Studying is an eternal state of being for writers. It’s our lifeblood–how we hone our craft and add depth to our work. As Gary Paulson says, “If you want to be a good writer, you’ve got to read like a wolf eats.” I believe that applies to studying too.
One of the first steps in pre-production, after developing a treatment and writing the screenplay, is figuring out where you can shoot the script. Where can you get those beautiful establishing shots and find sets to bring the story to life? Where in the world can you find places that look like what’s described in the screenplay or novel it is based upon?
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.
The following is an excerpt from my upcoming book on Research for Writers:
There are different levels of research: cursory understanding, basic competence, proficiency and mastery.
Lately I have moved from writing to research. I am in the process of pitching my novel and using the waiting period between pitching and the inevitable edits to dive into a new story. I have a rough idea of what I want to write, including the prologue and opening scene, but I also have huge, gaping holes in my knowledge. This explains the huge stacks of books lining my desk and the hours I’ve spent learning everything from creation myths to Jungian psychology to black holes. I am diving down rabbit holes in search of my story.
The past few weeks I’ve posted four articles on research techniques. They included planning your research, , taking notes and organizing your research. Now I’d like to add a quick list of abbreviations I use to take faster notes.
Research is a key part of writing. It forms the foundation for story. In this series on research, we’ve covered how to plan your research, offered tips for conducting effective research and discussed how to take good notes. Now we’ll tackle how to organize your research.
In the previous two articles, we covered how to plan your research and tips for conducting effective research. Now it’s time to begin, which means tackling the best way to take notes. Like everything, there are options. Your best bet is to choose the method that makes sense to you.
In the last blog, we covered when to conduct research. You can read it here. This week we’re going to look at some ways to make your research time more effective for you.
Here are my best tips for conducting research:
Writing requires research. It’s a nature of the beast and it doesn’t matter whether the work is fiction or nonfiction. Story relies on a strong foundation built from knowledge.
Sometimes we know the subject sufficiently to begin immediately. Other times we are creating a fictional world with fictional people. But it doesn’t seem to matter in the end. Inevitably we will need to ferret out some obscure fact to make our words ring true.
Twenty tips to strengthen your research and add more depth to your stories. Research is the key to details that bring your writing to life.