Research should reveal more than simple fact. It can offer insights into a time period, an event, a moment. It can reveal hidden depths. The trick is to use these insights to create more textured and layered characters.
When you interview experts, listen to them and their stories. Use active empathy to tap into the emotions behind their facts. You can find more in how a person speaks about a subject sometimes than by focusing only on the facts revealed. Listen to their timbre, tone and intonation. Examine the words being used and how their facts are framed. Doing this will help you gain a new perspective on the subject.
Picking up idioms can expand your character’s speech patterns and vocabulary. Noting mannerisms might help you reveal emotion in your characters.
An interview is an opportunity to see an entire person who was there or knows what your character needs to know. Don’t just interview for content. Use the interview session to pick up other, unspoken details, like the hesitation before speaking about a tragedy or the way the source moves in her chair or demonstrates an action with her hands. Take it all in. It is the details of a story that makes it seem real. These details you are picking up will ground your story in reality.
Search Systematically
Be strategic with how you search. There are some topics that will be better served with a trip to the library than conducting an interview with an expert. In other cases, you will need that in-person introduction to fully understand. Choose the right method for your need.
Each of these different approaches — hitting the books, experiencing it, searching, interviews — will be broken down in the next several chapters. Each have their advantages and disadvantages. Review them carefully and then pick the right approach for each research need.
Look for more tips to researching effectively in my upcoming book on Research for Writers.