Research can be daunting, especially if your projects brings you into unfamiliar areas. How many of us have had a great idea for an historical fiction novel, but backed away from the amount of research it would require? It can be tough enough weeding through volumes of information to find the right minor detail for your story. But tackling a project that requires research for setting, clothing, jobs, technology, politics, social mores, slang, and more? Yikes.
In a post on Writers Write, Mia Botha shares advice for conducting your necessary research without getting bogged down and overwhelmed by the amount of material you might find. “When we write, we do want to keep our facts straight, but it can also be very overwhelming to know which facts are important to the story and which are just interesting to you,” Botha says. To avoid overwhelm, she recommends that you:
- Start writing before you finish researching. Your story will guide you to areas that need further detail.
- Filter your research through your POV character. What is important to them? What details will they know or notice?
- Use the fact that your work is fiction. When you encounter an area where there is little or no information, piece together details from what you do know, or change your setting to a fictional location where a lack of detail in a certain area might not be as important.
- Alternate research and writing days. Don’t give in to the temptation to dive into an research k-hole when you should be writing.
