Anna
asked
Erik Larson:
It seems that in order to write your books you sort through an incredible amount of resources. How long and far do you research a story and do you enjoy it?
Erik Larson
You have to research until you reach a point where everything starts to repeat itself. Over time I've developed an instinctive sense of when I'm done. But you cannot shortcut the process. My kind of history, which people like to call narrative nonfiction, demands that you dig up a tremendous amount of detail--even if you only end up using a small portion of it.
More Answered Questions
Amy Lenarz
asked
Erik Larson:
It's always obvious when reading your books that you've done a huge amount of research. What kind of system do you use to organize all the information you find? Do you have stacks of manila folders? Post-it notes on every surface? Some kind of software? It seems like so much to keep track of!
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more