Do Your Research!!!

And by research, I don't only mean facts. Be it personality traits or a trip to an exotic holiday destination, your plot needs to reflect that you know what you're talking about. Otherwise, it will become unrealistic and you'll lose credibility with the reader.

When I first started out on WP and was writing Living With The Choices We Make, I read my share of domestic abuse stories. One specifically caught my eye because it was written by a popular author who won a prize for it. I didn't make it past the first couple of chapters. The abuse situation were so unrealistic and over the top that as an abuse survivor myself, I just rolled my eyes. Why  did the author make those mistakes? Because she didn't do enough research and vetted her scenes.

Where do I start?

Most things today can be found on the internet. Don't go with only the first article you come across but stroll down a few pages to make sure the advice is consistent. If you research medical or scientific facts, renowned websites work better than the guy who just voices his opinion on a forum. If you pick a location you've never been to, take a virtual tour. Make sure you look at weather patterns and temperature/rainfall. I recently read a book where the temperature in Malaysia dropped below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius). Guess what? It doesn't exist. The temperature is consistently in the low eighties all year around (around 26/27 degrees Celsius) and it doesn't get colder. How do I know that? I did research.

For historical fiction, it's absolutely essential to do extensive (and I mean really extensive) research on the time period you are writing about. You don't only need historical facts but know how these people actually lived. Speaking patterns, dress code, gender relations: that's just a few of the obvious things you need to consider. What about the bathroom? Sure thing. You don't find a sit-up toilet in a medieval castle. Those people had holes in the floor (if they had a proper toilet at all). Soap? How often did these people bathe or shower? What did they eat? You will probably not find a vegetarian until the middle of the twentieth century (or at least you didn't call him that before). How did they get their food source? What did they like to do in their spare time? Who was able to go to school and who wasn't? And of course, how did society work as a whole?

Legal, forensics and police procedural are another genre where research is extremely important. Readers who enjoy that type of stuff are often professionals (or inspiring professionals) who actually know how it works. Researching some of those areas can be very tricky because a lot of answers are not available online or so complicated that they are hard to decipher. Talking to experts helps. Take advantage of the neighbor who is a cop and will be smitten if you stop by one day and ask nicely if he could answer a couple of questions. Leverage family connections with lawyers and doctors (the latter might at least know whether your character's cause of death could be triggered by your chosen murder weapon). Otherwise, there are special forums where you can connect with professionals. They usually don't bite. All you have to do it ask. But be careful – there is also a lot of bogus information out there.

Vet the Things You Don't Know

In the beginning, it might be easiest to write about the things you know, but if that's not possible or you choose a topic that you know nothing about, vet your scenes once you completed your research. Talking to someone who actually went through the same thing as your character, suffers from the same struggles, or lives in the town that you randomly picked out of a hat to be your story's setting can be gold. Listen. Learn. Implement. Only a fool thinks they can do it alone.

In my generation, self-harm didn't exist. When we were down and needed a picker upper, we got drunk. Those of us who smoked a little weed were badass. Those of us who did hard drugs were stupid.

When I started Trapped, I knew nothing about cutting. Both my kids are model teens on that front and I had never met anyone in my life who took a blade to their skin. Yet, I found this topic too important to ignore. So what did I do?

First Step – Research: I found out that cutting is an actual addiction, and not a cry for attention as so many people think. It's a coping mechanism based on the premise that physical pain overpowers emotional pain. Just as with any addiction, it takes time to overcome it. And most of all, it takes the right mindset. Now that was something I could relate to. Having dealt with plenty addictions in my life, I could invoke in Kelsey some of the struggles I went through to kick the habit.

Second Step – Vetting: After writing the scenes, I went ahead and vetted them. I talked to beta readers who had anxiety and/or panic attacks and discussed what they experienced during an acute episode. I spoke to cutters and what they felt when they harmed themselves. That advice was invaluable. It turned the information in the book from something I read about into something I know about. That's where you want to be at the end of your research.

Never Cut Corners! Your Readers Will Be Thankful.

Research and vetting takes time. If you are not prepared to put in the effort, go with another story idea. Otherwise, your writing lacks credibility and that's a bad place to be in.