will have a harder time bluffing about the economy and way of life if that fictional village is located in Northern Ireland, or Somalia, or South Dakota. The village in your story might be a fantasy, but the people and places in any location are real. Sooner or later someone will confront you with your ignorance about the crops grown in the region, or the factories there, or the accent prevalent throughout the county.

Even when we think that our featured article is merely an opinion column and no research comes into play, we find we are wrong. We do not form opinions without having learned facts to base our opinions on. If that information is tainted or faulty, then our opinions get us in trouble. Everyone makes mistakes and can extrapolate errant information based on that knowledge from time to time, but as the saying goes, God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we may listen twice as often and twice as hard as when we speak.

Listen well, hear what is being said instead of what you want to hear, double-check your information, then write. There is no other way.