Research Tips for Fiction Writers: Where to Find Information and How to Use It Effectively
And how to store it so you can find it again
If you’d asked me fifteen years ago how much research I did for my fiction writing, I probably would’ve said “Not much at all”. I guess back then a lot of what I wrote was based on my own experiences, or my imagination, and what I didn’t know, I made up. Then I got hooked on a pirate story which was based on a real person who lived back in 1717, and research became my new passion! Over the next few years, I think I gathered more material on pirates than I ever thought possible, but the supporting information I needed in order to write strong historical fiction was as detailed, if not more so.
Some of the things I researched include: money in the southern US — what currencies were used, how they were compared for value, what one guinea or one shilling would buy; sailing ships, with a particular interest in brigantines; clothing, food, houses, drinks; medicinals and diseases; what books were published back then; what language was used — I’ve had a great deal of fun with all 13 volumes of the Greater Oxford Dictionary! Along the way, for other novels and stories, I’ve researched horses and horse riding, ballet, tunnels and underground houses, country policemen, city homicide detectives, remand centres, and various types…
