A guide full of tips and tricks that hopefully doesn't recount the same old stuff in every other writing book under the sun, Wattpad and published alike. Covering everything from helpful resources like Susanna's Pacemaker to treating setting like ch...
Research is a fickle beast. It is an easy, slippery slope to slide down into, drowning in Wikipedia pages and WebMD diagnoses. How does one research efficiently? How do you find the information you are looking for? How do you find the information you don't even know that you're looking for?
Fiction is the kind of art form that can make straightforward Google searches nearly impossible. For one... where do you find information on how to perform illegal tasks? How do you find a reference image to help describe a gorey crime scene?
What is the weirdest thing YOU have Googled for the sake of a story?
Here are a few of my methods of research I have developed that have helped me answer tougher questions like 'how does it FEEL to be this kind of person?', which Wikipedia is just simply not equipped to answer.
Researching People
Research for characters is some of the toughest kind of searching. The hard part about it is, without having any kind of familiarity, what do you even know what search keywords to use? How to you go about finding the little character quirks you can build into a character different from yourself, whether it be different culture/different ability/different job/different lifestyle?
My answer might be a little unconventional. Youtube and Buzzfeed are some of my go-tos for this particular problem. Listicles are amazing. Keywords! Foods!
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(actual video I actually watched while writing Natalie's Diary)
One of my favorite ways to sneak culture into a book that might not revolve around culture is to use food. It's easy to slip in without disrupting the action. It's usually pretty non-controversial. (It also makes you very hungry.) Videos like these are awesome because it gives you a sense of what the food actually is like, and actual words to actually Google for more information. AND, as a starting point, it's great to see the videos suggested in the side that have a great chance of leading you to Youtubers pertinent to your cultural or lifestyle studies. The best kind of intel to get is information about a culture from a person of the culture. (Disclaimer, try to watch more than one person because a single person's opinion is not a good representation of the culture as a whole.)
Fil-Am Youtubers were very helpful to me and brought me such things as pet names parents call their children and the Saran-wrapping of remote controls and disinfecting with vinegar. It adds such a touch of life to work off their personal anecdotes and work them in subtly.
Youtube is also very good for picking up lingo to throw around, and learn jargon and how to actually use it in a reasonable fashion. Not just jargon, but also the vernacular that distinct groups use. The Winter Olympics was a great example of how even in sports, there was a significant difference in how commentators spoke. Figure skating was very calm and refined, then switch to snowboarding and the commentators could be straight up whooping in amazement at a trick. Take those things and let them help both your knowledge-based, and your dialogue.
