How to Research for Your Stories

An important part of a story is its believability. It is hard to make your story good if it isn’t believable. If you’re writing a Harry Potter fanfiction and don’t have the faintest clue what Hogwarts is, your readers will pick up on that and won’t take your story as seriously. Research is important for original fiction, as well. If you’re writing a story that is set in the 1700’s, you need to make sure your characters aren’t talking on cellphones. Unless your story is set in an alternate universe, make sure you stick to the facts of this one.

Find Reliable Sources

Although this may seem obvious, it may be harder than you think to find reliable information on the internet. The internet allows anyone to post any facts they want, even if they have no proof, so before you write down a fact from a website, make sure the source is credible. Doing research is pointless if the research you have is bogus.

Keep Track

Once you start researching, you may find that you have more information than your brain can handle. It is important that you keep track of this information so you don’t forget it. If you don’t write the facts down somewhere, they could get jumbled up in your head. Instead of saying that Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, you may say that Eddy Thomas was the genius who invented it. Mixing up facts is a mistake authors frequently make, and readers pick up on it very quickly.

Organize

Facts pile up pretty quickly, and although you may remember writing down the date the light bulb was invented, you may have trouble finding it in your mountain of research. This is why it is very important to have an organization system. If you have a program like Microsoft Word, you can easily search your document of facts for a key word, but many people don’t have that luxury. If you’re keeping track of your facts on standard paper or a non-searchable document program, organization is key. Have separate areas for information about people, places, dates, and things. Even an organization system as simple as that will cut down the amount of time you spend searching for facts. Just remember, facts like the date Thomas Edison invented the light bulb could be filed under many different categories, so it is important to be consistent.

Use Your Research

I cannot stress this enough. Research doesn’t do any good if you don’t put it into practice. Keep track of your facts and make sure you use them at the appropriate times during your story. Making your story factually accurate will gain you more respect with your readers and prove you are serious about your writing.