Home » Fan Fiction » The Craft of Writing » How Important is Reasearch in Your Writing?
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| Re: How Important is Reasearch in Your Writing? [message #1115880] |
Mon, 11 June 2007 21:30   |
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| SSJ Jup81 wrote on Sun, 03 June 2007 12:37 |
I feel that research helps to make the story more interesting. Like, for my fics, I usually try to have the characters go to real places in their area.
I've even gone as far as to having them use real railways and the transit system, but this has been a bit difficult since I don't know how to read a chart and such with this type of thing.
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And you know? Even if it's a story taking place in a world that never existed here, you can still use research for Earth. Aside from the fact that physics' would be the same, no matter where, there are other things.
I write mainly Fullmetal Alchemist fics. Amestris never existed here, it's an alternate 'history', but it's not THAT difficult to figure out how things were done, how people behaved, and what the level of technology would be.
If you know enough about the anime you're writing for, you can extrapolate from there.
FMA world:
Similar to early 20th century Europe. With a few technological differences.
No flight and none apparently being developed (other than a balloon). Advanced in some aspects (automail is strictly that 'verse), such as wireless mics and steam-power. Behind in others (flight, for instance).
On the steam power: Because of that, assuming that petroleum products didn't take hold like they did here, then one can also assume some by-products of petroleum do not exist there, even if they did here (ie, plastic).
Christianity is a 'dead' religion, so many of the social mores of early 20th c Europe wouldn't -necessarily- exist (there are some laws for society that are universal, period), but the religion DID exist at one time.
It's not really that hard to make it plausible. Just take what you find out about the time period of our history, and mold it to fit the other 'verse (MOLD, not mutilate).
...And Ever Widening Slowly Silence All
Most people only listened to words, but the silences between them could also speak volumes to the attentive ear.
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| Re: How Important is Reasearch in Your Writing? [message #1116482] |
Fri, 15 June 2007 15:45 |
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Why should I do all the work of inventing New York City or Tokyo, when they already exist? Reality does a better job of providing interesting little details than I ever could.
You want to see a diary of the kind of research a professional does? Go to Monica Ferris' website and click on Adventures at the top of the page. The little pictures get you to different adventures, and at least half of them are for research.
(And as she points out, done properly, research can be great fun.)
Visit Big Washuu's Lab of Arcane Knowledge at http://washuu.net
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| Re: How Important is Reasearch in Your Writing? [message #1116539] |
Fri, 15 June 2007 23:28 |
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Very important. Research adds plausibility in whatever you write. In my opinion, even fantasy needs to have some basis in research. I think that's because humans are logical creatures; some part of their brain always looks at how logical something is, and research strengthens that.
Just my two cents.
Yep. Story of my life.
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| Re: How Important is Reasearch in Your Writing? [message #1116564] |
Sat, 16 June 2007 01:48 |
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Plus, at times you can think up great scenes while doing some research. Simply seeing how a place looks may give you great ideas.
I can see the end of the tunnel! But, why is it tooting?
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| Re: How Important is Reasearch in Your Writing? [message #1116700] |
Sun, 17 June 2007 16:49 |
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I not only research loctions I've never been to before but I also research on characters, esspecially those I don't know much about. It helps me try to keep the characters from going OOC.
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| Re: How Important is Reasearch in Your Writing? [message #1127565] |
Tue, 13 November 2007 12:12 |
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 tiemiosho 
Messages: 3
Registered: November 2007 |
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It is infinitely important to have sufficient research. If you want good reviews and a story people will believe, then you probably want to do your homework. And my god! take notes in English class!
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| Re: How Important is Reasearch in Your Writing? [message #1135713] |
Wed, 09 April 2008 22:16 |
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kirayasha
Messages: 13
Registered: May 2006 |
Expendable Broodling |
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| mooman_fl wrote on Thu, 22 February 2007 23:21 |
| _BV_ wrote on Thu, 22 February 2007 19:09 |
The woods in the morning couldn't possibly be that important of a plot point, so why use the heavy prose that's sprinkled with purple descriptions? Why use the purple descriptions at all.... Painting a picture of something that doesn't matter at all is useless, boring, and can be pretentious.
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Firstly, I would counter that not describing in a way that paints the picture for the reader is boring and amateurish. Writing something "Plain Jane", while being adequate, is hardly a way to engage the reader. Reading is an escape, and the better you can paint your world, the more immersed the reader can become. Nobody wants to read the literary equivalent of a technical manual. Strip out the descriptions and stick only to the very relevant and that is what you have left. It is a high school Creative Writing class mistake. It is the periphery details that gives the reader the sense of "being there". Would you enjoy a movie or TV show that removed all the scenery and actors that weren't that "important of a plot point"? Of course not. It would be boring.
