Writing 101: Research That Novel

Website design By BotEap.comHow do you start writing a novel?

Website design By BotEap.comThe first thing I do is decide the genre and the setting.

Website design By BotEap.comI guess you saw some version of Return to the future. Here the settings are changing not because of location, but because of time period. Flashing backwards or forwards changes the appearance of the same location. The stage is new, right?

Website design By BotEap.comGenre is the type of novel you are writing. That could be a western, action, romance, detective, mystery, goth, or whatever you decide to dream of.

Website design By BotEap.comScience fiction would be another genre.

Website design By BotEap.comDid you notice a possible gender change in a version of Return to the future? The boy with the skateboard transformed into a Westerner with guns. Well, it was still science fiction.

Website design By BotEap.comThe stage is where the action takes place. If the action is in the present, you won’t have to do much research on the time period of the action. However, if the action takes place in 1850 or 130 BC, you should investigate that time period as it was done in Return to the future.

Website design By BotEap.comOnce you’ve decided where the action will take place and in what time frame, you can define your characters. Here are some things to consider:

Website design By BotEap.comNames:

Website design By BotEap.comDoes each character’s name match the location and time period?

Website design By BotEap.comDon’t call your raider Viking Joseph.

Website design By BotEap.comTry Crazy eric or something like that.

Website design By BotEap.comIdiom:

Website design By BotEap.comWhat would your character’s language be?

Website design By BotEap.comIf you lived in 1750 in London, what phrases would you use?

Website design By BotEap.comHow would it sound?

Website design By BotEap.comThat will depend on your class, right?

Website design By BotEap.comA London shoemaker wouldn’t sound like the Captain of the King’s Guard, would he?

Website design By BotEap.comAnd the king himself?

Website design By BotEap.comHow would it sound? What vocabulary would you use?

Website design By BotEap.comHere’s a caveat:

Website design By BotEap.comDo not write a period novel if you are not willing to get the education and knowledge to write it.

Website design By BotEap.comThe key to writing well is writing about what you know and understand.

Website design By BotEap.comOf course, if you’re writing science fiction, you can do whatever you want as long as it “rings true” to science fiction readers.

Website design By BotEap.comThat is why the advice that is often given to writers is to read a lot in the genre in which they intend to write.

Website design By BotEap.comThat’s one way to get an education, isn’t it?

Website design By BotEap.comWear

Website design By BotEap.comIf you knew a man in Walgreen in a tight-fitting silver jumpsuit with an antenna sticking out of a gold helmet, you would think: That guy is not from here!

Website design By BotEap.comIf your character walks into a Wild West bar in 1850 in a green suit, you will have to do some explaining. I assume he’s Irish and will order a Guinness. Note: Guinness started in 1759 but I doubt you will find it in the Wild West in 1850.

Website design By BotEap.comDress must be consistent, just as language is important. You need to know the local dress, not some stereotype dress you saw in a “B” movie.

Website design By BotEap.comDress is also characteristic of vocation and class. A banker, a blacksmith, a miller, etc., would be dressed differently in the same place during the same period of time.

Website design By BotEap.comThe first Texas settlers in Arizona could tell by their hats.

Website design By BotEap.comOther factors:

Website design By BotEap.comIf your character is a nurse, you should know something about how a nurse performed in your location and during your time period.

Website design By BotEap.comDon’t let that soldier shoot someone with a Winchester during the War of 1812. Oliver Winchester was born in 1810.

Website design By BotEap.comEach character needs a story. A person’s history determines, at least in part, his actions. You may never mention such a story in your novel, but you should know it.

Website design By BotEap.comEach character needs characteristics. You may never mention most of them, but you should know them. These are the things that, in combination, make your character different from every other character in the world. Take Superman, for example, or Henry VIII.

Website design By BotEap.comThe bottom line is that all things must be coherent and logical if you want your novel to fly.

Website design By BotEap.comIf something is strange, you have to give some explanations.

Website design By BotEap.comHow to do an investigation

Website design By BotEap.comThe easiest way to research is by reading in your genre.

Website design By BotEap.comI don’t like to read most novels. Therefore, I inquire about time and place.

Website design By BotEap.comI like to start with a map of the area. So I like to read the history of the area even before the given period of time. I read history books, old magazine articles, Internet articles, etc. I like to visit the area and visit museums and historical societies. I like talking to people, especially veterans who have important stories to tell.

Website design By BotEap.comGo to bookstores, yard sales, book sales, junk stores, antique stores, and other places where you can buy magazines and books to listen to a song. Look at the things that antique stores are selling and ask about the history of unusual items. The way you do it is by saying this: What is that thing?

Website design By BotEap.comIn a way, it sounds a lot like being a newspaper reporter. I like to search old newspapers for interesting stories to see what other “reporters” have done.

Website design By BotEap.comLook in old encyclopedias, catalogs, and almanacs. You will be amazed at what you can learn.

Website design By BotEap.comWhen i was writing Vengeance on the Mogollon Edge, I decided to read one of Zane Grey’s novels, whose setting was in the areas near my home in Arizona.

Website design By BotEap.comHe knew something about Zane Gray because he was a guide and worked on exhibits for the local museum.

Website design By BotEap.comHe was hoping to help rebuild his cabin that was destroyed in the Dude Fire. However, I moved from the area (Payson, AZ) before that task began.

Website design By BotEap.comAnyway, I was reading your novel and a phrase occurred to me that did not seem correct. It was a view that his character saw from the Mogollon Rim. I didn’t think he was right. I drove to the Rim and parked very close to the place he described. Then I saw that Zane Gray had described the sight perfectly. Mountains don’t move that fast.

Website design By BotEap.comIt is a good idea to know your subject, your location (setting), and your characters before you start writing the novel. Well, don’t let that stop you. You can fill in the blanks later.

Website design By BotEap.comDon’t let a bold character take over your book.

Website design By BotEap.comWriting, how to write, setting, characters, language, characteristics, history, time period, research.