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How long do you do research?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Meerkat
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The other day, I bought about ten books (to start with!) for research for my novel. I know I will need more than that, but it's just a start.

However, I know from experience that oftentimes research can drag on interminably. I have written short stories for which I had to set a time limit of six weeks (!) for research. This is largely because researching is easier than writing (for me).

How long do you guys take to research? What would be a reasonable time limit to set for myself?
 
Depends on what I need to research, but honestly I usually look things up as I go. If I'm starting a new series that requires diving into something I've never written about before, I'll spend a day or two gathering links to refer to as I write, but I can't say I've ever spent weeks on research. I suppose it depends on what you're writing about, even in fiction.
 
Well, I don't work like that, so I can't really say. I only research if I have a specific place I want facts about. That research takes five minutes online, copy and paste into a file for future use. Research shouldn't be more important than the story IMHO.
 
One of my favorite authors gives himself no more than 90 days for research. Day 91, he has to stop and write the actual book.

Me personally, I've written two novels, close to starting my third, and the first 2 I didn't really do a lot of research for. But after I talked to a couple people in the relevant industries, I realized I needed to. So I'm going to start off giving myself a month to research and see how it goes.
 
I agree too, it depends. I constantly research what I'm writing at the moment. I use Celtic, Norse, Greek, Roman, European, and Oriental Legend and Mythology in my Saga. I research until I am happy with whatever answer I'm looking for, and then I look for things that link across the different world categories. But I never stop. Saying that I never let myself get bogged down in research either ;)
 
I was three years writing Across the World, only doing research as the need arose, for the most part. Portraying the current political and cultural state of most of the countries of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in the early 12th century, as well as their folklore, required ridiculous amounts of research. There were times in those three years I wasn't working on the book, but I tend to keep digging until I feel I've included everything necessary to make the book believable. And then I realize most people won't know or care that it's all perfectly accurate.

Sigh.
 
Jason Byrne said:
HOORAY!

I know people will dig into your books, if you give them enough dirt. Of example, this seven-page discourse:
Game of Thrones: Is Tyrion Lannister Actually a Targaryen?
But you never know if your own work is going to be honored by the same scrutiny. I guess you have to presume that it will!
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Absolutely!

Here's a lesson learned story I'll share with all of you. I grew up in northeast Ohio in the USA - Cleveland, to be exact. One of my early stand alone books was set in the same area where I grew up, and in this book one of the characters made an offhand comment about having to travel to Cleveland or Columbus for a certain product. I don't even remember what the product was, but in my mind I meant to provide more detail for this product, and make it clear that there were only a few places in the state that carried it. I never clarified this detail, however, and in one review the person picked up on this and stated I likely didn't know the geography of Ohio as there are countless towns between Cleveland and Columbus. LOL! She's right, and in going back to read what I'd written, it did sound as though I didn't acknowledge how many towns are between those two major cities. I also hadn't made it clear this particular product could only be purchased in two cities. Certainly I knew the geography of Ohio backward and forward since it was my home state, but I hadn't made that clear to my readers. Details do count, and some reviewers are just aching to find a mistake like that to point out. :)

Interesting stuff about Tyrion Lannister, by the way!! I ADORE this series!! :D
 
I needed to do a ton of research for my novel, investigating details of the Serb-Croat war in the 90s, PTSD, psychopathy and forensic medicine. Not all of this was for adding accurate details to the narrative, but more to get a feel for these areas and how they would influence the behaviour of my characters. In retrospect, I wish that I'd set my cop story in America, as there was so many red tape details to do with U.K. police procedure, especially to do with guns, that I got bogged down.
It made me understand why crime novelist Ruth Rendell, (who also wrote as Barbara Vine), claimed that, when writing her fifty novels, she never did any research but “simply made things up”. Later on, she hired a researcher, but the great detail she gave her stories was the result, she said, of going on long walks, especially in London.
Bear in mind that details can be dropped into your story later, so don't stop yourself if you're in full flow writing away. I did this a couple of times, going to check on a fact and losing the thread of what I was trying to say. To keep up the rhythm, I took to writing CHECK where I was unsure of something.
 
