Random research.

If you choose to plan your novel with any level of detail, you’ll find you need to do some research before you start. Some stories need less research and some need more. Certain genres need more research otherwise the narrative doesn’t make sense. Imagine a crime novel set in Elizabethan England where the street urchin picks a pocket and reads the gentleman’s address from his wallet…

Genres such as fantasy and sci-fi require a certain amount of world building and mapping before you start, otherwise the world you create won’t make sense.

If you’ve ever played Dungeons and Dragons then you’ll understand. You’re stranded in the desert and night is falling, it’s getting cold, what do you do? Light a fire! What with? There’s no wood and you didn’t bring any matches. Your character is becoming dehydrated, what do you do? Have a drink! But the goblins punctured your only remaining waterskin… Research and planning mean you know where the water is, how to make matches, or make fire in your chosen environment, and how your created world world at a basic level. If you don’t know how it works then you can’t explore it.

Research also throws up more research as you write.

Last night I wrote a scene where Elois tears her coat, and it’s late Autumn so Winter is coming and she needs her coat. She lives on a low tech, agricultural world, and her colony has only been there a few years – they’re still discovering resources and can’t just pop to the shop for a new one. Her mother mends the tear, but the coat will no longer be waterproof…

Last night’s research was “How do I re-wax a coat?” followed by “How do I make the wax to re-wax a coat?”

The results were interesting!