8 Ways to Make Research Interesting

I am back with a writing-related post. 

This post is for any fiction writer who thinks research is boring. The word ‘research’ paints images of long, lonely hours in the library. A more interesting version is observing the military base or the local police department. However, most new writers don’t have  resources to do either of those things. Here are a few ways to make research fun. In the era of youtube and internet, research is more visual and interactive than it ever was.

Images and Videos: A picture speaks a thousand words. Run an image search to get a feel for the location you’re writing about. Looking through a few pictures of the city gives you a feel for it. That will help you write better description. Next, watch some videos about the profession or city you’re researching. Videos give you al feel for the city. The engage more of your senses. Listen for sounds. What kind of sounds do you hear in the video? While Lonely Planet-style travel videos help you get an idea of the setting, they’re glorified. To get under the skin of your character of setting, watch vlogs or self-recorded videos. The same applies to say, forensics. Watching videos cuts learning time and increases engagement. Blogs- There are all kinds of bloggers. If you’re writing about a kindergarten teacher living in Ohio, read a blog by one. There are blogs about almost everything. Find blogs in the niche you want to research. Informative blogs are also a good idea. Follow a few blogs in the category you want to research.. Here, the focus is on how the writer interacts with the setting. There are factual blogs too and these are great when looking for information. However, the real value of blogs lies in their ‘personal touch’. Social Media- Stalk, stalk, stalk. I know, that is terrible advice, but it makes research more interesting. I’m not telling you to stalk people in real life (that’s a crime!). Stalk social media profiles of bloggers or people who live in the city you’re setting your story in. Their opinions and images give you a better idea of the city. This ‘local’s perspective’ is very important to make the story realistic. If you’re writing about a cop, try looking up social media profiles of cops. You could also look up pages of police departments for an idea of your character's daily life (I'm not sure they put those online but you get the idea.). Many insurance companies use Facebook to investigate their customer so why can’t you? Facebook and Instagram are the best for research as these focus more on personal aspects of your subject’s life. Write it down! - Recent studies have shown that those who write tend to do better. Write down the information you’re gathering. All that information swimming on the computer screen won’t help you remember anything. Take notes. Bookmark useful websites so you can come back to them. If you’re searching train routes, try plotting them on a timeline. Go through property listings- I love looking at houses and interior decoration. This tip is especially useful if you’re researching settings. Try looking for properties to rent and buy. Observe the images, read the specifics (facilities, tax etc.) and costs. It puts you in the shoes of your character. The prices and character of the neighbourhood are important considerations. If you’re character works in the media industry make sure to choose a location that media-types would live in. Acting- Like an actor needs to get into the skin of their character, a writer needs to live and breathe as the character would. Put yourself in the situation your characters are in. This will help you write better prose as you empathise with what the character is going through. This also helps interweave your research into dialogue. There’s an actor in all of us. Imagine yourself speaking the character’s language, living in their location and doing their job. Whatever it takes. With a little help from my friends: In today’s multi-cultural world, many of us have friends from different cultural, religious, ethnic, professional and personal backgrounds. If you’re writing a book which features themes that your friends are familiar with, ask them for help. This is a great way to deepen your friendship while getting some research done. Plug your experiences: Try to plug your personal experiences to the subject you’re researching. Do this after you’ve finished primary research and have a broad idea of the subject. For example, you many not be in the same line of work as your character but you will have experienced feelings of elation, frustration, sadness, tenderness similar to your character. Plugging your character to your life experiences helps write more three-dimensional pieces. 
That’s it for today. I hope these tips helped you make research a bit more enjoyable. If you liked the post, please share it on social media. Sharing is caring! 

If you have any others tips, add them in the comments section. Looking forward to seeing you again next week. Tweet & ShareTweet: Hate research? Try these 8 tips to make research fun. http://ctt.ec/37CVE+ @authorpwishTweet: 8 Research tips for fiction authors. Research was never this fun. http://ctt.ec/24cs8+ @authorpwishWant to read more articles on writing? Subscribe to my newsletter to get a new article every week.  #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */Subscribe to our mailing list