Secondly, descriptions of this sort are good for not just literally describing the setting. It is also good for setting mood and tone. That is something that unfortunately many non-professional writers overlook. I haven't read any of your work yet so I don't know what you do, but by reading what you have to say on the subject of description, I would say that you might fall into this catagory. I could be wrong.
The thing about writing, is that it is like moving making. You have the same story telling conventions, but instead of a camera you only have your words. If you can't adequately describe things then your reader is forced to do that for themselves. That takes away from immersion and enjoyability. Without the description you might as well be writing "Insert character A into subplot C".
All in all, writing is a varied field. You have myriads of styles to choose from in what you read, and every writer brings something to the table. Personally I don't care if my writing style doesn't appeal to some people. What I care about is that it does appeal to many others. If I were to make a genuine faux-pas in my writing, such as grammatical, spelling, structure, etc. I would want to know. As long as the majority of people that read my work like it, I am satisfied that my descriptive abilities and style are ok. To each their own.
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I have to disagree with you on this one. I find reading overly descriptive prose annoying. I feel like the author finds me, the reader, too stupid to imagine the setting. It could be a by product of listening to old radio dramas, where you as the listener had to picture what was going in your head,but simply stating the character was in a forest in the morning, trying hard to see in the dim light while he listened to the wind rustling the trees is enough description for me. Just like saying a character sat at his writing desk and wrote to his sweetheart. That fact that it is an ornate antique is irrelevant. Maybe what I'm trying to say is there is a fine line between too much description and too little, but I'd rather err on the side of too little. So if I have my character traveling on the bullet train form Kyoto to Tokyo, I'm not going my readers with every little detail of the three hour ride. By the way, I know it takes that long from doing research, plus I know if you miss the nine o'clock train, you're stuck, since the line ends in Tokyo & the station closes at 12 midnight. I could probably tell you which line to take, but since it wasn't important to the fic, I'd have to look it up. *winks* Minor details that would distract from the fic in my humble opinion, what was important was the character getting home to his lover.
Everything else, you and the others had said, I pretty much agree with, especially your last paragraph. What works for you, doesn't work for me and visa versa. In the end it's simply a matter of writing style and taste. 
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| Re: How Important is Research in Your Writing? [message #1135804] |
Fri, 11 April 2008 18:48 |
eyre 
Messages: 27
Registered: February 2008 |
Lowly Drone |
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Alacranita, I agree with you. I think researching is very important, firstly if you write about a place that you don't know. I spend much more researching than writing, of course, that's because I don't know a lot of places, English is not my first language, so I have to be sure if I'm writing in the proper terms, at least I hope that.
Unfortunately, trying to be descriptive or going deep in a subject, can be labeled as boring, I wouldn't say I don't care because I do, but I won't give up or stop either.
I hate to start reading a good story to find out in chapter three or four, doesn't have research, or personality types or sequence, and I'm not even talking about matching the original story.
Thanks.
Eyr.
Ev
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| Re: How Important is Reasearch in Your Writing? [message #1135962] |
Fri, 18 April 2008 04:54 |
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| kirayasha wrote on Wed, 09 April 2008 20:16 |
I have to disagree with you on this one. I find reading overly descriptive prose annoying. I feel like the author finds me, the reader, too stupid to imagine the setting. It could be a by product of listening to old radio dramas, where you as the listener had to picture what was going in your head,but simply stating the character was in a forest in the morning, trying hard to see in the dim light while he listened to the wind rustling the trees is enough description for me. Just like saying a character sat at his writing desk and wrote to his sweetheart. That fact that it is an ornate antique is irrelevant. Maybe what I'm trying to say is there is a fine line between too much description and too little, but I'd rather err on the side of too little. So if I have my character traveling on the bullet train form Kyoto to Tokyo, I'm not going my readers with every little detail of the three hour ride. By the way, I know it takes that long from doing research, plus I know if you miss the nine o'clock train, you're stuck, since the line ends in Tokyo & the station closes at 12 midnight. I could probably tell you which line to take, but since it wasn't important to the fic, I'd have to look it up. *winks* Minor details that would distract from the fic in my humble opinion, what was important was the character getting home to his lover.
Everything else, you and the others had said, I pretty much agree with, especially your last paragraph. What works for you, doesn't work for me and visa versa. In the end it's simply a matter of writing style and taste.
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I tend to agree with both sides here (and I did cover it a bit previously in this thread). First, the stories I consider to be really good/great have a lot of description. Even though it is fanfiction, hearing how the room is set up, the kind of wood used, etc. I find it all fascination. After all, people should build up the setting that their worlds are in. It's a problem I had early in my writing, and even now I'm trying to get more descriptive.
