For my upcoming novel, research was vital to ensure that I included facts and detail that were accurate. Whether a story is set in modern times or in the past, these minor details can liven up the story, immerse the reader into a world where the people, objects and events feel tangible and real. It also is a great way for the reader to learn tidbits as they read, facts that they wouldn’t have otherwise known so that they feel like they are gaining knowledge as they read.
Depending on the subject matter, research can take a very long time. It’s not just learning about the history or the facts of a field, but understanding it and selecting the key information that will work for the story. Hours can be spent learning about specific details and facts, only for you to realize later that you don’t need to include them, or that you only need to include a fraction of what you’ve read.
I find this often happens when I research different locations for a story (especially my newest novel). I learn about that place’s history, its scenery, its housing and economic landscape, etc., and I might realize afterward that it won’t suit the story. Even if I don’t use that specific location, at least I know of it, and I could use it in a different story or know what makes it different from the location I will use.
For stories in the fantasy and science fiction genres, research can entail studying early civilizations, folklores or facts about anthropology or science. All this information can be combined and weaved together in a story seamlessly–utilized in such a way that is unique and original to tell a new tale or to illustrate a vision of an otherworldly universe. When it comes to world building, it’s a matter of creating everything from scratch, of laying out a foundation of its history, of designing the terrain and landscape, and of creating the societies that exist within that world. In this way, it’s somewhat like building a universe with its own history and where events and key figures cross paths and influence each other in a way that is unique but strangely familiar to us.
Fallton Havenstonne 