Research

Research makes great stories. Research is not merely finding facts but learning about something or someone. It is coming to know something that was unknown before. And knowing lets us write a story that is deeper and richer than it otherwise would have been.

Take, for instance, the spy novel. How would you go about writing such a novel? You think you know how the world of covert action operates, having seen shows like 24 and read a few books in that genre. But, you don’t. Have you, for example, ever talked to a person who has actually been a spy? This is part of research—finding and getting to talk to people who live in the world in which your story takes place. By listening to what these people can tell you, you learn about them and those who live in their world, and you learn what that world is like, how it works, its rules and unwritten laws. You have to get to know how people in this world talk, how they think, and who they are if you hope to fashion realistic characters for your spy story. Unless you are able to do this, or find some other way to get inside that world, your story will be nothing more than a rehash of all the books and TV shows that you have seen. And because you rely on the creations of others, your story, necessarily will not be original or interesting. Besides people, you need to know the locations.

Can you describe, say, Cairo, in a way that reflects what that city is like? Can your description make that place come to life for your reader? What does Cairo smell like? What’s the feel of the weather? Is your Cairo like the real thing or is it some chimera of the cities that you have been to? Can’t go to Cairo? No worries, find an Egyptian who has been there, and get to know him and get him to tell you about Cairo. Ditto for Mexican or Canadian cities. Out of the details and observations arises verisimilitude of a fictional version of some city you wish to use as a setting, and out of the details can arise plot twists that are organic to the location. This is important because if you think that Cairo or Mexico City is like your hometown USA and you use that reference, you will come up with action and plot that cannot happen in the foreign town you want to write about.

Knowing the people and the locations helps you create unique plots that are organically unified with the characters and locales. Suppose that you want to put in a chase into your story. A chase is not a chase, however. It is quite different in Cairo than in New York City. First, how would people react to someone running down a street in Manhattan vs. Bronx? Cities have different districts, and that context makes some actions more possible than others. Whose attention does the chase attract and what are the consequences of that attention on the outcome of that chase? Does the police become involved? What if your protagonist cannot afford to have the police involved? Despite having seen thousands of films with chases in them, consider that no car chase of the Hollywood variety would go unnoticed in any major US city. There would be major consequences and they would derail any further action by the protagonist involved. The media would be having a feeding frenzy, the police, the mayor—all would be involved in what happened. Remember the bus chase from Speed? It could never actually happen in any US city. The entire city and probably nation would nearly come to a standstill. Why was not the president involved in the situation? He certainly would become involved if such a bus incident happened in LA. And what about the elevator thing? How likely is it that the perpetrator would be able to stage another incident? Not very likely, even back in 1995 when the movie came out.

Details are essential to great stories and the more you know about the world in which your story takes place the more realistic and true your story will be, but details, and too much research, can stifle the imagination, as they would in the above criticism of the Speed bus chase if the screenwriter knew too much about the factors that could come into play in that situation and how those factors would make his story impossible. Remember that you are writing a fantasy, and a fantasy, though it relies on facts, uses them in a way that creates a rich illusion. You are not a journalist. This is where you as the writer must be able to free yourself from the restraints that facts and knowledge create and be able to ask-what if? What is likely and possible? How could your plot happen? What do you have to ignore or to bring in from reality to make that plot happen? When you ignore reality, can you really afford to do it or are you merely creating a giant hole in your story’s credibility? Is there, in other words, enough tension, suspense, and anticipation in your story so that the audience will be able to ignore this hole? Consider North by Northwest. In that movie there are a number of plot holes, but the anticipation, suspense and tension blind the viewer to these problem areas. Does your story have enough suspense and anticipation to wither any credibility gaps?

In the end, you must tread carefully—not enough research and you write a thin, unbelievable story; too much and you won’t be able to get out of the straitjacket of facts and reality; too much suspense and anticipation, and the action becomes a comedy for the wrong reasons; not enough suspense and anticipation, and your readers begin to notice things that they otherwise would never bother with.