That being said, the opposite can happen too. Like the example you used, if you rode a bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo, unless there is a reason why a scene on the train is important, a full description of the train ride would have been utterly pointless and boring. Note, I said 'unless there is a reason why a scene on the train is important'. This goes to the idea of Chekhov's Gun. In case you don't know what Chekhov's Gun is, it's a literary technique where you don't add stuff to a story/movie/play (like a gun) unless you intend to use it later. If there is a man on the train in that trip is important to the story later, then go ahead and have something on it. But if all the train trip was to get from point A to point B, forget it. Simple one or two lines and you're done.
This goes also to the pacing of a story. Don't bog down a story with needless detail. At the same time, don't speed up a story with lack of detail either. Like "I ran away from the wolf" could be expanded to "My mind was racing. The muscles in my legs were crying out in pain. Each step was like a million needles stabbing me. The scenery around me was moving like a blur. But stopping was not an option. The howling, and quick secession of tapping behind me knew that if I slowed down, I would not be long in this world."
Not the greatest writing in the world (especially since I freelanced that bit.  ), but you get the point.
And yes, slightly off topic, and I apologize in advance. I will say, as a way to get the thread back on topic, the latter is good and built up with research. And not just in terms of settings (which I really didn't add), but also, word usage. Researching the right words is another tool. Besides 'run', you have jogging, sprinting, scamper, scurry, bolt, and so on. Each synonym could be linked to a certain emotion that something neutral like 'run' would not have allowed. Scurry for example, could be used when a character is embarrassed and needed to leave in a hurry. Bolt, desperation for one reason or another. Desperate to leave, or get someplace else quickly.
So even words, what kind of words, is another thing that can be brought about with research. Granted, more of a 'literally style' than 'story setting' research, but research nonetheless.
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| Re: How Important is Reasearch in Your Writing? [message #1135983] |
Sat, 19 April 2008 09:55 |
eyre
Messages: 27
Registered: February 2008 |
Lowly Drone |
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| Eien no Ai wrote on Mon, 26 February 2007 12:52 |
I believe you have to identify yourself with the character in question to some extent, too. I don't mean Mary Sue-ish style here, of course. I guess what I am talking about could be called empathy, understanding. Immersing yourself in the story could perhaps be classified as experience of some sort.
Regardless, there's a question that popped into my mind the other day: Is expanding one's vocabulary research? I would almost say yes in case you go hunting for words in a dictionary, but you can learn or start using new expressions under the influence of reading other authors' writing or speaking to various people as well. At least, I tend to learn more from actively practising the language than from actually studying it.
What's your opinion on this?
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I totally agree with you Eien, you have to see through the character's eyes, you have to fall in love with the characters of your story to feel what you think they are feeling, choose carefully the kind of words they would say. I think you have to be descriptive in some situations, you have to do some research, unless you had lived where you are locating the story. I do not think you write a description just because you think the reader is an idiot, you do it because you are sharing your creativity, molding the images in their brain to get the feeling, the mood, the environment, etc. Reading a good descriptive novel its enjoying all those feelings, it gives you a better understanding, it also provides you with vocabulary and culture you do not know nothing about (in some cases). Reading a good description lingers in your brain, those are the kind of literature that you can enjoy with your eyes closed.
Researching is a very interesting tool that you must share with the others. I usually research terms from fictions that I did not understand, or when someone writes something really great I try to find if some of it is true or not.
I agreed with and I loved the following parts of the previous posts.
Lady Macbeth: Infinitely important, if you want to be respected as a writer who knows what they're writing about.
SimmyC : I might even go a step further and say that to make believable Sci-Fi fics, you should have at least a very basic knowledge of science.
NOW, I wasn't really talking about sterotypes...as I was talking about more of the local culture of an area...but rather, a general sense cultural norms in a given area.
Wolf in the night: Important, important. Many good authors are known to have not only read about the scenes and theories they're putting to use in their stories, but some even go to that setting if possible, to get a better feel for what they're writing. It's not good for an author to write something down that no one will understand if they just put make that up on the spot. Mold your idea into something that will fit by researching how it can be applied to your story in a believable way would be great, too.
ookamikasumi: Writing pure fantasy is no excuse. One still has to do research.
Eien No Ai: Research is necessary in a lot of cases. Even if it steals time and wreaks havoc with one's patience on more than one occasion.
Mooman_fl: Details like this are important and can make the story, or break it if the author gets it wrong. Experience, more than any other kind of research, matters. If you can do something to learn what it is like first hand... do it. If you can't for legal, or other reasons, THEN use secondary methods. I would take a trip to Japan any day over just talking to someone that had been there. Also rely heavily on your past experiences, they can give your writing the extra flair of detail it needs to bring your writing up from amateur to quality.
