Post #230 September 28 2020 “Researching a Story: How Much is Enough? Part II” Why do writers need to do research? After, it was Ernest Hemingway who said “Write what you know.” If you do that, you shouldn’t have to do research. Right? Wrong. Writers do research for a number of reasons, which I’ll detail below. Maybe the bigger question, which dovetails with the question of the title, is how much research to actually do? Writers should do their research homework for at least the following reasons: 1. Any story, fiction or nonfiction, is improved with at least some background detail. However, there’s a caveat. A little goes a long way. At this time, I’m doing background research for an alternate history novel called The Eureka Gambit. One of the key characters is a Nazi special forces commander. Call him Otto. In my research, I learned (from his own biography; he was a real person) what kind of cigarettes he preferred. I could put that little detail in the story. But should I? Does it advance the story? Does is illuminate character? I haven’t decided yet. But those are the questions you should ask before info-dumping all your research on the poor reader. Again, a little goes a long way. 2. Another reason to do your research is that it helps put you, the author, into the story mentally. For my series The Farpool Stories, I had to do a lot of research and background for an alien species that was marine in nature, basically intelligent fish. I read everything I could about fish biology, whales, dolphins, etc and even decided to put much of that info in an appendix at the end of the story, as in Dune. Steeping myself in all this marine and ocean stuff put me in the best frame of mind to carry a story about these people, who were so very different from human beings. 3. Doing your research helps you understand and portray your characters better. This is especially true in that characters always have some interaction with the physical settings of the story. When you know these details, and know that little Willie grew up with a deathly fear of caves and dark places, it becomes easier to explain why older Willie always left all the lights on in his house all night long. Details matter. Details add realism to a story. Details enhance verisimilitude…the resemblance to the truth that every storyteller relies on to capture his audience. 4. Properly using all that research in your story helps pace your plot. You can intersperse action scenes with narrative descriptions of setting, like James Michener, whose novels often read like encyclopedias or textbooks, at least in their beginnings. Using details from your research can help build tension, perhaps by delaying critical details to bring the reader along, or dropping a few details in at just the right moment, to reveal something essential to the story. I’ve been reading stories from Nigel Hamilton’s FDR at War series, about President Roosevelt as commander-in-chief during WWII. At one point in the middle volume of this trilogy, Hamilton tells the reader that FDR’s presidential train (known as the Ferdinand Magellan) was heavily armored and he provides the exact number of millimeters of armor used. Did I need to know that to enjoy the story? Probably not. But I found it fascinating and made me want to know even more details. Details like that capture my attention, if not overdone, and I suspect it does so for many readers. 5. Accuracy. This is especially important in nonfiction or biographies, histories, etc. But even in fiction, accurate details from diligent research are important. Let’s face it, readers love to find and point out discrepancies and factual errors. Egregious factual errors make a story less believable. They destroy verisimilitude. They loosen the implied ‘contract’ between the storyteller and his audience. What if Og is telling his cave-dweller friends about how he bagged the big woolly mammoth all by himself but his comrade Grog knows it didn’t happen that way and is around to provide counter-points to Og’s self-serving history of yesterday’s hunt? Do you think the cave-dweller audience from 1 million B.C. is likely to believe anything Og says from then on? Do your research thoroughly and carefully. Then ladle in the details as and when they help the story or capture your audience. Stir vigorously. Let simmer for awhile. Your audience will appreciate details that your research has uncovered more if you whet their appetites with a little dollop at a time, and allow them to use their own imaginations. The next post to The Word Shed comes on October 5. See you then. Phil B.