Carol Rose said:
Absolutely!

Here's a lesson learned story I'll share with all of you. I grew up in northeast Ohio in the USA - Cleveland, to be exact. One of my early stand alone books was set in the same area where I grew up, and in this book one of the characters made an offhand comment about having to travel to Cleveland or Columbus for a certain product. I don't even remember what the product was, but in my mind I meant to provide more detail for this product, and make it clear that there were only a few places in the state that carried it. I never clarified this detail, however, and in one review the person picked up on this and stated I likely didn't know the geography of Ohio as there are countless towns between Cleveland and Columbus. LOL! She's right, and in going back to read what I'd written, it did sound as though I didn't acknowledge how many towns are between those two major cities. I also hadn't made it clear this particular product could only be purchased in two cities. Certainly I knew the geography of Ohio backward and forward since it was my home state, but I hadn't made that clear to my readers. Details do count, and some reviewers are just aching to find a mistake like that to point out. :)

Interesting stuff about Tyrion Lannister, by the way!! I ADORE this series!! :D
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That's when it gets hard not to argue with the reviewer. Or put out a second edition.

Isn't that crazy though?
 
Jason Byrne said:
That's when it gets hard not to argue with the reviewer. Or put out a second edition.

Isn't that crazy though?
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NEVER argue with a reviewer. NEVER. Seriously. DO. NOT. DO. IT. I laughed, accepted the lesson learned where I could improve my writing in the future, and moved on. :) Oh, and when I got my rights back on that book and rewrote most of the story into one of my series as Tara Rose for Siren, I fixed the mistake. LOL!! ;)
 
Carol Rose said:
NEVER argue with a reviewer. NEVER. Seriously. DO. NOT. DO. IT. I laughed, accepted the lesson learned where I could improve my writing in the future, and moved on. :) Oh, and when I got my rights back on that book and rewrote most of the story into one of my series as Tara Rose for Siren, I fixed the mistake. LOL!! ;)
Click to expand...

I second, third, and fourth this. Replying to reviewers is a BAD idea, no matter what the reason. Learn from it, but don't respond.
 
Carol Rose said:
NEVER argue with a reviewer. NEVER. Seriously. DO. NOT. DO. IT. I laughed, accepted the lesson learned where I could improve my writing in the future, and moved on. :) Oh, and when I got my rights back on that book and rewrote most of the story into one of my series as Tara Rose for Siren, I fixed the mistake. LOL!! ;)
Click to expand...
Way to go Carol! Strong in the ways of the Jedi are you.
 
Research will stem from key questions i have that are relevant to the story. I tend not to go too deep into it unless necessary. You can quite easily fall into the 'analysis paralysis' state which stops work from progressing.
 
Carol Rose said:
This is the one that still sticks out in my mind:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kiriblakeley/2011/04/01/self-published-author-cant-handle-a-bad-review/

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2011/mar/30/jacqueline-howett-bad-review
Click to expand...

Oof! That was so bad! *sigh* This is why I think all authors, self-pubbed or not, should join some type of critique circle or have an editor. Get used to harsh feedback. If you put your work out in public, the public isn't always very nice. And reactions like this make it harder on the rest of the writing community.
 
Nicole Wilson said:
Oof! That was so bad! *sigh* This is why I think all authors, self-pubbed or not, should join some type of critique circle or have an editor. Get used to harsh feedback. If you put your work out in public, the public isn't always very nice. And reactions like this make it harder on the rest of the writing community.
Click to expand...
But reviews are only opinions and this dude was just as entitled to his as anyone. When you put your work out there for publication, this comes with the territory. I've had some truly horrible reviews. It happens to all of us. It's part of the territory. If I can learn something from them, that's great. If I can't find anything useful in there, I have to let it roll off my back and move on.
 
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