Toastyann: Research adds plausibility in whatever you write. In my opinion, even fantasy needs to have some basis in research. I think that's because humans are logical creatures; some part of their brain always looks at how logical something is, and research strengthens that.
I'm sorry for all the quotes, but I had to write them, I just could not ignore such wonderful comments.
Thanks.
Ev
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| Re: How Important is Reasearch in Your Writing? [message #1144402] |
Sat, 18 April 2009 14:39 |
JaganshiKenshin
Messages: 15
Registered: January 2008
Location: Cheezburgerland |
Expendable Broodling |
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| Alacranita wrote on Fri, 13 January 2006 15:22 |
When you are writing a story, how important is reasearch? If you want to write the culture of the characters correctly or get your facts straight on something that you don't know everything about, do you hit the books(or computer) to gt the info? I want to know if anyone out there does it, because there are a ton of stories out there with the facts mostly wrong and a few that have the facts right:?.
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I don't see a poll, but I tend to do a LOT of research. I lost count at about thirty topics/subjects. Some of it was done online but I do have a collection of reference books (including a lot of botanical books and general flora/fauna references, and a few on food, travel, cooking).
All of it is kind of fun. You never know where it will lead; could even spark a new idea for a character, story, or chapter.
"I can has fic nao?"
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| Re: How Important is Reasearch in Your Writing? [message #1147463] |
Thu, 01 October 2009 18:33 |
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oskalaboska
Messages: 5
Registered: October 2009
Location: USA |
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I'm one of those readers who can and will overthink a story (which is why I'm a great beta) so research and/or excuses are a must to keep my attention.
I really dislike reading foreign language is stories because most of the time its wrong. As was stated by an earlier example, misuse of phrases (Hai and Koi are the majors ones) and suffixes turns me off a story quick. Its too jarring and it insults the 'Japanese' portion of my mind. The only exemption is when its canon (Like for Furuba, Tohru is called Tohru-kun thought -kun is a masculine suffix) and nicknames or titles (taichou, taisa, Marimo, Robin-chwan). I do offer to correct sometimes but usually I just hit the back button.
Research into characters is needed. Sesshoumaru is portrayed to be a cold, hard, serious demon who cares little for others and doubly so for humans and his brother, so reading about him playing hopscotch with Rin for no reason isn't gonna work for me.
Another thing that gets me is location. If I'm reading a story that takes place in Japan, I don't want to read kimono called a robe, or tabi described as a weird flipflop. Don't describe a western church when the building is a buddist temple. There are other Japanese foods besides riceballs, ramen, sushi, and sake. Don't give me scrambled eggs and OJ every morning.
I'm also afraid of reading porn because of a lack of research. Reading about self-lubing anuses, marathon sex with girls flipping and flopping like pancakes, with semen that magically disappears, guys with foot-long shlongs that seem to luckily find 3 girls with caverns as vaginas and a hoses as throats, scissoring (How do you do that o.O), and bottoms that can actually function properly after a few minutes and.
Another reason that research is important (when I'm the writer) is because I want people to understand what I'm writing. For example, almost all the anime/manga I watch/read is in its raw form, sometimes I watch a sub but for shows like Gintama it takes to long, and even some of the games I play are in Japanese. I wrote a Reiji/Ryuichi story on a Phoenix Wright forum and it got booted because no one knew who I was talking about.
-If what I said made no sense, I'm sorry-
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| Re: How Important is Reasearch in Your Writing? [message #1148172] |
Tue, 27 October 2009 21:47 |
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Research is really important for when you are researching disorders, disabilities, etc. I do not want to offend--but rather really show what it is like to live with such a condition. Too many times, the entertainment and the media romanticize or falsify a lot of things in stories of every kind of medium. It's sad, really.
For example, there was that one movie where everyone became blind, and the world fell into despair and unclean, anarchy, etc. It really offended the blind community, making the mainstream think we blind people can't take care of ourselves.
So, in that respect, it's really important to research thoroughly, and even better yet--interview someone with such a condition. Most times, you'll find that they are very happy to tell/explain things to you. You won't offend them by asking questions. The only type of people that will take offense are ones who lived a life with an able-bodied and had a hard time adjusting.
I can say that because, 1) I am deafblind and will explain/tell things happily, and 2) I've recently interviewed a person with Multiple Personality Disorder and told me all the questions beyond what I could ever imagine. I really learned a ton by interviewing this person. It dispelled so many things I thought about MPD.
But, if you did shallow research on such things and went ahead and wrote some story, romanticizing the condition, it's likely that it will offend the community with that condition. I almost made that mistake with MPD and am rethinking a lot about my character.
So long, that in the end, we can write a respectable story that will clearly show what really goes on. And not throw everything you learned in research just to show off your knowledge. :]
Something is boring
But can you believe I can
Write a haiku here?
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