| I was recently asked to participate in The Writing Community Chat Show’s Top 10 Writing Tips. I focused on Research. I’m a science fiction writer – in fact, let’s not limit myself, I’m a writer with a penchant for science fiction. (Penchant? Now you know I’m a writer! lol) For me, research is an important and integral part of my writing process. I write real-world sci-fi and try to make everything as realistic and understandable for the reader as possible – which takes a lot of time and work. For my novel Refraction, I would say 70% of my time was spent in research mode. I didn’t learn science in higher education, but all the information I need is out there for me to find, it’s just knowing where to look and then how to understand it. I read scientific papers and books which, to an untrained brain, was sometimes a mind-numbing experience which caused many headaches and sleepless nights. |
| But is all of this really necessary? |
| For me, it definitely is. Refraction wouldn’t be anywhere near as good if it didn’t ring true. Everyone who has read it has said how believable it is. Some have even Googled to see if certain things do exist in the real world… they don’t and that tells me all of those hours/days/months forcing my eyes to stay open while reading scientific journals was worth it. But that was specifically for Refraction. When I wrote The Cracked Reflection – the prequel to Refraction – the research spent on that book probably only took 20% of my total time. The focus here was on suspense and mystery. It wasn’t anywhere near as scientific and allowed me to just write. Depending on what genre you write in, that will determine how much research is needed. If you’re writing something based on your life experiences, obviously you have all the information stored away in your brain already. For others, you may be spending months learning and jotting down notes. What I have heard from many writers is that they sometimes feel they’re not progressing fast enough with their stories. They feel research has taken over when they should be writing instead. I can only talk from my personal experiences, but every second I spent researching was worth it. All of that evidence is in my books and makes them much better stories. As long as you’re keeping on track with the research your book needs, it doesn’t matter how long it takes. Never feel you’re wasting time, because if it makes your book stronger, in the end, it will be worth it. Just make sure you do write the book! You can check out my books here: linktr.ee/terryjgeo And you can watch the Top 10 Tips video here: https://youtu.be/ZoopEnvIVCI |