Is research really needed to write a fictional story? Some authors don't think so and usually that lack of effort shows in their finished work. Sometimes an author gets an idea for a story and just wants to sit right down and start writing. Other times, there's a plan for a series, or a new place or type of book, but long before the writing gets started, there's research to do. And then there are the times a writer is right in the middle of a story when they realize there’s something important they need to look into before they can go on.

   Some authors love the research. Others hate it. For most of us, it’s a mixed bag. Especially when you spend far more time than you had planned in the research part of plotting things out but know that only a fraction of what you learn will actually become part of the story. (And then there are authors so in love with all their research that they include far more of the details than the story needs and end up boring the hell out of even their most ardent readers.)

   For me, I enjoy the research. But then, I like history and can happily spend hours reading about the back-story of a place, an invention, a people or an event. And I’ve learned from both editors who are savvy about what sells and what doesn’t and other authors who’ve learned the hard way to keep the details to a minimum. As one fellow author put it; include only what drives the plot or the characters, what the reader needs to know to understand that plot or a character's motivation, and what helps the reader ‘see’ the unfolding events.  

   My very first effort to write a novel is hidden away somewhere in a file and hopefully will never see the light of day, never mind publication. I had no idea I needed to research anything since I'd read all of Georgette Heyer's books and thought I knew everything about that era and place in history. I have a feeling I’d be horrified if I ever re-read those faded words written in pencil on yellow lined to see if it was worth resurrecting.

   Why, you ask, is research so important? To keep it real for those who know more than you do. And readers will happily point out any errors they find, whether it's the correct wrench an auto mechanic would use to tighten a spark plug, to the sound of a busy city street, or what life is like living with a teenager or a toddler. If you've spent your entire life on a farm and never been to  city, you could get this wrong. Likewise, a city dweller would have no idea just how "Quiet" a field in the middle of nowhere can be at night. But that's just the obvious. If you want to write a story set in a hospital ER but have never worked in one, spend a day or two shadowing someone who does. If you've never taught third graders but that's what your heroine does, sit in on a week's worth of classes before you start. 

    I set my first series in a fictional town on the coast of North Carolina. I’d visited the area once and been charmed so that's were I set my totally fictious town. But no town, even made up ones, are untouched by places people do know. I was already halfway through writing my book, but since I was driving through the general area on my way north for the summer, I decided to make a detour and check the surrounding towns.

   I learned a ton of neat stuff and got a chance to talk to folk who lived in the area. While I was driving into the closest city to this “fictional” town, one already mentioned in my story, I saw the sign for the airport and decided to check it out. Turns out to have been a serendipitous decision. The Wilmington NC airport is all one level. And . . . you guessed it . . . I had already written a scene with my hero waiting for his wife to appear at the foot of an escalator, which that airport did not have.

   So, it doesn’t matter much what the place, or time or era, or culture is, the author just has to know the background. If you’ve never worked in an office, it might be hard to get the ‘’feel’ of an office based on programs you see on TV. Same goes for a hospital, a factory, a farm, or a ship. You need to research the setting, even if everything in your story is fictional. (Sc-fi and fantasy are the exception to this rule. Writing about a world that doesn’t exist means you can make it anything you want.)

   After writing several books in a contemporary romance series, I decided to branch out into a new genre and considered cozy mystery, until my son posed the question: “How many people do you know that aren’t in law enforcement who keep tripping over dead bodies?” (I believe he was talking about Jessica Fletcher of Murder She Wrote – which was a popular TV series, but he could have meant Nancy Drew or any of the popular cozy mystery series.) So, I chose police procedural. But I have zero experience in law enforcement. I don’t have any relatives or friends in law enforcement to interview, as I did with my brother, a Vietnam veteran, when I wrote my story mainstream, The Candidate, about a Vietnam vet many years after he returned home who suddenly had to come to terms with that past.

   My quest for information more realistic than seen on TV led me to sign up for the Citizens Law Enforcement Academy here in my hometown. I learned far more than will ever appear in any of my books, but none of it was wasted. Some of what I learned helps me as a taxpayer to understand where the money goes and how the budget gets put together. As a citizen, I gained a whole new appreciation for what the life of a law enforcement office is like, both on the job and off. I went on two ride-alongs, with two different deputies in two very different areas of our county where I got to witness the every-day stuff of their shifts which is not even close to the hustle and exxcitement of what you see on TV. I very fortunate for the chance to sit down to a 2 ½ hour lunch with the only female office on the major crimes squad where I learned about the challenges that still face women in a traditionally male world.

   The Academy included a night where we met all the special teams: the pilots that fly both helicopters and small planes, the SWAT team, the Dive team, the Negotiating team, and the fellows that operate the aquatic vessels. We got to see, touch, go into and ask about all their vehicles and equipment and ask questions about what their jobs included and what it was like doing what they did. The folks who put these classes together saved the K-9s for their own night and that was especially fun. We got to meet the various K-9s that serve our county: dogs who find lost people and bodies or track down suspects, dogs trained to find drugs or explosives, and the patrol dogs who ride in cruisers and aid their human partners in chasing down and apprehending suspects. Every one of those animals is amazing. We spent an evening in Dispatch and watched the men and women who man the 911 phones in action, their professionalism and calm in the face of panic and distress. And despite the hype on TV or the unhappy reports in the news of officers who abuse their positions, most law enforcement men and women deserve our undying gratitude for putting their lives on the line every time they report for work. They are paid far less than they deserve and for far less appreciation than the often get. That thirteen weeks was the best investment I could have made to make my Jesse Quinn series come to life and feel real. 

   In the course of my research, I’ve visited cities, historical sites, museums, parks, beaches and even other countries. I’ve enjoyed all those trips and found that speaking with the locals, museum docents, park rangers, re-enactors (for history research) and the people who live and work in places I’ve never been is the some of the best spent time in my plotting and planning for my books. Often, people will tell me things I’d never have thought to ask, but those comments turn out to trigger ideas for my stories, or plot points for my intrigue. Most people love to talk about their lives and work, or places and things they love doing. So, ASK! And learn to LISTEN.

   By the way – two of the less informative events, but certainly the most fun in my time at the Citizen’s Law Enforcement Academy was getting to drive a cruiser through a training course, then racing it at speeds I’ve never driven down the home stretch and doing one of my ride-alongs with a K-9 officer and her dog Ryker. Ryker was a gentleman of the first order when given the command to "say hello" but all business when it came to work. I also learned another interesting tidbit the night I got to ride with Ryker. When the deputy I was riding with took a break for dinner, she left Ryker in the cruiser with the AC on. I asked the deputy what happens if the cruiser stalls. Turns out that these vehicles are designed so if the engine or AC stops for any reason, all the windows go down and the dog is never trapped in a hot car.  

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So, now it's time to hop on over and see what some of my fellow Blog-hoppers have experienced while researching their books. 

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Anne Stenhouse 

Connie Vines 

Diane Bator 

Helena Fairfax 

Victoria Chatham 

Sally Odgers

                        Bob Rich