Guest blogger, Carole Gift Page, continues to share her Ten Steps in Writing a Novel.
STEP SIX: DO NECESSARY RESEARCH ON SUBJECTS TO BE COVERED IN YOUR NOVEL. Your objective facts must be accurate to sustain the illusion of reality and give credibility to your emotional details; thus, research is as vital for fiction as for nonfiction.
Remember, primary sources are always better than secondary sources. Don’t be satisfied to simply read a book or article on your topic. Go directly to the source for information. Talk with people who’ve experienced what your character is experiencing. Interview police officers, lawyers, detectives, psychologists, doctors, nurses, and military personnel—anyone who is willing to share his perspective and shed light on the topics covered by your novel.
For my novel, Kara, in which a character is severely burned, I visited a burn unit and borrowed a nurse’s manual offering detailed instructions for caring for burn patients. For my teen novel, Maria’s Search, I summoned my courage and went on a police ride-along through Watts, where I witnessed several drug deals occurring on street corners in broad daylight. (Only later did I panic as I recalled signing a form absolving the police of any blame in the event of my death or injury.) While writing Hallie’s Secret about child sexual abuse, I interviewed a psychologist, a lawyer, a woman who had been abused as a child, and foster parents and families who had adopted abused children. I read every book I could find on the subject and even attended a foster parents’ seminar dealing with abuse.
You might wonder whether you as a novelist have a right to “bother” the experts for information. “Will they resent my queries or consider me intrusive or meddlesome?” No! In all my years of seeking out the experts, I’ve found them to be helpful, if not eager to share their expertise. And why not? Their words of wisdom may end up in the pages of a book, and let’s face it, there’s something about the publishing mystique that most people find irresistible. They’re thrilled to contribute their knowledge for posterity.