Folding Research Into Fiction

 

Flossie Benton Rogers here to talk about folding research into creative fiction, a vital aspect of writing. It must not be done in a ham-fisted manner, but rather gracefully and sparingly. If you are a writer who loves to meander off on research byways and tempted to include all the fascinating tidbits, that’s fine, but the revision process will be crucial in tightening up your prose. If your writing style involves jumping right into the story and fiddling with the details later, that’s fine, too. At some point, though, you’ll have to dust off your investigative skills to enrich and ground the story. Research can be viewed in four parts: identify, investigate, organize and store, and sprinkle it in.

IDENTIFY

To recognize where research is needed, brainstorming can be used as a planning tool. One method involves a blank piece of paper with a key word or picture in the center, and then quickly drawing lines to add related ideas and sub-thoughts. In considering and mulling over the ideas, or their scarcity in some cases, topics that need further study can be pinpointed. If you are already busy writing the story and want to flesh out details later, it is useful to tag sections that need further exploration with a searchable symbol such as ?R.

 

INVESTIGATE

Expand your research by using numerous approaches, including interviews, books, the internet, libraries, online libraries, novels set in your time period or genre, YouTube documentaries, movies, museums, Pinterest, and by visiting locales similar to your settings. For my book Time Singer, maps of ancient Ireland were especially valuable in enabling me to visualize and track the movements of the characters.

 

ORGANIZE AND STORE

Research can be organized and stored in many ways, including electronically with Scrivener or Microsoft One Note, etc., or by means of a basic binder. If you are a writer that uses both methods, make sure to categorize them in the same way with the names of folders or topic headings. This simply makes life easier.

 

SPRINKLE IT IN

Include only as much research as is necessary for the richness of your story. With regard to avoiding info dumps, writer Jake Wolff champions an intriguing method—two truths and a lie, or adding one creative lie for every two facts. Many writers tend to do this naturally, as I did in my book Time Singer. An example involves the hero, Aedar. A key figure in Time Singer is Nuada, the first king of the Tuatha de Danaan (research truth). Nuada’s arch-enemy is the Firbolg leader, Sreng (research truth). My fictional hero, as the grandson of Nuada, is half Tuatha and, as the son of Sreng, half Firbolg (creative lie).

 

Highlighting research-based sections in red will allow you, during the revision process, to determine whether you have been too heavy-handed. If you remove something, put it in a special file and save it for the future. You never know when it may come in handy for another story or for promo purposes.

We have considered research in four parts: identification, investigation, organization and storage, and sprinkling it in. For readers, how do you gauge whether an author has done due diligence? For writers, what is your fact-finding process? Time Singer was such a fun book to research. The process even took me back to the ancient Scythians. I hope you enjoy this short passage. 

As Etar and two attendants led them into the further recesses of the sithen, where the king had his quarters, Seraphina reflected on the reality around her. Although she had prayed to become a Time Singer, she never in a million years had expected to meet a fae warrior prince and fall in love with him. Such things didn’t happen to a simple Wytchfae like her. She had to refrain from pinching herself.

 

King Nuada’s suite reflected his station, with masculine accoutrements situated amid a comfortable seating area. Although he greeted his grandson with pleasantries and granted them audience, his weathered face showed restraint. Seraphina’s pulse raced as she realized the urgency and importance of this meeting. Not only their personal lives, but also the future of the Tuath and Firbolg, and her own Wytchfae line, depended on the outcome of tonight. A swirl of firefae caught her attention, and she feasted her eyes. Its dance generated brilliant light in a hundred shades of blue, from lapis and azure to mist. She splayed a hand over her chest. Her skin tingled at the realization of how a long lost chant had thrust her in the middle of such a ripe historical moment.

 

Cheers on behalf of Pen Dames!

Flossie Benton Rogers